Creative Life Sampler

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy holiday weekend!  

  Rapidly approaching July 4th, the last day of Ventura Modern Quilt Guild's 100 Day Challenge. Back in March, the guild challenged members to set their own quilting goals for 3+ months and to work at least five minutes each day toward reaching them. I had high hopes for creating three quilts, but lots of other things called for my attention. So, I will just have two wall hanging sized quilts to take to show & tell at our next members' meeting: # 3 & #4 in my "Q is for Quilt" series. About half of #4 has been hand quilted at this point, so I'm making a last push to wrap it up in the next 10 days. I've chosen to echo quilt in the large areas, which outlines the solid shapes of blue and orange and creates an interesting texture in the background. Once the quilting if done, I'll square it up and put a binding on it to finish off the edge. I have appreciated this member challenge. The "assignment" to work each day on something "quilty...

  "I'm always thinking about creating.  My future starts when I wake up in the morning  and see the light." Miles Davis  American Jazz Musician ( 1926-1991) (Check out this link to learn more about Miles Davis and his music:    https://www.milesdavis.com/ )

  "Q is for Quilt" #4 Thought I'd share a little peak at my current work in progress. I've incorporated pieced strips in this quilt for a dotted line effect and I'm getting close to completing the appliqué stage. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure if this would come together as planned, and was worrying about it out loud just a few days ago. Then an astute family member pointed out that I often verbalize doubts about a work in progress.  It always surprises me when others see behavior patterns in me that I don't see. But, when I stop to objectively think about it, well, it's pretty obvious how I've been working against myself.  Now if I were helping someone else navigate a challenge, I would encourage them to be patient and trust the process.  Wise words, . . . perhaps I should heed them myself. 😉 

  We are three quarters of the way through the Ventura Modern Quilt Guild 100 Day Challenge and a new addition to my "Q" series is well underway. For this piece I've chosen persimmon orange and royal blue, two colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel. Vibrant blue and orange shapes stand out against a stark white for a bold look.  I've learned from previous projects that it is best to appliqué the darkest color to the lighter color, if you want to avoid "shadowing." This is when the dark color shows from beneath the light color. For some projects I have used this in a purposeful way. But I got a comment from the judges at Quilt Con that you could see a little shadowing in my entry. Now I'm hyper conscious of not letting that happen when it doesn't add to the overall effect. So I started with the royal on white:   I've since added the orange and I'm having fun experimenting with different ways to place these colors next to each o...