Wander Not

Oh, I’m slow.  Been meaning to post a final finish and I’ve just been packed up getting life situated for fall and winter. But, I’m going to make it this week and show you the finished version of my pieced leaf.  I’m quite happy with it and have named it “Energy” because when I look at it, it lifts my spirits and gives me a bounce in my step.  But, I’ll have to make another one, if I want one for myself as this one has gone off to auction for the Longmont Quilt Guild.  Here it is - I kept the quilting pretty simple and just added a couple small flourishes including some cool, modern circles to just give the piece some motion – and ENERGY!  Ha!  There it is…full circle.  It has an art binding finish and is about a 20” square, all complete.

 

The leaf is made from jelly roll 2 ½” strips; the background is just several red and white fabrics I have collected over time.

You can view the items for auction – and register to bid and buy some if you’d like.  Check it out here charityauction.bid/LQG .  The auction formally starts on October 22nd, but you can look now - and you can look without buying, too, just for inspiration.  This is part of a Jelly Roll Challenge that the Guild promoted to provide a fundraiser for the Guild since we can’t do in-person things. There's some unique quilts out there - even bags, pillows, and more. 

Well, meanwhile, I took a day off from work – you know, for just mental health purposes – and spent the day doing things for me…including dropping in to my local quilt shop.  They have quite abbreviated hours and are only open during hours I have to work, so I took the opportunity and just went shopping – Not for anything in particular.  Often times, I just go look for fabric to see what fabric might speak to me, spark my imagination, and inspire me.  I must have wandered for a good 45 minutes, just looking. I had some ideas, but nothing that made me go, “ooh!”.  Until…until I found this fabric. 

 

It’s actually a panel – a “Tree of Life” panel (and this is only half of it).  Cool in its own right, however, I was struck by the scale of the print and the colors.  The randomness of the design also caught my eye.  So, I grabbed the bolt, admired the fabric for a bit and then realized I could use it for a background.  I worked to “marry” it to other fabrics in the store and found two that I liked.  Here’s what I’d put together for a background combination.

 

I have some fabrics that I’ve been collecting for a while and was looking for an inspirational idea to use for the background.  I now think I’ve found it.  I wanted something that would complement the colors in my stash and provide a nice change of tone.  My imagination wants to create modern Dresdens (you know, instead of the traditional Dresden Plate pattern, but highly similar) with a lot of the colors and then have a complementary background.  So, this is what I’ve landed on.

 

Now, with all the other projects I have going on, I’m about ready to start one more.  Suppose, though, that I will attempt to finish a couple of my UFO’s first, and then get to work on this one.  Like any quilter, I’m pretty sure I have far too many quilts I want to make and not enough time to make them all.  But still, I’m going to try. You just have to, right?!

I have at least two more art quilts that’ll be pieced, that I want to work on, but I need to refine those designs – they are my own, and like the leaf above, will be assembled in the same manner.  Maybe as the weather gets cooler and the yardwork less, I’ll have more time to play with fabric.  One can only hope.

Remember, “All who wander are not lost”.  Wander more.  Fret less.  Quilt on.