Saturday, December 22, 2018


IN WHICH I WISH EVERYONE A HAPPY SOLSTICE
However you celebrate it!

What to say?
The past few months have been a thoughtful time for me as I attempt to investigate my creative future.  I have begun several projects this year-completed some and abandoned others-and learned in the process what works for me and what does not.


Feathered Friends BOM with Helen Godden

I loved working on this project.  I loved the paints, the birds, the colors, and Helen's fun FMQ designs. You can see it is not quite finished as I had a hip replacement at that point and am still recovering.

I have to say my kitty was not very supportive during this final assembling and quilting as you can see:
So good so far....Kitten is giving everything a close once over checking my work but then............
she does this! She finds my work hilarious!  I mean really! Her job is to be supportive but I guess her true thoughts could not be suppressed. Good to know who your friends are. 

You can see on the design wall behind "She Who Is A Traitor" that Chuck, Susan and Me is back in play.  I have resumed quilting it.  While I recover, I am planning the stitching as each square is quilted differently.  

Along with painting Feathered Friends, I have found that I just love Fmq especially on the lovely "Queenie", my sit down long arm quilter.  I began this blog expressing my very real fear of Free Motion Quilting and now find that with the practice and experimentation undertaken that this is also a big factor in my creative life. 

So....paints and FMQ .......two items for my creative portfolio (birds and flowers are a given).  Here is a Kaylee Porter download which is FMQed and then painted with Prismacolor pencils.


Also applique is a favorite as anyone who has followed me knows.  Yes, but here's the rub.  Applique is time intensive and at age 71, projects cannot be entered into lightly. 

And this brings me to my abandoned projects: 

This is a charming, colorful pattern and you can see I appliqued 6 months dutifully before deserting.  Dutiful was the feeling I had when I worked on this.  Duplicating this lovely pattern by designer Reece Hanson of Morning Glory Designs, was frustrating to me as the applique was very time consuming which I would not have minded except I was doing someone else and not exploring my own path. The two block on the right were my favorites.  I loved the combination of rigid blocks with the curvy flowers.
 

Here is the second project I am letting go.  


Sandra Liechner's Naturalist Notebook.



The Purple Finch is the last block I completed.  I feel I have done nice work on these but so what?  Basically my efforts are an attempt to copy what she has done and "I" am not really involved in the process.  Why should I do a lame after-image when she has already done the perfect one. For this much work, I would rather do my own adaptation of the series.  So, I doubt I will do more of these tho I love them.

Next time I will show you some of what I (probably) will be working on.

FROM OUR WALK ON THE WILD SIDE

Surprising a flock of pelicans at the lake

YOUR MOMENT OF ZEN
A winter image: Windblown frost clings to berries in Maine.
Happy Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Rohatsu, Happy Omisoka whichever winter holiday is yours.

Happy Stitching!

I am linking up with:
Slow Stitching Sunday, Bambi's Blog, Making Monday,  Em's Scrapbag, Esther's Wow, 
Midweek Makers, Whoop Whoop, Finish or Not!, and Off the Wall Friday.

19 comments:

  1. I love that you can decide to give up on projects, especially ones you have put so much time and energy into! I put things aside, but always think I will get back to them at some time in the future. I need to just let go and publicly state I'm finished, even if it isn't. Good for you!

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  2. Your FMQ is looking great! Feathered Friends is gorgeous. I have seen all those birds in the wild, and four of them I see in my own garden.

    Hope your hip recovery is progressing well.

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  3. Lovely to find you in my inbox! Your painted birds are beautiful, gorgeous. I adore your applique but I understand your reasoning about the designs although the work you have completed is too good to abandon! Mini quilts, cushion covers? I hope you make a good recovery from your operation Pam and look forward to seeing more of your work soon. Have a very Happy Christmas. xx

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  4. I hope you're surgery recovery is coming along. It takes a good awhile to complete recover from hip surgery, just keep up the therapy! Your fabric painting and pencils work is lovely. I've never done any of that, maybe someday? It's important that we work on the projects we really want to work on and what makes us happy. May you find peace in your journey. Blessings!

