January Finish!

So, at the beginning of the month, I talked about a Lovely Year of Finishes... and I'm so excited to report that I met my goal for January.  I came in nearly right to the wire finished two nights ago, but I'm so happy to see this one to the finish line.

I started January with this design up on the wall. 

Each piece was lop-sided and needed to be trimmed to 4 inches square to tidy things up.  What a lot of trimming... but it seriously made all the difference in the world when I pieced everything together!

And.... Ta Da!  It's pieced.   Setting this goal helped me realize that if I trimmed and pieced just a few rows a week I would be done in no time.  And to my delight, that approach worked very nicely!

Here's the top folded after ironing.  It's so nice to see it all come together.  

A closer look at it sewn up on the design wall again.

And an up close of the razzle dazzle center.  

My plans for this top are to turn it into a hawk quilt.  I know, you're looking at this thinking what does this have to do with a hawk.  But stick along, and you'll see!

Get it Finished {January}

I ran across a goal setting idea that I really liked.  It's called A Lovely Year of Finishes.  This will be a year long activity and is hosted by Shanna of Fiber of All Sorts and Melissa of Sew BitterSweet Designs. 

Participating in A Lovely Year of Finishes means that each month I will pick one project (can be new or something already started) and vow to finish the task within that month.  So, for the year you will see me declare what I will be trying to accomplish each month.  I'm looking forward using this as a motivator to better plan out what I want to work on.  I find myself sometimes sitting in my craft/sewing room and willy nilly picking up pieces and making progress, but not finishing things.  I will still allow myself to flit between projects, but this also gives me a sense of focus and urgency for at least one piece a month. 

To kick things off, I would like finish trimming and piecing these half square triangles.  They are units that came from making this quilt.  I've had them sitting around my space for nearly a year now and am ready to turn these it to something awesome.  The good news is that I have arranged them several times and finally settled on this design.  The bad news?  They are all a bit mis-shaped and wonky.  Not sure why.  But, in order for them to be assembled with some precision I have decided to trim them down to 4 inches square.  With a total of 140 squares... that's a lot of trimming! 

I admit I have already managed to trim and piece the first two rows --- whohohooo!  I'd like to see this become the hawk quilt that's been floating around in my head and sketch pads for months.  Don't see a hawk in there?  Don't worry... we'll take it one step at a time and see it through.  My hope is that I will be able to submit this to both my art show at work as well as my quilt guilds annual quilt show.  Time to roll up my sleeves and get 'er done!

What are you focusing on this month?

CT: Birds of a Feather (#71)

Happy Creative Tuesday! 

The most recent challenge was to work with the theme Birds of a Feather.  What a fun one considering my new crush on red tail hawks.  I love the idea of getting familar with the way their feathers look and how they carry their feet when they fly.

I just played with pencil this time.  It's soothing, meditative.  And upon further reading I saw somewhere that among Native Americans traditions, hawks are considered the messenger of change.  And couldn't be more appropriate as things, they 'a changing. 

Hawks reminded the people they needed to be awake and aware and can achieve great things through persistence and sheer strength of will.  I love that!

 

Creative Tuesday: Spy (#68)

Hello Creative Tuesday!  Have I told you how much I adore you lately?  I wasn't sure if I would be able to fit in a piece today, but an idea clicked for this week's meme of Spy and I ran with it.  I even got to paint with bubble wrap.  Yes, sir, a little creative boost when I feel like I really needed it.

Can you Spy the secret coded message?  Enjoy!

 

No fabric incorporated this time, but the bee is made of paper towel colored with sharpie and the coins are made from foil off the top of a food container.  And of course bubble wrap to create the trippy textured background.

Also, I posted about the Sammy picture I painted on fabric for a previous Creative Tuesday in case you want to see the final thing.

Till next week!!  Muah!

WIP: {Rainbow is Quilted!}

Well, there I was last night tracing the daisies on the rainbow quilt and I got to the last one!  What a home run moment.  I enjoyed the free motion quilting practice and it was a wonderful opportunity to get to know my newly refurbed sewing table --which worked marvelously! -- but you know when you reach that moment on a quilt where you've had enough?  Yup, I was just getting to that point.  Thank goodness I was in the homestretch.

It's going to get it's first wash today and I am on pins and needles to find out how the scraps on the front fray and get softer with a wash.  And so as not to leave you totally hanging, here is sneaky peak of what those flowers look like on the front.  If you remember, I've been quilting this one upside down and I couldn't be happier with the results.  Oddly enough, the Mister even said how much he liked this quilt.  Cool huh?

With the Bottled Rainbows project wrapping up I can feel myself mentally moving on.  So, let's take a look at the updated project list and talk about where I'm headed next. 

I do have my triangles mostly cut and the beginnings of the arrangement on my design wall for Patchwork Prism, but need some uninterrupted time to get that one to the point of sewing the pieces together.  Need to finish this by June 25th to be considered for the amazing prizes... not sure I'm going to make that deadline. 

