Final Post for My Mapping Journey

DH and I were talking a few weeks back

and I mentioned needing to finish up

my map challenge project.

He asked me what I meant

so I explained the challenge.

He grabbed his sketch pad

and drew what he thought of 

when he considered a "map." 

And I knew what I would do 

for my final post of this challenge.

This black and white neighborhood fabric

was just too perfect for the background.

And I found eight different brightly striped fabrics

in the stash for crosscut inserted roadways.

I even pulled out a yard of Keiko Goke log cabin print

to use for the backing . . . but then things stalled.

Which honestly seems to have been 

my overall reaction to this particular challenge.

Lots of ideas and lots of stall-outs.

It's a worthy challenge but it just hasn't resonated enough

to make we want to cut into my fabrics and make a quilt.  

* * *

To see what has been going on during year fifteen

please visit my blog and use the various 2018 labels 

in my sidebar including AHIQ, RSC, and finishes.

***

Now that I consider my Maps and Mapping Challenge done,

I'm looking forward to the two new challenges in 2019.

Quiltdivajulie

Year Fourteen (2017)

In 2017 I made Metamorphosis

in response to the AHIQ Coins challenge.

I also made Words to Live By

in response to the AHIQ Words on Quilts challenge.

Words on the front and words on the back -

be sure to click through to see more photos.

I also participated in the online 

Gwennie-Inspired Medallion QAL.

Scrap Happens features 

the first four prompts/challenges -

baskets, childhood, log cabins, and stars.

For the fifth prompt/challenge - Something Fishy,

I created this small wall quilt since

Scrap Happens was already just the right size.

The center elements of "fishy" were created in a class

with Lynn Carson Harris at AQS Chattanooga.

This quilt features my first work with solids.

This two-sided quilt is named RETIRED.

It was created using dress shirts 

from my husband's closet

that were no longer needed 

after his long-awaited retirement.

I love this quilt for so very many reasons.

The leftovers were pieced into a second top

which I named Retired, Too

in honor of my 2014 retirement.

That one is still waiting to be quilted.

* * *

I'll admit that I've thought about 

abandoning this retrospective

several times over the past few months.

With only one more year to go,

I will finish what I started with one more post

near the end of the month.

Kaja asked me about my take-aways from this effort.

Here are my top three:

One - I am glad I saw this through instead of stopping.

Two - It is good to look back at where we've been

and what we've done - it's too easy to overlook

the progress we've made, 

the things we've learned about ourselves, 

and just how many gift/donation quilts we've actually made.

Three - I am more certain than ever that I truly am

a liberated, eclectic, scrappy, colorful quilt maker -

and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Quiltdivajulie

Mapping Challenge, done for now

I've finally finished this top.

If you want to know more, here's the link to my blog post.

Once I get over the sheer relief and joy of having reached the finish line I will try to find a moment to reflect on what I have learned in the process.  

Mapping - so near and yet...

I am so, so close to being done with this but things are conspiring.  My exhaust pipe is currently making dire noises but I can't get it seen till the end of the week, so my driving is limited.  As long as I keep below 30mph it's okay, but that rules out getting to where I do my piecing, unless I want to make myself very unpopular on the backroads of Nottinghamshire!

As it happens, I don't think the extra time thinking but not doing will do me any harm at all. This is the last photo I took and I can tell right away that all sorts of things are not working for me.

First off I don't like all the white sashing over on the right, second of all I am trying to stretch what just won't stretch.  I've added in new bits and pieces and more of the dark green but it feels rather like I'm forcing things. What I am pondering now is taking a more radical approach - maybe making the last bit pretty much all dark (maybe the dark blue and green in squares with lighter sashing, maybe keep the blue sashing but still go much darker in the squares).  Or even find a completely different and mis-matched fabric to fill in.  

Still plenty of time to come up with ideas, as I can't see much hope of getting back to this before next week.  

Year Thirteen (2016)

Just Wing It was one of my

Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects.

This photo was taken by Lynne in New Hampshire

while the quilt was there to visit

her Liberated Birds class at Quilted Threads.

