The Last Phoenix

Today is a random quilt idea kind of day.

I have a quilt planned - not just the idea, but the whole shebang. The quilt, the colors, the design to quilt into it - everything. Even down to the very fabric I want to use, which is unusual for me. I need to track down some Moda Grunge, which shouldn't be terribly difficult, in grey couture. The other colors will come from my stash.

It will be called The Last Phoenix. The feather will be reds, yellows, and oranges, maybe over-painted with a glow-in-the-dark wash. Quilting will be done in gray or black. There will be quilting all over the piece, not just as shown. I'm just lazy, and this is the first sketch.

It will have to wait, but right now it really wants to be made. It's a good thing I don't have any of the grunge fabric, or I might just make it now!

Shay

Building Momentum

For those keeping track at home:

Piecing:
1. Hawkeye Minimalist - Done
2. The View from Godzilla's Mouth - Done
3. AQ - Done
4. Mermaid Scales - Done
5. Aztec Sunrise - Done
6. Cathedral - Done
7. Anniversary Quilt - in progress!
8. Goth Cathedral Window - in progress!

Quilting:
1. AQ - DONE!!!!! (pics to follow when delivered to recipient)
2. View from Godzilla's Mouth - in progress! Ghidorah left to quilt!
3. Mermaid Scales - DONE!!!!
4. Goth Cathedral Window - in progress! (hooray quilt as you go!)
5. Crazy Diamonds - on the list

For those new to my blog, at Winter Solstice I determined to piece 8 quilt tops this year and complete 5 quilts. I seem to be ahead of schedule right now, as it's only April 19th. I am certain that things will slow down now that I am working on the Anniversary Quilt.

But I find it amazing that I have managed to do so much in 4 months. Maybe I should raise my goals! (I'll revisit that idea after faire, when I have more spare time).

I still want to do Ballet Folklorico this year, so I can show it to the many people I have discussed it with.

On other fronts:

I'm also still submitting to agents with my novel. So far no bites, but I'm still in there swinging.

We'll be holding a class in July or August for the roomie's Scales pattern. So I need to start planning that - making sure her instructions are clear and concise, without any weirdness in them. Then we can set up the time and date and start advertising it.

I leave you with a photo of one of my beeswax thread conditioners: Iron Man! Hand poured and ready to go, Iron Man is there when I need him to be!

Checking In (aka Progress Made)

It's now midway through April, and time for me to take a look at how I am doing on my quilting goals.

Overall, not bad!

I have 6 quilts pieced.
That puts me 3/4 of the way done with my piecing goals for the year! (Not all of the ones I had planned are on this list, but still, I am moving forward!)

1. Cathedral
2. Minimalist Hawkeye
3. Aztec Sunrise
4. Mermaid Scales
5. View From Godzilla's Mouth
6. AQ (currently not a full title because it's a gift)

And one the quilted front (My goal is 5):
1/2 - half of the View from Godzilla's Mouth is done.
1/3: Goth Cathedral Table Runner (prettier than anticipated!!)


So, it looks like the piecing is going fast, the rest, not so much!!

But the next quilt is a quilt as you go, so that will up both lists! I am excited!

I took  a short break from making quilts to work on one last faire project. It made me happy to get done. I'll have to ask permission from the owner to post an in-process pic, so you can see what sort of insanity I get up to!


Looking forward to the Avengers movie in 2 weeks - that's what I am doing the evening of the 27th! Take an Avengers quilt with me to the movie and snuggle under it while watching!

Slow times, Getting better

I know, I haven't posted for a while, and I feel a little guilty.

I seem to have lost my mojo for a little while.

But it came back.

I am working on 2 quilts right now. (Well, one is actually a table runner, but it's a cathedral window table runner, so I am going to count it).

I am also working on a story. (Woohoo!)

I am also working on not panicking.

Yeah. I hit therapy. So far I have been diagnosed as high functioning autistic with social anxiety, depression, and generalized anxiety disorder. And now we're touching on things that my therapist considers traumatic, and I am still working on classifying.

She said that she worried about my quilting at first, that I was using it as a way to avoid my issues. However, she has changed her mind since she saw my quilting sketchbook. Now she realizes that it is (and always has been) a way of working through the things in my mind, wrapped in geeky themes and quilted down.

Maybe that's what I need to do. Stitch each worry to a piece of fabric and then stitch all of that to a backing of muslin, quilt it down, and then hang it outside in the weather. Like people of old, I could use sympathetic magic - as the quilt breaks down and the pieces start to degrade, so will the worries and the concerns. Maybe even just write the worries on fabric with a Sharpie and then stitch them down. Treat them like prayer flags in reverse - let the world take them, let them soar out into the sky where some greater good will envelope them and devour them. Let them go to the sky.

And take photos. Lots of photos.

Maybe I can balance that with some of the better things in life, and send those out in balance to the bad.