Living life in the moment

I forgot that I came by, read a couple of posts, got distracted, and didn't respond. Sometimes I do things in my head (only) and in my head that thing is done. Of course, the rest of the world can't know what's in my head. (It's best for the world that things stay that way.) 

So here I am, much later, and I've caught up with all of your beautiful projects. Here are a few of my own projects. The first two were completed tops that have been waiting their turn on the long-arm for quite some time.

These two are more recent makes. Tops made in 2020. Both are improv quilts for different reasons. This first one found its positivity in that it's a donation quilt. The money from its sale will go to my guild and some boy will be happy from its warmth.

This quilt. I didn't know what to do with this insane thing. One day I just tried something new and voila! I loved it. Getting everything to go together was a bit of a struggle but also a celebration when I figured it out. It's my favorite quilt... until the next one. 

Most of my days the last month or so have been spent crafting small items to put in a craft booth at a local artist market. I can't even explain what's happened with that endeavor, but I'm enjoying the short break from quilting "ALL THE TIME," according to my family. 

Thanks to everyone who responded. It's wonderful to know that all are well. 

Hourglass challenge update

 I started this quilt in a Sherry Lynn Wood workshop back in November. Since it was a two day workshop, I brought home only the beginnings of something. 

See me pondering what that something was? Let's just say I was not impressed. And things didn't look better when I got home. All I could think was that I had the bare bones of something.

In January I challenged the Cotton Quilters' Guild to bring a difficult unfinished project to the next meeting. At that time we would each present the project and tell the group what our challenge was. 

In March we were to bring the project to show. The beauty of the idea was that everyone got to choose her own piece and decide for herself what she would try to accomplish. 

At some point I combined that challenge with the AHIQ hourglass challenge. It really began morphing at that point, and I decided to try a Chinese Coins setting. AHIQ might save me a second time, right?

And this, dear friends is where we are now. So onto the longarm it goes. Hopefully this week.

Ruby Snippets a finish for 2020

This quilt is titled Ruby Snippets. I have no idea why, that's just the only thing that I could come up with. Regardless, it about as improv as a quilt can be. I started with beige scraps and intended that would be the quilt. But just beige didn't work, it cried for some color.  So I relented.

And voila. I'm not sure I can explain my process. Mostly I have a short attention span, when I get tired of something, I make a change. In this case I added red. You remember the red challenge? Well, so did I. What better way to solve the blahs, right?

I do most of my deciding standing in front of the design wall. That was certainly true in this case. These pieces are just that, pieces. Big chunks of squares and rectangles--before I added the larger neutrals. I added those just as I would for HST, except I cut everything into rectangles about the same size. I drew diagonal lines and sewed on either side, then cut on the lines. In every case I pressed toward the solid piece.

The next feeling of "ahn, enough of this" I dug out some larger pieces of beige and used them to turn what was (for the most part) rectangles, into right triangles.

It was while I was trying to figure out how to arrange the new diagonals that I hit on creating these bold lines with the red pieces. In some ways it's meant to look like a log cabin on the diagonal. But I may be the only one to see that. 

I finished it just in time to enter it in the Gulf States Quilting Association's biennial show.

I have no idea

I have no idea where this is going. It was supposed to be a quick little quilt made with scraps just to give me something to do while I was between "real" projects. Sometimes I just can't get going. I resolve that problem with a new project. Every time. I resolve to work on finishing something. Anything. But the new project just happens.

I guess the Red as a Neutral just isn't out of my system, because when I went to the scrap cupboard, they somehow followed me to the worktable. Anyway, there were some large chunks of scrap fabric in both bins, so win! I tried mixing it up a little and put some pieces on the design board. No, that was not working.

So I cut some pieces, trying to tone it down a little with larger pieces of neutral (left), making these rectangles cut on the diagonal and pieced together. No, not really working. I tried to make them into windmills (right). Still not a plan. But now I have a mission. I just don't know what that might be.
I'll keep you posted, both here and on my blog.

Red is a neutral challenge MET!

Yes, done. Finished. Complete. Thank goodness.

But it's now Another Red Feather. You can read about it on my blog, Fleur de Lis Quilts.