You'll notice I also took the idea of hand sewing a separate triangle quilt off my list.  Funny how quickly I've had enough of triangles.

This Week's Work in Progress (WiP) Stats:

Last WiP Wednesday Total: 9
New Projects: 0

Finished Projects: 1 (bottled rainbows is off to it's first wash!)

Total WiP's: 4

I'm taking liberties to refine my list and really only count what I'm working on, so with the finish, I'm only going to count four active projects (Prisms, Mushrooms, Hawk, and the City/State Landscape).  

Speaking of mushrooms, I wanted a project that I could hand sew and work on slowly throughout the summer.  I was going to do triangles, but since that desire has faded I looked at my list and decided I could do needle turned applique mushrooms.  Sounds so fancy, doesn't it?  I have started making a few mushrooms, but am still working out the design and the sizes.  I will hopefully have more to show next week.

But the quilt that is just begging to get attention is my hawk quilt.  I have had a hawk quilt in my head for nearly three months now and since it's not going away then I guess it's going to come out in fabric.  And it's perfect really because then I can enter it in the Wings and Things show coming up in October.  I did make some brown feather colored fabric over the weekend in my fabric painting adventure.  I have also been collecting photos and sketching.  Here is a page from my sketch book below.  And yes, I'm thinking of making three hawks for this quilt.  I must be out of my mind.

And I've thrown in a picture of the pups for good measure.  I still laugh... all that space on the trail and they have to walk smashed together.  Almost hard to tell if that's one dog or two, right? 

Hope your sewing time is plentiful and your creativity is never ending!

Birds of Prey {Part II: Let's See Birds!}

I mentioned earlier in the week that I went to a Birds of Prey event over the weekend and then I showed you Atka the wolf.  Well, are you ready for some birds?

The event provided an opportunity to meet and greet with over 1000 birds.  Insane, right?  My original motivation to go was to do some field research and photography for a hawk quilt that has been bubbling around in my head for sometime. 

Well, we walk into the event, which was outdoors, and I am immediately taken head over heels for this bald eagle.  It was surreal to see him less than three feet away hopping, opening his wings, moving around, drinking water and doing eagle things.  I felt a little star struck.  And bald eagles are big.  And they are so very pretty!  This is arguably the best photo I got, but the out takes are funny too.  I'll have to share those another time.

I also got to meet a Golden Eagle.  I still can't get over the fierce look this bird wears!  Must be the curved beak or the concentrated eyes.  And this eagle was huge!  I also have such a better appreciate for the coloring and texture of feathers.  It's going to be a fun challenge to create realistic feathers from fabric and thread!

Owls are also considered a bird of prey.  Looks like the same type of owl in the Harry Potter movies, doesn't it?  Again, I am drawn to the amazing patterns in the feathers and even the spots on his cream legs.  Stunning!

This is a red tail hawk which is the most common hawk that I see in the backyard, on the commute to work, and while hiking.  Their creamy white chests are what make them the easy to spot in the winter when the leaves are off the trees.  I am leaning toward making a quilt featuring a red tail.

This is a baby owl.  I know.  The cuteness factor is off the charts here.  I believe this little guy was only about two weeks old.  Hatched from an egg.  And yes, he's hanging out in a baby playpen so we can all safely say hi and take a photo.

There were a number of rescued birds that were also residents of the place hosting the event.  If I remember right this guy is a European owl.  I am still marveling at his bright orange eyes and don't you just love his ears?

These guys also tipped the cuteness scale for me.  And I love how social they seemed all huddled together like that.

This guy is either a barn owl or the barred owl.  I can't remember now.  But he was twisting his head from side to side as if posing very tough questions and demanding the truth and nothing but the truth (name that movie!).  Love how I caught him mid twist!

And wrapping up with a few more red tail hawks.  My new obsession.  This hawk is over one year old.  You can tell that by the fact that his red tail feathers are grown in and I believe after the first moult the back colors darken a little to that rich brown.  This fella is a part of a falconry team and also had some very impressive bangles and talons.

And this is quite possibly my favorite hawk of the day.  I got to speak to the lady who was working with and training this hawk.  She is an Apprentice Falconer.  It was really interesting to learn about the art of Falconry and that it is still actively practiced in the US and around the world. 

I think this hawk is going to be the primary inspiration for my quilting. 

I have a few sketches put together and I have started to isolate my browns and creams in a box together so I can get a sense on whether or not I have the right materials. 

And I have to say that I have found my newest passion. 

There is a reason I haven't been able to get a hawk quilt out of my head. 
There is a reason I became aware of a call for entry for a Wings and Things quilt show.
There is a reason that I noticed the Birds of Prey event. 
There is a reason I met and spoke with many falconers.
And, I looking forward to seeing where this all takes me!