Art, Craft and Needlework, March, 2009

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Harriet
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Art, Craft and Needlework, March, 2009

Postby Harriet » Fri Feb 27, 2009 11:03 am

excerpts from "Time and Talent" by Nancy Breland:

I need bigger blocks of time to sew. To make these, I must be as parsimonious with my time as I am with my most precious fabric. Each day is begun with a plan, and I try to stick to it to earn a little time at the end to sew. Junk mail, junk phone calls, and junk TV are junked.

It is false to think that talent is something that one either has or doesn't have. Skill and aesthetic judgment need to be learned, and experience is a grand teacher. Take a class or read a book, but follow through by actually making what you have learned to make. Repeat what pleases you and abandon what doesn't. Reflect. Create new problems and solve them. Practice your craft and you'll be delighted to find that your achievements have grown into a well-developed talent.


March is the month of serendipity, of luck, of looking over four-leaf clovers, of being delighted to find that we have some "achievements growing into talent" when we least expect it! We may have a project turn out well even when our confidence was not so high, or pull out an idea for rescuing an abandoned project and happily saying, "I meant to do that!"

Speaking of UnFinished Objects, have you cataloged yours lately? Do you really KNOW what is in those containers, bags and baskets of waiting creativity? Or are you missing some fun? If you dare ;) , make an inventory. List them here if you'd like, but do let us know your plan for working through them. If any are just not inspiring to you any more, donate and move on to projects that truly interest you.

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Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, March, 2009

Postby Harriet » Thu Mar 05, 2009 12:54 am

Okay, being brutally honest and baring all. :oops: The UFO inventory here -

In the last few months of 2008, I finished 2:
.... dneice's baby quilt and
.... dsil's reinactment quilt.

So far in 2009 I've finished 1:
.... characters quilt for dstepgd.

Here is my UFO "stack" now:

definitely in the lineup, get busy!:

#1 - Ds23's forest wedding quilt... 45 percent finished
#2 - littleone's toddler quilt.........35 percent finished
#3 - 13 Colonies quilt................90 percent finished
#4 - 1930's wall hanging.............95 percent finished
#5 - plaid scrap quilt.................50 percent finished

up next, but not expecting a 2009 finish:

#6 - sampler with block border.....60 percent finished
#7 - Star of Bethlehem..............65 percent finished
#8 - fireplace hanging(s)............daydreaming stage

fun in the future


sampler of international swap blocks

samplers of my collected blocks
.....divided by darks/lights = two collections
.....then divided by my own/vintage = four or more potential quilts

If anyone is rolling their eyes and saying, "aren't you through with this or that one yet?", well, I don't blame you. But people keep getting born (dneice)and other people decide to marry (ds) and others ask for a quilt I can't resist making (dsil)! So my line-up keeps changing! ;) (Which has been going on since I started making quilts, come to think of it. I didn't gather this tall stack overnight!)

I can see 4 years of quiltmaking ahead with this inventory at this pace. Hmmm ... could I stick to "no new projects" for 4 years? Nah! :D But I can keep my eye on the line-up and prioritize, so this was a helpful exercise.
If you don't believe in miracles, you're not being realistic.

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bittersweet
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Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, March, 2009

Postby bittersweet » Thu Mar 05, 2009 2:32 am

Wow, Harriet! That's quite the list you've got there! :P I've always considered UFOs to be projects that are at some stage or other of tangible progress, but if we're going to include "future enjoyments".... well.... I'm gonna have a looooooooonnnnnnnnggggggg list!!! LOL

I'll have to put the list together tomorrow...it's almost 11:30pm now, and I should head to bed soon. But consider this....at least quilting is the only craft in your UFO list. Me? I've got...ummm...about six or so different crafts in mine..crocheting, planters, flower pots, carpentry, rug hooking, quilting, ....and let's not forget cardmaking and candlemaking *sigh*.
"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year." Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Harriet
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Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, March, 2009

Postby Harriet » Sun Mar 08, 2009 2:04 pm

bittersweet, we'll look forward to the glimpse into your creative life!

Yes, you're right, I don't have to include the fireplace hanging since it's not a true UFO if it's not started! :roll: I have been promising myself I'd get around to making one for so long I have it lodged in my head!


Character9PatchFeb09.JPG


Above is dstepgd’s quilt, with HRH holding it for the photo while standing on the front porch. There are 120 three-inch children's character squares, 5 per block alternated with blue, and no two are the same. (whew) There are famous ones like Scooby Doo, Bambi, a Smurf, Spongebob, etc., but there are also just nice faces of children or animals. Most have faces looking out. I had some fabrics myself, but a lot of these came from ebay – sets of squares that someone already gathered and cut, maybe from making their own child’s quilt or just because they’re in the fabric business. The piecing couldn’t be simpler – it’s the decisions where each little friend should go that takes time!

CharacterCloseFeb09.JPG


Here is the top left of the quilt (in a sideways picture I should have turned). Hoping it shows that the faster idea for binding I posted about last month turned out neat, not at all wavy. Some celebrities here are Linus on green, Tinkerbell on purple, Elmo on blue and Curious George on teal. The borders are a thin yellow-orange geometric and a wide realistic floral with many bright colors like the character squares. Corners are purple like a lot of the squares. The binding is the fabric I had to go out and buy to match the blue sashing color, which ran out!
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Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, March, 2009

Postby bittersweet » Mon Mar 09, 2009 2:45 am

That is absolutely gorgeous, Harriet!! If HRH is holding it, he's well hidden! :lol:

Seems to me that there's an awful lot more to quilting than I'd naively thought at first. I *thought* it was just a matter of sewing the pieces together and then sewing the layers together, but there's binding and sashing, and I keep hearing people talk in my quilting Yahoo group about sending stuff away to be professionally quilted.

It's all quite confuddling, and I'm wondering if I'm in over my head in thinking I'll be able to learn it in one lifetime!
"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year." Ralph Waldo Emerson


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