Update on my "Red as a Neutral"

I'm not sure that's going to be the title, but right now it's all I have. I'd love suggestions. This is where I was this morning...

  and this is where I am now....

The only thing left to add are the borders. I've decided on a five inch border all around to add more red. 
Yes. More. Red. It's a neutral, you know? Plus the quilt needs to be a little bigger, and I am tired of making these fiddly blocks. So borders it shall be. It's about 48" square. I've cut out some five inch strips, so that will add another eight or nine inches overall--just about right. 

Red is a Neutral... five more blocks

I didn't do much this week. (I don't even know why!) But I managed these.

I know I'm dyslexic, but even that doesn't explain the mistakes I made while making the three blocks I needed this week. So why do I have five, you ask. That story is on my blog. Be forewarned: it's not that interesting, but it is typical Mary reasoning.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Oh, the guilt!

I am feeling a bit guilty about not posting in such a long while. Or reading in weeks. Or commenting on anything I have read. But I try to keep guilt at bay. Life is tough enough at times without adding to the difficulties. So the guilt is really not that bad.

Anyway, I've finally put together some idea of what I could be doing with the Red Is a Neutral challenge. It's taken me a while to get here, but now that I'm on my way, I'm enjoying the challenge. My traditional quilt guild is working on a block of the month sampler quilt. I tried to go a couple of different ways with it: scrappy, then controlled scrappy. Nothing working. Then I ruined the couple of blocks I had made when I power-washed the studio. I figured it was a sign.

That's when it (finally!) occurred to me that I could combine the sampler and the challenge into one awesome project. These blocks are the first five of what I think will be 18. Each month two or three guild sisters present a block for the sampler quilt. We get to see a finished block, get show and tell instruction on how to make it, and get written instructions to take home. The following month we should return with, you guessed it, two or three completed blocks. We started in January. We should finish in July. The quilts are supposed to hang in our guild show in September. Everyone laughs when I say this out loud. Why?

I think I have enough red for a complete quilt. I know there is not enough of this gray and black, but I plan to add more of those colors as needed. I also plan to wait before sewing the blocks together so that I can mix them up enough that the grays and blacks look like they all belong.

The blocks are 12" square except this last one. It's 15" because I messed with the instructions. Nonetheless, this block will be in the quilt. As my mom loved to say, "Somehow. Someway." I guess I'll just figure it out as I go along. Momma used to say that, too.

More about the beginning of this project on my blog, Fleur de Lis Quilts.

Finally! Chinese Coins finish

I worked on a Chinese coins quilt way back when we were challenged to do so. It seems so long ago. I have six granddaughters, which really means that I have a great deal of pink fabric. Pink of all types and shades and prints. It's almost wrong, except that I still sew for said granddaughters which leaves me with lots of scraps. I decided at some point to put them to good use. We were working on Chinese coins at the time, so why not?

This is what I came up with. I added the teal just because it was there and I liked the contrast. I discovered this pretty pink flowered linen in mom's stash and decided that it was the perfect backing. That despite the fact that it wasn't quite long enough. A strip of hot pink added to the top and bottom fixed that.

Naturally I wrote a post on this little quilt. You can find it here if you're interested.

Gamble or not? A few thoughts about my quilting

Those of you who know me, know quite well that I tend to be “all over the place”
when it comes to my quilting. Those words in quotes because they may describe
me, but it’s more of the way others describe me. In my thinking I’m just me.

In the last couple of years I have ventured into exploring my interest in visual art, art quilting and quilt paintings. The more I explore, the more I want to try something new or different. It’s as if I want to learn for the sake of learning, not particularly because I want to have a skill that I’ll use again and again. I just want to know the skill, prove to myself that I can do whatever I’m interested in at the moment, then drop it into my quilting toolbox and move on. When I need it, the skill is there. Sort of like my guys have screwdrivers, hammer and nails, etc. in their toolboxes. (The sizes of which prove that one needs everything available, just in case.)

So I’m not a very consistent quilter. I’m not surprised. At all. It’s just how I’m wired.

