Lenten Twelves : Four

I can't express just how lovely this week was. Slow quiet mornings, productive solitary days, church-filled evenings. Wednesday night was sewing with the church ladies night, and it was absolutely wonderful. I passed up Village Draft House with my grad student friends to go, but I would make the same decision again in a heartbeat. Digging in to a homemade dinner, seeing everyone's projects, and chatting the evening away is just the kind of perfect night I love. This week I sketched out five or six new low-volume blocks to piece and print and dove into the first one.

As you can see...I didn't print it. I went back and forth quite a bit, as per usual. I called my Mom. I talked out the design with Brent. I debated with friend Alyssa. The final decision was to leave this zen quilt to stand alone--and then make it exactly the same in the next weeks and print it. Gotta love indecisiveness. I do like the calm simple aesthetic, although I think it could look striking printed as well.

What color would you over print it?

I can't get red out of my head.

(If you don't understand what I mean by overprinting, check out Lenten Twelves : Two)

I experimented with a couple other things as well this week from glue basting to interfacing. Ironing interfacing to the back of my quilt top for added stiffness proved interesting. On one hand, I had no pulling or shifting as I quilted. Hooray! On the other hand, the quilting does not bump up as much. Hmm. Bummer of all bummers it didn't stay bonded to the quilt top, so the edges were still flimsy. Hrumph. I shall try a lighter-weight interfacing next week and Stitch Witchery it to the edges for added adhesion. (Yep, that's a verb.)

On a different note, photographing this morning was a bit of an adventure. I chuckled as they loaded into Lightroom and thought I'd share a bit of the process. I call it

Anatomy of a Blog Photo.

1. Shoot, forgot the self-timer  2. Too zoomed in  3. Lying on my back on the floor and use full palm in last ditch attempt to get the quilt to cover my piece of tape, but I'm not fast enough and my arms are just not that long  4. Misjudged entirely  5. Too low  6. Caught my face  7. Too low again; bummer that one could've been cute  8. Just not quite short enough sitting down...even when I duck...  9. Person walks between me and the camera right as it goes off; nice lunch...  (numbered left to right, then top to bottom)

Can anyone relate? What are your blog photo blooper stories?

If you missed the Lenten Twelves Intro Post, follow the link and read it now for background on the challenge my mum and I took up this Lent. If you'd like to join us or just follow along you can find us on instagram with #LentenTwelves or just check out her blog Fibermusing and her Lenten Twelves. Find my Lenten Twelve One, Lenten Twelve Two, and Lenten Twelve Three.

Lenten Twelves : Sabbath

Sabbath. It's such a foreign concept in our go-go-go culture. However, some of my best semesters and seasons have been those in which I've dedicatedly kept a Sabbath, the busy craziness punctuated by afternoons of slow and mornings of quiet. Sometimes it has been journalling over solitary breakfasts. Other times it has been recast as post-church sewing in a tiny music-filled sunny apartment. The jury is still out on whether sewing is actually allowed on my Sabbath these days, but "can't-stop-won't-stop" seems like an appropriate phrase to insert here.

This week I explored Sabbath in quilt form: six colorful days to run about and chase after life and deadlines and then a pause. For resting and leaning into life and remembering the many things we are so thankful for.

Although I may not be entirely happy with this quilt's final result, I am excited to move on to weeks four and five of the Lenten Quilt series. Feasting into creativity with mum this Lent has been such a good practice, and the weekly goal has put pleasant pressure on me to sew and push boundaries and experiment. Experiments, of course, do not always end up as we expect (otherwise they would be called demonstrations, science fair 101). I prefer to think positively, though. This week I did not fail, instead I found something I will not be spending more time pursuing in the future. What important lessons those are to learn as well.

Have you spent time fleshing out your style and direction? When was the last time you pushed the boundaries of your quilting far enough to find an edge? 

Maybe it's time to try.

Join my mum over at Fibermusing and I as we feast into creativity this Lent or simply follow along through our blogs or on Instagram with #LentenTwelves.

Lenten Twelves : Two

Do you ever get a quilt pattern or color palette stuck in your head? Two summers ago it was triangle quilts. Last winter it was coral and navy. Then it was plus quilts. Now it's Ohio Stars.

I try so hard to resist (not quite sure why honestly, probably just my stubborn nature), but I've come to the conclusion that it's best to have out with it, the better to move on (or at least the better to make use of the single-minded concentration.) This week I had an evening star completely sketched and calculated out when Printing marched into my creative mind quickly followed by Ohio Star. I went with it. What better way to play with ideas than a weekly twelve inch quilt?

Feasting into creativity with my mum this Lent has been really lovely so far. We keep each other accountable and check-in with one another. Last night she provided the pep talk I needed to get off my butt and actually sew. She really is great. I'm so very thankful for her.

And speaking of sewing last night, I tried free-motion quilting on my Bernina for the first time, and it was like butter! I didn't realize how difficult my Brother had been until just last night. I will definitely be practicing my free-motion quilting more in the coming weeks through these quilts, and I feel much less reluctant to try now! Hurrah!

What sewing mental blocks or fixations have you been experiencing lately?

Any you might tease out in a quilt this Lenten season?

If you missed the LentenTwelves Intro Post, go follow the link and read it now for background on the challenge my mum and I took up this Lent. If you'd like to join or just follow along, you can find us on instagram with #lententwelves or just check out her blog Fibermusing  and her Lenten Twelves.

Lenten Twelves : the start

Every year for Lent I chose to do something (or to not do something), a habit to form, a priority to adjust, a rhythm in which to settle. New Year's resolutions come and go for me, but Lent is forty days of commitment. When I choose to do something, I do it. This year I wasn't quite sure what I was feeling called to. I'd already given up Netflix for February (right? is there anything to even give up after that?).

That's when my mom called me with a challenge: one twelve inch quilt per week. Instead of fasting from something we're feasting into creativity. I love it. Plus, we're doing it together. Here's the first.

I've never pieced a curve before and it very much intimidated me, but Kim over at Leland Ave Studio encouraged me to finally take the plunge. I figured a twelve-inch quilt was the perfect place to give it a go. Guys, it was actually so easy. I used SheCanQuilt's little video and Noodlehead's Sunny Side Up quilt pattern and it was a breeze! For real! When I finished the first block, I literally yelled "I DID IT!" right in the middle of facetiming my boyfriend. Then I promptly hung up on him to call my mom. Yep, I was that pumped. I may not have gotten the curves lined up perfectly with one another but one step at a time.

As you also might have noticed, I switched my tune part way through and traded the citron out for coral. Looking at the pictures, I'm not entirely sure that was the right choice, but it's okay. That's exactly what experiments are about!

Are you doing anything for Lent? If you'd like to join my mom and I or just follow along, you can find us on instagram with #lententwelves or just check out her blog Fibermusing and her first Lenten Twelve quilt.