We get excited about projects, sign up for swaps and bees and quiltalongs and those quilt endorphines pump like crazy (or at least mine do).
And then real life happens...
.... you live a year with a partially re-covered couch
.... your halloween wall hanging gets shoved in a box unfinished around thanksgiving
.... your dead simple pallete sits teasing you in a corner
The word keeps turning and you wait for things to settle down.
Please tell me you know the feeling??
Then sometimes there are happy moments of epiphany that balance out those moments. Like this:
Moody Blues Bee member Cristina is having a 'life happens' month. She was having trouble getting a block and fabric ready for her month , and said she was thinking of skipping her month.
That broke my heart! Skip a month? That's no fun!
And then I had an a-ha moment..
...that out-of-sight but not out-of-mind Dead dimple pallete flashed in my brain. 
..the quilt I have been having a flickr love affair with flashed in my brain.
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| "Fact or Fiction" quilt by Karen of Blooming Poppies |
I've sent the ladies the following:
Quilt math hurts my brain, especially this improvisational stuff. So I've asked them to make 6.5" and 8.5" 'bricks' of (almost) any length with the fabric they receive I will string the bricks together.
I'm literally shaking with excitement! I am trying something new, using my much adored dead simple QAL fabric and Cristina will have plenty of time to prep for her turn as Queen bee. WIN WIN WIN!!
And the cheesy side of me loves that this group of talented ladies will be making 'bricks' to help me build my quilt. It’s going to be great to see what they all come up with!
What are your thoughts on improv piecing? Love it or hate it? Never tried it or old news?
What are your thoughts on improv piecing? Love it or hate it? Never tried it or old news?
Improv quilting - I love the look of it but have a hard time doing it! I'm a planner, and winging things does not come easy to me. Even the times that I have tried to be improv/random, I do a whole LOT of planning beforehand. hehehe
ReplyDeleteThanks for the visit to my blog, I look forward to looking into yours a bit more too! It's lovely.
This was an awesome post. I am totally having a Life Happens few months it seems! I was just telling my hubby last night that I just can't seem to get Any of my projects done let alone finish the responsibilities to my family. Um, I only sent out some of my Christmas Cards...at this point the rest are going to be Happy New Years cards! So this post was exactly what I needed to read. Perhaps everything does happen for a reason and I just have to give myself a well needed break. We just can't always do everything right!? Timing has a way of working out in the end like this awesome project you have just created with the DSQAL fabric!
ReplyDeleteI am sooooooo excited to get started on your bee block. I've never tried improv piecing, so this will be a first for me. Yay you for my experiments :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic idea! I think it's going to be gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteWhat a genius idea! :o) Can't wait to see it all progress.. I am with Rebecca.. I sooo related to this post! I didn't get any Christmas cards sent out this year.. I have about four unfinished projects going, and and am just trying to get the Christmas tree down sometime before the Super Bowl. Ugh. ;)
ReplyDeleteThat is brilliant, it will be so fun to put that quilt together. We all have a life happens month, year, day. Eventually things sort themselves out.
ReplyDeleteWell, I am having a flickr love affair with these blocks! I want to drop every project and make blocks like these, right this minute! I do like improv. Sometimes it just feels great to grab up a handful of beautiful fabric, toss ou the rules and the symmetry and just go with it. I especially love this type of project right after I finish up something that very fussy and exacting.
ReplyDeleteI am excited for you! I love that quilt "fact or fiction"! I have never done an improve quilt unless you count the t-shirt quilts..but nothing modern... I cannot wait to see your quilt finished! Doing group projects does get me exited... I am weird that way. LOL
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