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  5. Pam your projects are so pretty. The ones that you abandoned take a lot of time! 2019 appears to be a year for your creativity to come around! I usually change some things about a pattern unless it is something that I really like. I have wanted to do some designing of my own, maybe this year...
    Hip surgery! I do hope that if you are recovering from that, that you heal quickly and Happy Birthday!!! 71 is still young - I turned 74 on Halloween! So you are still a young 71! Have a wonderful Merry Christmas!

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  6. Hope you are recovering “on schedule”. Love your work but I understand your desire to do your own thing. I always look for inspiration in others creations but have to go a step further and twist it into my won creation!

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  7. Love your work...I also done one of Helen's projects...I completely understand wanting to make your projects your own...

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  8. I love the birds in so many of your works! And your color work is inspiring to me. Very smart and self-aware to let go of the projects that are no longer making your heart sing. What will you do with the blocks?

    And thank you for the solistice greetings! I appreciate the recognition of those of us who aren't Christians :)

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  9. Love that frost photo!
    Merry Christmas!

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  10. The color palette you are working with is very nice and I salute you for being able to let go of projects you find less satisfying - not always an easy thing to do. Totally can relate to the “time” factor...I have a few more years on you and that combined with some hand issues is making me prioritize also. I can also understand your wanting to have your own creative statement, though the Naturalist Notebook blocks are stunning with your meticulous stitching. What I find remarkable that we have all been at this quilting thing for a long time and yet each day brings new discoveries - isn’t it great to be perpetual students!

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  11. Thanks for participating in Show and Tell Monday !! Happy New Year! Wish Bambi

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  12. I see two projects close to finish, Pam. Put Reece's blocks on point and it could be a lap quilt. Your exquisite Sandra's blocks would make a fabulous wall hanging with your choice of sashing. I look forward to your creativeness in 2019. I do change things up some times to make it my own. Merry Christmas, and God's blessings in the coming New Year.

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  13. I can see/hear that duplicating someone else's work is just not for you so time to move on. Make those beautiful applique pieces into wallhanging and lap quilts with your own unique sashings and embellishments and proceed with your creative life taking inspiration from those pieces which you love.

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  14. Lots of great projects in the works, but I understand about not wanting to duplicate someone's work. Make a table runner or wall hanging, some pillows, whatever, and move on! i really need to give myself the same advice.

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  15. Your work is amazing! You should finish that last bird one though, it really is beautiful. Like the above comment I agree. Make something of it and move on. What kind of paints are you using?

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  16. Oh My GOODNESS!!! Well, Happy Birthday, Happy Solstice, and Happy New Year, Pam! I love your attitude, and I love your cat's attitude even more... ;-) I absolutely understand what you mean about investing so much time and effort into reproducing someone else's design, especially as creative as you are. You learned what you needed to learn from each of those, and you are wise to let them go and move on. And yet, your applique is magnificent and ought not to be wasted... You know that we are all SALIVATING over these abandoned UFOs, don't you? Each one of us is like "pick me, Pam, send them to MEEEEE..."

    That quilt guild I joined a few months ago had a guest speaker named Pepper Cory and her presentation was all about "kintsugi," her method of cutting up and repurposing abandoned WIPs and orphan blocks to create something new, often asymmetrical, abstract, and utterly different from what the original pattern was supposed to be. I'm not saying YOU need to do this with these projects, but I hope you will let SOMEONE make something with these blocks for you. If they make you feel dutiful, well, they make ME feel INSPIRED. :-) If you feel like sending either one of these my way, I promise I will return them to you in a finished, usable state before you reach birthday #72, and I promise it will NOT look just like the pattern designer intended.

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    1. -- just to be clear, I am NOT suggesting cutting up your gorgeous applique, just thinking I would enjoy brainstorming a way to set them with other blocks, borders or what have you, and I would enjoy quilting them for you. :-)

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