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.  

Finally starting the Last Challenge!

Well, I'm finally starting to have a plan for the Maps Challenge. It's been a long time coming and I honestly stumbled into it quite by accident! You can read more about it over on my last blog post.

Maps Challenge Start

I am enjoying all the different versions and responses to this challenge that I have seen. So intrigued by the way some of your minds think! Mine is going to be extremely simple and much more basic I'm afraid. Not really 'maps' so much as a general mindset about how I tend to be when finding my way? It's still very much in-the-works and nothing nailed down.

The only thing I'm pretty sure about is next up, there will be a single unit in a 'road' style. Then, I'm playing with the idea of putting some words on the quilt.  Maybe even include a couple more of those 'turn right' appliqued arrows? Told you--I'm keeping it very low key and still in the arena of uncomplicated sewing. Though if I get too many words, that will involve lots of time.*sigh These things just sort of build don't they? lol

Roads Among the Trees

I have been stumped and the muse left me and so I was reading Audrey's last post about her process of grouping fabrics together, writing a wee note of scribble to keep the idea in with the fabrics chosen and I took a turn in the path.

Yes sirrie, it was a turn towards trying to determine how to express my love of trees and their ultimate sacrifice they make for our fresh air.

They do all the work and we continue to burn fossil fuels and not walk when we really should. Well you all know that climate change is not just coming at us, its really here! They do all the work for us and we drive our cars continuously. I like the title of Sew Slowly because after all, that is what we all should be doing. But I digress!

This piece appeal has left me, escaped me and to where, who knows?

So I picked up my big girl panties and made another attempt at this challenge! What I really see is a landscape of trees and roads. In my mind, this so surreal and complete and piecing is what my instincts are telling me to do.

I'm also taking a turn toward a new destination on my Klassen's Forest Fire Quilt. 

I had all the blocks sewn together, only to realize that my budget doesn't have squeaky room for a professional machine quilting job and my back is not up to the full on machine quilting it myself.

So par for the course, I have cut all 20 blocks up into 16 inch blocks and will proceed with QAYG method of completion. I can work in my sewing room until it gets bigger and it will be done on my dime.

Now, that these blocks are ready for hand or machine quilting, they will be done individually!

The whole stack of them are waiting to be sandwiched.

And after moving this past year I discovered I have a pile of fat quarters from Cloud 9 Organic Fabric and so these will be the backing for the blocks. This is only one fabric of several different ones that will form a cohesive pattern on the back, making their Forest Fire Quilt reversible.

@carlithequilter is my handle over at Instagram.

Trails In The Woods

As a child I loved pretending I was a maiden living in the woods. I built my very own fort on the ground in a small circle that had about 6 - 8 small saplings growing. I cut down smaller saplings to wind them in between the growing trees to make my fort. Later on, as I grew more, the shape of sapling fort took on a semi roof and the ground inside the circle of trees became trodden with so much activity the grass didn't grow anymore. It was my escape to my own queendom in the woods of rural B.C.

Rural living means knowing the important trails you've found that lead to yummy things to eat. Its very important to know where food is at certain times of the year. With trails trodden so many times that even the animals start to use them, its exciting to imagine who you'll meet on the trail.

Maps of these locations are made in your memories, First People know well their trails to trap lines, good fishing spots, to the meadows where moose will be or the mountains where sheep will be. 

I have a very good book to share called "One Thousand White Women" by Jim Fergus. A true story of an peace agreement between USA Government at the time and the bargain they made with with the Cheyenne Nation for peace and one thousand white women to become brides Cheyenne warriors, traded for their finest horses.

Food and water is paramount to survival in the woods. 

This post and challenge has become something of a true walk down memory lane, maps for me until I met my husband, were memories in my mind on trails to walk to town or walk to a good fishing spot. What the trail looked like to my friends who lived miles away, but a path was trodden between our homes. Quilts are like too, they remain, get used, loved and become threadbare.But we continue to use them.

This facination with trails may have begun when my Mother instilled in me a fear of roads where bad men could be. Over the past 30 years, Highway 16 has seen the mysterious disappearance of dozens of Indigenous women. I am sadden to understand that the same roads my Mother warned me about are these roads where not only Indigenous women, but also men and white women have dissappered. Mother knew there was something bad happening on that road and that was 50 years ago.

I began with total improvisational hand stitching onto a background. More trails are coming out of this start. Stay tuned!

Thank you ladies of AHIQ Improvisational group for inviting me to participating!

Best,

Map Quilts at One Month

I've been thinking about map quilts this month. Actually I've thought about maps for years. As a geologist I created maps and cross sections, working to illuminate topography, reservoir limits and potential hazards. My dad loved them, too. We'd collect USGS quadrangle maps for every vacation to locate hiking trails and points of interest. {Our vacations were always in to wilderness.} Then we'd visit AAA for road maps. He had us navigate along the route. These are the kinds of maps that most interest me.

The map quilt project on the wall nags at me to work on it. It blends street and topography maps with photos I took of the area. I hit a snag last year and have let it languish too long. Although I plan to restart this project,  it isn't what I want to explore for the invitation.

Map quilt in progress

Years ago I made a quilt celebrating visits to my sister's house. The background is a pixelation of the final mile to her house. The orange sashing squares represent the flowers on her porch and balcony while the braids are the tire tracks of our journeys. The border is the letter, love, and kisses we send between times. It's the most abstract quilt I've ever made and also encompasses my love for my family. It will always be a favorite but I want to try another style this time.

The Road to My Sister's House

So many people shared their ideas for mapping -  clever, inventive, original. I'm awed by the wonderful versions they are planning but I want to piece geography, concentrate on small geographic areas, explore how much curvature I can sew into a road.

Streets intersected by an angled parkway

I started with this test. More later as I get more energy.

Ann