Happy Accident was started in a workshop

with Sujata Shah in St. Louis.

Sujata and I have followed each other's blogs

for a long time so it was fabulous

to spend time together in real life.

Max --

 my APQS George sit down longarm --

came to live in my sewing studio mid-year.

Learning to quilt my own quilts continues 

to be quite the adventure!

Sea Glass has to be the MOST special quilt

 I've had the privilege to make.

It was gifted to our elder son and his wife

during their baby shower in late July.

They had told us for ten years

that they did not plan to have children.

We are thrilled that they changed their minds

and decided to have Little Man.

Moments in Time was created during 

Audrey's Quilty 365.

I opted for six months rather than twelve

to keep the quilt's size within reason.

It was also one of the very first quilts

I quilted with anything other than

simple wavy lines.

In November, ALL of the quilts from my book

BUILD A BARN - No Pattern Construction

were shown during the Davies Manor quilt show.

See Rock City

The Seasonal Sampler

and the incredible Gallery Quilts

(click the link in the paragraph above

 to explore more photos and stories)

Chris (left) quilted all of them and this was

the first time she had seen them

 completely finished and all in one place.

What an experience to spend that weekend

sharing the quilts with those attending the show.

2016 was a very good year.

Quiltdivajulie

Years Eleven and Twelve (2014 -2015)

In early 2014 I created this wall quilt named

Create With Abandon

using leftover liberated free pieced letters from Lynne.

It was juried into a number of AQS shows

and now hangs on the wall in my design studio.

Using more leftover orphans and orts from Lynne

and free pieced words from Lee Ann aka Nifty Quilts,

I created my quilt named What Matters Most.

This photo was taken in New Hampshire

during my visit with Lynne in 2014.

The quilt would later travel with me to Chattanooga

for a photo op with Lee Ann at the AQS show.

2014 was also the year of the three Celebrations quilts

made for our nephews and their families.

(Warning -this is what happens when you purchase

 TOO MUCH Laurel Burch holiday fabric . . . )

And as 2014 came to a close,

my sister "purchased" three of my quilts 

and Christmas gifted them to her in-laws.

Left to right:

Granny Smith, Summer Sorbet, and Tickled Pink.

During 2015 I continued to make quilts 

from Sujata Shah's Cultural  Fusion Quilts book.

This is No Ugly Flowers

made from her Peppermint Pinwheels design.

This is Midtown Vibe made for our younger son's bed

using her Rail Fence design.

And this is Azaleas in Bloom 

made with a saree and silks brought from Asia by our DIL 

using her Windmills / Winter designs.

When our oldest nephew and wife 

learned their third child would be a girl,

they requested a very pink quilt.

Girly Girl was the result.

Inspired by Teresa Rawson's 

X Marks the Block tutorial.

(permanent link in the sidebar)

And during 2015, I finished the six quilts

started during 2014, my first year with 

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

This is Arrowheads.

And this is Fruit Loops -

which has recently been gifted

to my brother-in-law.

The Eclectic Goose

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Umbrellas Unfurled

I'll be teaching a week long class for this one

in September 2019

at the John C. Campbell Folk School.

And Happy Happy Joy Joy aka HHJJ.

Another interpretation using 

Teresa's X Marks the Block design.

* * *

I'm very glad I chose this retrospective

approach to the Maps and Mapping challenge

instead of designing and piecing another quilt.

It has been most interesting

to navigate through my own quilting journey.

And there are still three more years

to share before reaching the present day.

Quiltdivajulie

Years Nine and Ten (2012-2013)

This post contains mapping details

for the next two years of my quilting journey.

2012

This is Uncle Will's Closet,

a quilt quickly claimed by our younger son

and still hanging on the wall of his apartment.

(flimsy reveal post HERE)

Double click to supersize this photo

Amish Strings is one of my all-time favorites.

You can read it's reveal post HERE.

And you can read the series of posts for this quilt

that were shared on the UnRuly Quilting blog

by clicking HERE.

There were many other quilts 

started and/or finished in 2012,

but not necessarily important enough 

to be listed out here.