For example, I devour books when I’m reading. However I can go months without reading anything

beyond a few blogs (hey, chickies!) and whatever magazines happen to come to the house.
Devouring those in an hour. And I’m not particular about the topics: Car Trends,
Popular Mechanics, AARP whatever, etc.

So what’s my deal? I don’t know.  Surely anything else would have me bored out of my mind. Of course, there are downsides: I don’t think I’ll finish that book I’d love to see published. I am bad about agreeing to doing something that I easily lose interest in. Then I have to MAKE myself keep to the promise. (No fun in that!) I make rash decisions. And act on those decisions without thinking them through. Thank goodness there’s a guy in my life who is all about negativity and provides every rationale that would get past me. Yes that would be every rationale. Guess I should just stick to learning skills and playing. It’s one of the best parts of being

retired. I can play, practice, and fill my silly head with all manner of ideas. Then show
them to Richard when someone else takes the gamble and wins.

On a side note: This week I visited every blog on the side bar but ran into a few issues.
My security app (Webroot Secure Anywhere) gave me a warning saying your site is "A
High Risk Site." If you don't have a comment from me from this week, then most likely
your blog is one of the problems. (I suppose I should have made a list.) If you want me
to try again, email me at mary.marcotte@gmail.com or comment here and I'll check again.

Improv and Metacognition -- 3

It’s been a while since our last metacognitive discussion. I finished another bipolar art quilt since then, but I'm going back to the first one for this essay.

Bipolar 3: Balance

Are you ready to talk again? First let’s review some of the discussion from last time.We talked about color, their representations and the feelings they invoke. We also talked about shapes and blocks and how we use them. Then we jumped into those parts of the quilt that are unplanned. They just sort of happen. If you made a quick jot list of your processes, take a look at that list. We’ll come back to it in a bit.

Let’s have one more conversation with that quilt from last time. Think about how that quilt started. Did you pull fabrics? Did you begin with a block that you wanted to use? Sometimes it’s a beautiful fabric that begins the work. What specific idea started this quilt?

You’ve jot listed your process already, now it’s time to determine whether that list is accurate. If necessary, make changes and think about what you usually do. Did you do anything differently on this quilt? If so, which method do you prefer? Which works better for you? Can you pinpoint why? Make notes of any responses you have to these questions and any other ideas that strike you as you think about your processes.

Bipolar 1: Creative

Take a moment to think about your other notes from the previous discussion. This time dig deeper. Think about your thinking. Ask yourself why and how. Why did you feel these emotions? How did you handle the negative ones? What do you do when you feel encouraged or happy?

Think about your space and its atmosphere. How does it affect you and your work?

• ·        Sound: Do you work in quiet? Do you have music playing? What kind—upbeat, soft, soothing, etc. Do you sing along? Do you focus better with or without sound?
• ·        Sight: What does your workspace look like? Clean, organized, creatively messy, etc. What colors surround you? What impedes your work or focus?
• ·        Smell: Do you have candles or other scents? Which are your favorites? Do you always include scents when you work?
• ·        Tactile/Logistical: Which are your favorite fabrics? Do you “pet” your fabric? How often do you clean your workspace? Does dust, clutter, etc. affect your mood? Is it difficult to move around physically? Do you have enough space to put your work down? Can you walk out and close the door or must you clean up after every session?
• ·        Taste: What foods and drinks do you generally have nearby? Coffee, tea, soda, etc. Snacks, healthy snacks, etc. How often do you stop to refuel? How convenient is refueling?
• ·        Mood: Think about your moods when you are in your studio space. Why do you feel this way? What actionable things can you do in your space to improve your mood? How will you put those to work?
• ·        Visitors: Do you allow visitors in your space? Why or why not? How do you defend/share your space?

·       Think about any other effects that are in your space. Can you increase the positive ones? Can you decrease the negative one? Make a list that you can return to at a later time when you are ready to begin this work.  

As I’ve done before, I will answer questions so that you can “see” me “think out” my answers. To make this post a little more concise, however, I will remove the parts of the paragraphs that are not applicable.

how that quilt started. What specific idea started this quilt?

I started this quilt with an idea of wanting to extract or render my thoughts about bipolar depression as a way of dealing with the feelings associated with my having the disorder. The idea came from my pondering how I was handling this complex frame of mind. It has now morphed into management skills for manic episodes. 

