Sewing Strips

12"x15"

Rayna Gillman's new book, Create Your Own Free Form Quilts came the day before Thanksgiving. I had a hard time baking my pies! I just wanted to play with strips. Rayna's book is fun to read as it makes me feel like we are just having a conversation. Have I done strip piecing before? Well yes, but this is a different way to approach it and I am having a ball. I have sort of been hanging on to my hand dyed or printed fabric--afraid to cut into them, but after I read what Rayna says about the great garage sale in the sky, I cut right into several of them. Big fun. So I made the piece in the photo (no title yet) and hand quilted it last night. I started sewing more strip sets this morning. Oh and printing some fabric.........   

Hand Sewing

I'm taking a break from spinning and weaving to work on another project. These are hand sewn and quilted (will be!) panels that I will put together.  They have been waiting patiently for me to get back to them. It is so hot, I think I will enjoy working on something that is not fuzzy........... 

In Work

In The Evening, I went Walking

In The Evening, I Went Walking
20x20
Cotton and silk, dyed, woven, stamped and hand stitched.

Thread Painting

I started a new Thread Painting a couple of days ago. I transferred one of my "zentangles" to a piece of muslin, backed it and started stitching. It was all right, but not really fun until I started to change things--sew over shapes in a different color etc. It made me think. I get bored with "coloring things in". I have to have the flexibility to change the piece. Otherwise, it is just a coloring book exercise in a different medium, no matter how skilled you need to be to do it. Developing my Thread Painting skills, is great, but, for me, it is not an end in itself. Personally, I need to be able to make decisions at every step in the process. The hand-stitched pieces are interesting for that very reason. I make decisions constantly about what color to use, how many different colors to strand together, what direction to stitch etc. Quilts are the same way. I don't want to make a bunch of the same blocks and sew them together. The results may be wonderful, but I find the process mind numbing. I want blocks I can arrange in an infinite number of ways--like a kaleidoscope quilt. Arranging those blocks on a design wall is like making a painting. I want the whole process to be flexible and interesting right up to completion, as the process is what I enjoy.