I just can’t seem to stay on top of this goal for myself. The idea is that I write this post at the end of every month. And once it becomes a routine it will become my monthly e-newsletter. How hard is that?
What happened two months ago? Good question. The way I remember things is by looking at the photos I took.
We started the process of building me a storage space off of the back of our house. It will be connected to my studio and feature tall shelves filled with textiles. I am hoping this will bring some order to our lives. My fiber collections have started to move out of the studio and into other people’s personal space. The truth is, my teenage sons no longer want to house my extensive collection of vintage Vogue patterns in their closet.
I did a final mark up on the book.
The reality of this book has been incremental. Last fall when I was getting up at four in the morning to stitch, the idea of a BOOK seemed so far away, so impossible. Improv Patchwork—Dynamic Quilts Made with Line & Shape is in the C&T catalogue listing upcoming publications. Just one more sign that I am almost an author.
I attended the first ever Wild Wonder Women of the Wrangells Bad Ass Hero Camp out in the Wrangell St. Elias National park. I cannot think of a better to jump start a summer than to wear Wonder Woman socks in the Wrangells. If you missed the adventure, you can read about here. Or even better, watch the video.
I attended a fascinating lecture given by visual artist Meredith Leich who was the Wrangell Mountains Center’s first artist in residence for the summer. She shared her animation of what a glacier melting over Chicago might look like.
We also learned some fun stop motions tricks for our phones.
I taught a small but intense quilt making workshop at the Wrangell Mountains Center. As usual, I learned more than my students. Afterwards I wrote a blog post about everything I wish I had said on the first day of class. You can read that here.
I continued a small slow burn of commitment to my collage project. I like to reward myself at the end of a good day with a bit gluing and painting. If you want to follow that journey, you can on my new instagram account called cutsthingsup.
I stitched and stitched and stitched on what I thought was going to be one big and beautiful quilt.
Unfortunately, I was wrong. I now know I have two smaller and similar quilts in progress. I had tried to splice in an expanded palette, and it did not work. I wasted several days stitching and unstitching—hitting that wall of failure, falling down, picking myself back up and accepting the destiny of the work.
I spent several afternoons building a banner with my dear friend Paul Scannell. I missed the McCarthy July 4th parade, but my fusing skills were present.
And then I packed up the McCarthy Cabin and headed back to town for a series of teaching adventures….
Can you remember what you did this summer? Is it fading fast or deeply embedded? Did you make, garden, hike, learn, or connect?
looks like an amazingly productive summer, & no wonder you didn’t have time to post about it! I planted tomatoes and scarlet runner beans, and i know i did this because I now have tomatoes and beans to eat. I went to business school for two full weeks – two full weeks of SITTING INSIDE AAHGGHH!. I wrote a business plan with much help from my coach, friends and family. I am now avoiding business stuff and working on my ART! I spent quite a few hours on ferries visiting a love interest on one island and my peaceful house on another island and I got a wee dog. So far so good. Thanks for asking! Thanks for posting!
Great post, sorry the big quilt project split in two, but glad you’ll get two smaller subsets. I gardened , hauled greens to town in home made bags from a Sew Fun workshop. Now I’m pickling the produce picking berries, hosted family for two weeks, followed all the artist talks at WMC, Climbed a mountain for my 60th B-day, created a bench for Tall Tales. Always enjoy your blog. Keep at it
Looking back by season is a good idea. On one hand I feel like I didn’t do much but that’s not true. Several quilts in progress, lots of family time and travel.
We all hit the wall of failure. I think I’m there with my latest quilt. At the stage where I either have to figure it out or abandon it. I’m leaning toward the latter.
And Maria, you really must bring your Wonder Woman socks to Houston!
Looking back through photos and through my planner helps me remember what has transpired, too. Sometimes I get so busy that it all blurs together! This summer has been inspiring and I have so many ideas that I want to explore, including many that began during your workshops in Sisters. Today is the last day of an open studio tour for me and then I only have a couple of days to prepare for our trip to Paducah. I need to get some handwork prepped because I’ll be away from my machines for a month. That will give me lots of time for sketching and slow stitching! See you in Kentucky.
Oh you have been busy! I can hardly wait to see your new book. Sad about your big quilt. I hope you will keep us posted on what you do next with it.
I often forget what I have done. Many times I will look at a pile of fabric or thread and have no idea what it was used for. I have to think and think before I finally remember what I actually made with it. And yes, looking back through my pictures helps.
We missed you on the 4th! Can I use some of your bits for my dreyas quilt? ; )
Heh, I know what you mean about the Wall of Failure. I’m glad you found the quilt’s destiny after all. I’m not very good at climbing over the wall. Also AWESOME SOCKS!
This summer has been very blurry, I’m having trouble remembering. There was some visiting family and friends, and going to visit them, hiking Mt St Helens, one lovely afternoon on a Seattle beach. Mostly it was work being stressful and long-houred. I didn’t do a lot of making lately because of having foster kittens. I give up my studio as the kitten room when they’re here. Which is sad, but KITTENS! Now there’s a kitten break and I immediately hauled out my latest quilt yesterday and started in.