And so began 2013 . . . 

This is my studio spirit doll -

you can read all about her HERE.

She continues to reside in my design studio.

Double click to supersize this photo

Ongoing Conversation is one of my favorite rescue quilts.

The top was pieced and quilted by Wanda for her daughter

many, many years ago.

You can read the flimsy's reveal post HERE.

(sadly, all of the photos in the quilt's 

reveal post have disappeared

but the links still work)

Double click to supersize this photo

2013 was the year of my 60th birthday.

My Sessanta Stelle project

was created to celebrate that fact.

CLICK HERE to read about the collaborative project,

check out the extensive photo album,

and the names of all those who contributed stars. 

See Rock City - the quilt - 

was completed in early 2013.

SRC ended up becoming the cover quilt

for my book BUILD A BARN - No Pattern Construction.

(publ. 2016 by AQS)

The quilt is currently on display at Quilted Threads

in Henniker, New Hampshire.

CLICK HERE to visit the BUILD A BARN blog

and be sure to check out the many tabbed pages

including those for the book's gallery quilts and quilt makers.

Quiltdivajulie

Years Seven and Eight (2010-2011)

Asian Odyssey is a special quilt for many reasons.

Our DIL travels for her work - a lot.

She brought home a wide variety of items from 

multiple Asian countries and I managed to work them

into a coherent wall quilt for her 2010 birthday.

She loves the quilt and all that it represents.

Later in the year, Lynne and I had a swap.

She made me a fabulous quilt

(No Rules for Julie)

and I made OBSOLESCENCE for her.

I took the quilt all around town 

and used my photo shoot images

to make her a keepsake book

that I sent with the quilt.

She and her cat Millie LOVE "O" 

When elder son asked if I could "fix my favorite jeans"

I had to tell him no, that they were just too far gone.

But I surprised him with this quilt

made with those tattered and worn jean legs.

I am humbled and amazed at how often I see 

HIS FAVORITE JEANS in use at their house.

SPIRIT SONG is the second Fickle Pickle quilt I've made.

This one has such a marvelous story -

it was started by my friend Chris in our class

(when I made Colors of Joy)

but she was working outside her comfort zone

(she preferred Thimbleberries 

so these brights were just too much)

and she never finished her project.

I begged and begged for her to give the remains to me

and, several years after the fact, she finally did.

I added lots more fabrics and created this beauty.

Chris quilted it for me 

and it hangs on the wall in our foyer

(where Colors of Joy used to hang)

and I smile every time I look at it.

2011 brought my first legos quilt 

inspired by Tonya Ricucci's super scrappy 

Ellis Island quilt.

Lots and lots of us around the world

made legos-style quilts -

there's info in the linked post above.

Mine was named Dumpster Diving by our younger son.

Little did I know that this humble scrappy quilt

would inspire me to make a series of quilts  . . .

there are now three as of 2018

with two more in the works.

I made GOTTA LOVE IT after I was 

inspired by a magazine pattern by Wendy Williams.

I added the piano key border just because I could.

(and because I had loads of extra fabrics)

I used the trimmings and leftover bits and pieces

along with more of those extra fabrics

to create a fabulous scrappy back.

I love this truly two-sided quilt.

2011 was also the year of orphans and orts quilts.

Lynne sent me a box with all sorts of bits and pieces.

that I used to create HIDDEN POTENTIAL.

(double click to see the details)

I pieced the center of this to be the back for 

Hidden Potential - but it became a full fledged quilt

because it was just too grand to be the back of anything.

MAGIC HAPPENS has been used on Lynne's bed 

ever since it flew off to New Hampshire.

She absolutely loves it.

When Lynne visited Memphis a few years later,

she brought the quilt so we could take this photo.

Lynne (left), Julie (center), and Chris (right)

Lynne's orphans and orts

plus

Julie's design and making

plus

Chris's always amazing quilting

equals 

one very special quilt.

* * *

Quilts make people smile.

They connect long-distance friends.

They embody LOVE.

Quiltdivajulie