I got the full-sized drawing for my Psalm 8 quilt top done. Here’s a picture:

I realize you really can’t make out the details very well… you’ll just have to wait for the fabric unveiling in stages. I picked out quite a bit of the fabric for the major portions of the background from my meager stash. I’ll only have to get a few FQs or 1/4 yd pieces from the LQS to get started on the background.

I’ve been reading through some of my landscape piecing books for tips to get me started. Ruth McDowell’s book had a tip on piecing the “S” curves for the two sky fabrics that will be a great help. In Mary Hackett’s, A Bridge to Landscape Quilts, I found this bit of wisdom:

“You have the quilting skills. The rest is simply the willful act of allowing your mind to let go of what you think you can or can’t do. It entails getting past what is “right” when it comes to quilting, of training yourself to really see the natural things around you, and employing well-loved quilting techniques to simulate them.”

And, so, let the process begin!

Piecing: 11 days of 17

I’m searching for my niche this year… someplace that feels like a comfortable fit. As I’ve spent time over this last week or so updating my quilting journal, setting up this blog and then answering the questions posed in the “ABC’s of My Quilting Style” meme, it’s given me a chance to pause and reflect on my quilting.

I’ve tried to take some of these thoughts that are swirling and twirling around in my head and put them down on paper and make some sense of it all. A task much more daunting than I think I’m up to. LOL Definitely a project that requires chocolate! Just looking over my list of WIPs and Some Day Quilts made me realize that I have a lot of ideas of my own that I need to persue. (As a side note here: A dear friend and I used to refer to ourselves as “the idea women” during a stint as business partners together–we came up with dozens of ideas for products but didn’t even get half a dozen into production. LOL I will probably never be at a loss for ideas!) I’m having a hard time trying to get my thoughts down in words, though; so I’ve decided for now to just leave it as a vague inclination. I’ll just let the process evolve and unfold.

I want to create and play and experiment like a “mad” scientist in his lab; only instead of chemicals, test tubes and such, I want to create, play and experiment with quilting fabrics, tools and techniques. And I want to put the ideas in my head into motion and onto fabric. I know what I like to see in quilts, and I know what I want to try out in my first “experiment.” I guess that’s good for now.