The past three years of quilting have developed a rhythm, which isn't quite cyclical but certainly repetitive. I'm coming out of a busy time that's been punctuated by holidays and vacations. ADD quilting periods are followed by those wonderful times when several projects get completed within the same week. And that sense of completion allows me then to concentrate on a project I've been putting off. And then? start those things I've been wanting to start. The Foundation-Pieced Reversible Quilt is a model for a workshop at SusanMarie's in February. The Attic Windows pattern on the front and the lovely Asian purples on the back have made this one of my artier quilts.
This Christmas Quilt was begun as a model for the Lawndale Christian Quilters. I finished it, intending to donate it to a fund raiser. Perhaps it will be used for a future donation/fund raiser. Its binding was part of a demonstration on binding. Notice the gold corners? Ran out of the green for the outer border and had to do some improvising.
The scalloped edges on this quilt restoration for Laurel were something I've been putting off. I usually don't work with bias bindings and haven't done scalloped edges before. Reading directions and practicing are two things I prefer not to do. But I finally did tackle this project, and it wasn't that difficult. This quilt top is a Double Wedding Ring. Most are done on white backgrounds. It's rare to see a pastel or colored background. And this one uses striped feed/flour sacks as its background. My conclusion is that the piecer of this top often had to "make do" with what was available. There's a lot of hand work in this quilt top. I used Warm N'Natural batting and a muslin backing. This once-flimsy top now has a sturdiness to it.
Now that my project list has become manageable, I'm devoting all efforts during the next two weeks to working on Greg and Dorothy's Jazz Bed Quilt.
Just like with teaching literature, I want to keep things fresh. And I find the best way to do that is to model what I am teaching. It worked well with research papers, and it works well for quilting. So, I needed to create a new reversible project. Working on the quilts for Dodie's grandchildren made me realize how many fabulous scraps I have and that my scrap piles are getting out of hand. Since so many of my scraps are in strips, foundation string piecing seemed the way to go. The back of the quilt is big half-square triangles of beiges and browns/rusts.
Using scraps makes me feel like I'm honoring the spirit of quilting. And so many of my scrap pieces jog memories of past projects.