Why did you feel these emotions? How did you handle the negative ones? What do you do when you feel encouraged or happy?

I didn’t write what my emotions were as I worked on the quilt. I remember feeling happy with the quilt as it moved forward. I had worked out several techniques and had a plan before pulling the fabrics. I was not concerned so much with the fabrics because I knew I already had them in my stash. The techniques are relatively easy ones. My plan did not include all the techniques I used, but I tend to play and work in an improv kind of way, meaning I tend to give myself leeway to choose as I go along.

I’ve always been an expressive person with many moods. Opposing moods can occur at the same time—I am bipolar. On those manic-all-over-the-place occasions I must fight the urge to abandon everything and try to find something small to focus on. 

When I am pleased with my work, I tend to sing, dance, move more. It’s as if my mind and body work in tandem and are more fluid. Of course, the opposite occurs when I get stuck. In those negative times I walk away from the project that frustrates me. I try to work on a philanthropy project. If I can convince myself to do something for just a few minutes, I generally overcome the blah of a depressive mood. Of course, it helps to take my medicine.

I’m not going to answer the laundry list of questions about my studio. That would bore you half to death. Instead, I’ll let you get to your own answers.

Improv and metacognition -- 2

Well, that first article got mixed reviews. I love that. It means that we're thinking, and you are willing to offer your truths. That's a sure sign that you're interested, and even if you aren't participating, your interest in what the rest of us do may encourage you to revisit these thoughts. Maybe you'll learn something about your quilting vicariously through us.

Before we begin, I want to encourage you to analyze your work without commitment. In other words, you are looking at what, why, how you quilt. But you are not committed to making changes. It's possible that you are exactly where you need to be in your quilting journey and this is just part of the journey. Feel free to use (or not) the information you glean in whatever way you choose.

Let's analyze a little more, shall we? Go back to your notes from the earlier article. Remember that we were naming the parts--determining which ones were intentional and which were happenstance. 

Go back to those parts of the quilt that you identified as intentional. Try to answer these questions: 

   1. Why did you use these particular colors? What does each color represent? A person, feeling, place? What do the colors remind you of? Any question or thought that you have about color should be recorded. 

    2. Take a look at the shapes and blocks. Again, why these shapes? Do they represent anything? Did you use traditional blocks? Why? If you used the idea of traditional blocks but made them your own, how and why did you do so? 

Now think about those other parts--those that were fortuitous. These questions will be different: 
   3. How did you come to this part? Jot list the process. Do you just let things happen? How long does it take or how many times (estimate) do you change your mind. How do you feel as you work this way--happy, frustrated, inhibited, encouraged?

   4. How do you know when you have these parts right? Again, jot list the thoughts or ideas that you think answer the questions.

As I did before, I'll answer these questions here so that you can see my thinking. (I actually did this in my classroom on occasion--I did my thinking out loud so that students could see my brain at work. It's especially helpful when students need to practice a skill that is difficult to name and define.)

   1. Why did you use these particular colors? What does each color represent? A person, feeling, place? What do the colors remind you of? Any question or thought that you have about color should be recorded. 

grayish black--depression and psychological pain

white--a life with hope or at least a life when depression is not the only thing

the green may be happiness and the red joy but I'm not certain

    2. Take a look at the shapes and blocks. Again, why these shapes? Do they represent anything? Did you use traditional blocks? Why? If you used the idea of traditional blocks but made them your own, how and why did you do so? 

the small shapes represent attempts at being creative even when depression strikes

the small black dot on the lower left is the darkest part of depression--a deep, dark place to avoid; thank God that for me it is small

some of the same shapes on both sides to show that in bipolar disorder opposing feelings may occur at the same time 

nothing in this art piece is traditional

   3. How did you come to this part? Jot list the process. Do you just let things happen? How long does it take or how many times (estimate) do you change your mind. How do you feel as you work this way--happy, frustrated, inhibited, encouraged?

