PQ10.2 - Red, White, and Blue

The second challenge of Project Quilting Season 10 was Red, White, and Blue.

The timing of this challenge was pretty opportune as it coincided with an improv challenge issued by Amy Ellis from Amy's Creative Side and a solids challenge due at the March meeting of the Omaha Modern Quilt Guild. Both weekends were relatively free of plans, AND I had Monday off of work in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. This set me up to make a larger, in-depth project.

A few years ago, I started my solids scrap stash with a giant bag of scraps found at a garage sale for only $3. Many of the scraps are fabrics with previous lives as clothing, sheets, tablecloths and decor. I've added to it as projects have left me useful scraps. This has yielded numerous projects over the last few years. The RBW challenge was a great time to dig into it again.

In the Facebook group for challenge participants, there was a fair amount of discussion about this particular challenge and levels of patriotism. The announcement included a mention that many flags around the world include the colors red, white, and blue. In the United States, we were in the midst of the longest federal government shutdown in history during a time when civil discourse seems to be utterly and completely in the past. Many in the group, including some furloughed federal employees, were feeling disenchanted with being overtly patriotic. Thus, "Fractured Star" was inspired.

Some in-progress shots:

The finished quilt measures 30" x 60" and currently features mediocre shadow quilting. The time constraint of the challenge required a finish. I am currently working on a digital quilting design to further explain the current state of discourse in the United States.

2019 Quilting Goals

I've felt for awhile now, that I've been on there right track with my quilting goals. For 2019, I want to continue the work I started in 2018.

2019 Quilting Goals

• Quilt more. This is always a goal. I've got a lot going on and sometimes there aren't enough hands to keep all the balls in the air. While sometimes it seems like quilting is just another one of these things, it is also so very therapeutic and helps me process everything else. I'm not really an extravert nor an introvert rather somewhere in between and situational, to some extent. Quilting fulfills both of these needs. Four guilds - yes, four - cover my extraverted self. The actual quilting, for me, is an excellent introverted activity.
• Document my quilting. I jump on and off the blogging bandwagon pretty readily. Life happens. However, this is one of few places I document my quilty work. Instagram is pretty complete, but the short format doesn't always allow for detail pics or the full quilt story.
• Quilt for us. A visitor to our house would have no idea a quilter lives there until they find my studio at the top of the stairs. I started a couple of quilts last year with the intent of letting them live on the couch. One is ready to bind and one is about half pieced. I want to finish these and maybe more in 2019.
• Publish a pattern. I've been designing quilts for awhile now, but I have yet to actually publish a pattern. It's about time.
• Finish. Finish. Finish. For a couple of years I have participated in the All People Quilt UFO Challenge on Facebook. It has been helpful to set goals and keep a spreadsheet of in-progress projects. I will participate again this year, but I don't think I am going to designate a project per month in advance. Rather, I think I would prefer to intentionally work on an UFO each month.
• Teach others. For the last few years I have spent some time quilting with youth. Anne finished her first quilt and entered it as a 4-H project at the county fair and in the Nebraska State Fair Open Class Quilt Show. I also taught some workshops with local 4-H youth. I'd like to pursue more teaching opportunities with youth and adults.

As is typical, my goals are not about specific projects, per se. I do have a few projects I want to tackle this year:

• Temperature Quilt Many members of the Omaha Modern Quilt Guild are making temperature blocks. Led by our resident meteorologist, Weather Ninja, we have all designated our own color palettes, scales, and specific weather phenomena that will be a part of our quilt. Mine is the #roygbivtemperaturequilt that I am improv piecing. Follow all of the quilts at #tempquilt19omqg.
• Gypsy Wife Quilt Last year I got as far as pulling fabric for the Just Wanna Quilt Gypsy Wife Quilt Along. I've found another that has a little slower pace and am going to jump in and tackle this as my 2019 big quilt.

PQ10.1: Hope Springs Eternal

I've dabbled with Kim Lapacek's Project Quilting for a few years. Until now, though, I've only ever finished and posted one project, last year's tiny Nebraska Home quilt. 2019 started with quite a few small and medium projects in my head and on my drawing board. Project Quilting seems like a good way to make some of them happen.

The first challenge was "Hope Springs Eternal". I had been making and discarding drafts of my miniquilt for the Modern Quilt Guild's MiniQuilt Swap. Some scraps from a couple of attempts became this pillow cover.

To more literally fit in the theme I added some vintage rick rack found at an estate sale. The finished project holds a 12" x 16" pillow form.

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The pillow may become a piece of holiday decor or get gifted to my niece whose name happens to be Hope.

2018 Quilting Goals in Review

Like many quilters, I try to start the year with looking back on the progress made towards last year's goals and set forth some goals to work towards over the coming year.

2018 in Review

In early 2018 I identified 5 quilty goals:

1. Quilt More - This is always a goal. There were months I did well and months I nearly didn't turn on my machine. I am pleased with the quilts I was able to finish, and I made progress on projects both new and old. 2018 Finishes can be found on their own page.
2. Document my Quilting - My intention was to blog more. I've done a fair job of Instagramming my work, but I want a record with a few more details. I was horrible at this. seventy-five of my 2018 posts have been written between Christmas and New Year's and back-dated to match when they should have been written. My haste to write numerous posts has made them all too short and lacking the details I had hoped to document.
3. Quilt for Us - Unless someone made it upstairs to my studio, a visitor to our house would have no idea that a quilter lives here. I started two quilts to live in our living room for movie nights, tent-making and sleepovers. One is down to just binding and one is about half-pieced. While not finished, I'm satisfied with this progress and will keep these two projects near the top of my 2019 list.
4. Publish a Pattern - This moved to the back burner. I'm not sure what my thoughts are about publishing. I have quilts in the design stage that I think would make great patterns, but the market is over-saturated. Craftsy's recent structural changes don't really surprise me, as I think we are in the early stages of a market correction in quilting. But, it was one avenue for new pattern designers to connect with potential customers. Publishing patterns was an early stage goal of being able to market myself more as a quilt teacher, but there are other avenues to do that. My current day-job, school and family commitments limit my time available to teach so that may be on indefinite hold, too.
5. Finish - I started the year with numerous UFO's and even more designs on my computer and formulating in my head. Like in 2017, I joined in the All People Quilt UFO Challenge. I only managed to finish two of the twelve identified quilts, though some others made measurable progress. I finished ten quilts in 2018 which was near 2017 where I completed eleven quilted projects.

2018 was not a year where I smashed my goals, but considering some of the craziness that happened in the rest of my life in 2018, I'm OK with where I'm at and looking forward to 2019.