Too many projects

I really like working on just two projects at a time--one main project that involves significant brain power, and one that is easier.  Earlier this year, my focus for several months was Jeremy's wedding quilt, and the work felt very good. But as I got closer to finalizing that design, I felt I needed a break from it, and it happened that I needed to prepare for a workshop I was doing for several friends in late August. So I turned my attention to preparing samples of monoprinting and screen printing and writing up instructions for the several processes we'd be doing. Here's a photo of some of the monoprinting samples. Unfortunately, I didn't take photos of the work people created at the workshop, which was stunning.

Once the workshop was done, I took two different directions--finishing up assorted small quilting projects, and starting two new hand-stitching projects.  The hand-stitching projects took precedence over a return to the wedding quilt, because in mid-October I'll be getting together with several people in Utah to camp, hike, and stitch, and I wanted a couple of small but challenging projects to bring with.  I'll post about those projects before long.  First, a round-up on the projects I've been finishing up.

One of the daiwabo projects is close to completion. I'm now sewing on the binding on this table runner:

After testing out about 8 different ways to quilt this, I ended up with simple in-the-ditch quilting. This puts all the focus on the fabrics.  

I'm also finishing the binding on a bed-runner for a friend who recently re-modeled her bedroom, including laying a strip of parquet flooring in a pattern just like a "rail-fence" quilt block. Fabrics were chosen from the stash of my friend Carol, and the two of us pieced the blocks--a fun project for us to do for our mutual friend. 

I mentioned a while back the Palette Stacks panel from Marcia Derse that I'd purchased. I decided to make it into a whole-cloth baby quilt. Here it is basted up, ready for hand-quilting. No rush on this, just a nice project to have by the couch when I want to do some simple hand-quilting.

Just as I was thinking about what to do for a backing for it, I came across this sweet pattern for a "Tiny Tile Quilt" from Purl Soho.

Tiny Tile Quilt from Purl Soho website

I wondered what it would look like to do this pattern in a variety of all bright colors, including the white "snowball" shape that reads as a background when done in just one color.  I made up nine blocks, and then surrounded them with larger pieces of solids, all hand-dyed fabric I had on hand.

I liked this enough to decide it deserves to be a top of its own, so I dyed up some solid red fabric to be the back for the Stacked Palettes instead. The new snowball top is folded up in the closet; I will leave choice of backing and quilting until I need another baby quilt to give to new parents.

Finally, having finished the hand-quilting on the appliquéd quarter-circles, it was time to bind that, so I dyed up some medium blue and put the binding on.  The hanging sleeve is now pinned to the back, waiting for its final bit of hand-sewing.

I've got a few more days of hand-sewing to finish these up, and then I can focus on the stitching project for the Utah trip. I look forward to having fewer projects in the works.

Studio Soundtrack

I'll be writing a post or two before long on several small and a couple of large new projects that have been occupying me in the last month or so, but in the meantime, here's a post about music for the studio.  Some years back, I took a workshop with Katie Pasquini Masopust, who suggested that having music playing in the studio could be a help in generating a creative flow, so long as it was music without words. I don't have music on all the time, but I do find it helpful in the way she suggested. I like using Pandora for this background music, as I can select a "station" based on a particular musician, and then get a stream of that musician plus others who are similar. My favorite stations, in approximate order of how often I choose them are: Keith Jarrett, Eric Satie, Bill Evans, Tord Gustavsen Trio, Federico Mompou, Ken Bonfield, Sandy Bull, Dave Bruebeck, Leo Kottke, Taylor Eigsti (a new find, through one of my jazz stations on Pandora). There are other times in the studio where I'm doing something mindless (repetitive cutting of pieces, simple straight stitching or machine quilting); at these times I like to listen to popular music with lyrics. My most frequently chosen stations for this are Carole King (great variety included in this station), Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, and sometimes Willie Nelson.

Earlier this week, I was sewing at a friend's apartment (I keep a small machine there, so it's easy for us to work together), and I realized that she would enjoy using Pandora instead of the old boom box with cassettes that she has. I showed her how to get it set up and how to choose stations. For one of the stations, she chose "50s Rock 'n' Roll Radio," and we started listening to it. We were amazed--the soundtrack of our youth, every song familiar. (We both graduated from high school in 1965.)  I listened to it again today for about 20 minutes, while finishing up some quilting.  I could sing the chorus on every song that came up--Twist and Shout, At the Hop, Earth Angel, Do the Locomotion, Big Girls Don't Cry, Blue Moon, Splish Splash, Under the Boardwalk, Rock around the Clock, etc.  Long-term memory is really quite amazing.