• the process--begin with an idea and color
• refine that idea through brainstorming and mind-mapping (which can take days)
• pull fabrics to work on the background
• begin adding color and shapes that reflect ideas in my mind map
• keep going (it gets difficult at this point)
• keep going by editing and refining even more
• leave the piece alone for a while
• push back(question, analyze, define what I have)
• decide how I will finish the piece

I make art quilts using my writing process. Being an English teacher/student is helpful--I've practiced with words. 

I let things happen when I work on an art quilt. I prefer to try out different ideas, though I don't know where they come from.

As things happen, I rework, revise, rewrite my thoughts and my attempts at depicting the big idea in my mind. 

   4. How do you know when you have these parts right? Again, jot list the thoughts or ideas that you think answer the questions.

The quilt and I talk as we go along. I know what the quilt should say. It's done when the quilt says something  true, important, helpful. 

Again, please leave comments telling me what you think. This process can be difficult, but it can also teach you about your work. It may even help you to find your voice. Also it takes time, so don't expect answers to come together and make sense right away. If you are working along with us, feel free to tell us what you discover, especially the insights and surprises. 

Mary Marcotte

Improv and metacognition

I am teacher by trade. I studied not only English but also how people learn language, how we teach others to use language, and other deeply thought-out pedagogy about language, education and learning. 

As a rhetorician, my focus was on writing and metacognition. Since I was a quilter before becoming an educator, it makes sense that I've applied what I know as an educator to what I understand about quilting. 

Are you still following? Read a little more. The thinking part gets more interesting from here on. That's because I'd like to help you think metacognitively about your improv quilting. That is to help you analyze what you do as a quilter so that you can understand your process, figure out what you need, and build on what you already know.

Let's begin with a simple exercise. Take a small quilt from those you've completed using improvisational methods. If you have a name or theory for the quilt, begin with that. Then look at the quilt piecing and blocks/background and write notes answering the following questions:
   1. What did you do intentionally on this quilt? Name those parts by color, block, section, category or in any language that works for you.
   2. What parts of the quilt were in your mind but you didn't have specific ideas of how to achieve them? Again, name these parts using the same method you did in #1. 
    3. What did you happen upon? Which parts of the quilt were not thought out or were not already in your mind when you began? Using the method you did in #1 and 2 above, name these parts. 
   4. Look closely at the quilt. What have you left out? Do those parts of the quilt fit into any of the answers? If not, how will you categorize them?

Note: in this exercise we are only trying to identify and name what is/was improvisational. We are not analyzing deeply--we've only just begun studying. 

As an example, I will "think out" the quilt I am working on. While it's not finished, I am far enough along to begin this exercise. 

The title of this little art piece is "Bipolar." I suffer from bipolar depression and want to express the difficulties of the disease in art. Looking at the entire quilt (above) and at this closeup, you can see that I have two distinct sections--a light and a dark.

  1. What did you do intentionally on this quilt? Name those parts by color, block, section, category or in any language that works for you.
I intentionally used two contrasting colors separated by a wavy line. The dark on the left represents depression; the light side (on the right) is larger representing that good days outweigh the bad ones. The wavy line represents the idea that there's no easy way to figure out where the line is.

  2. What parts of the quilt were in your mind but you didn't have specific ideas of how to achieve them? Again, name these parts using the same method you did in #1. 
I definitely wanted to include pieces of color that could represent creativity and positive ideals. These needed to be in both sections of the quilt, but imbalanced. How that would look was only vaguely in my mind. I found small pieces of solid fabrics in my scraps that I cut into imperfect circles. 

    3. What did you happen upon? Which parts of the quilt were not thought out or were not already in your mind when you began? Using the method you did in #1 and 2 above, name these parts.
The squiggly red lines took a life of their own and I still haven't a clue how they came about. In the upper right corner is a reverse applique that I love but cannot define quite yet. I only know that it needs to be there.

   4. Look closely at the quilt. What have you left out? Do those parts of the quilt fit into any of the answers? If not, how will you categorize them?
I left out other small bits on both sides of the quilt. I'm not sure what they mean or represent, but I have a veiled idea that they are meant to be there and I have to work them out. Right now I'm not able to categorize them all. 

Let me know in the comments if you are willing to participate. If we have an interest, I'll write future columns that will help you to analyze your work and learn from it.

Mary Marcotte