Another great day in the studio

I got quite a bit done on my long list of things I need to accomplish in the studio this month.  Tomorrow, I have guild meeting and I am to bring the BOM pattern for the next month.  This meant I had to make a sample to show.  There are these Granny Squares all over the blogosphere these days.  I thought they would be fun and easy as a BOM.  Quite a few of the members of this guild make American Hero quilts (similar to Quilts of Valor, only local), so I decided to go for the Red, White, and Blue.  I hope the lucky winner gets enough of these blocks to create a good size quilt.  I also had to prepare the Presentation Block for the meeting.  That was a much easier proposition because I already had samples.  I just had to write up the directions.

I also created this block for the Ochre challenge at 15 Minutes Play.  I posted the fabric on Saturday, but got to build the piece today.  To read more about it, please stop by my post at 15 Minutes Play.  I like this block quite a bit and am going to use it as my center in the International Robin that is just starting.  You can see what others in the group are doing at our Flickr page.

In addition to these, I quilted the lilies quilt, added the binding, and am now ready to add embellishments.  I know it is kind of backwards, but this will work best for me at this point.  I also put all the units together, and photographed each step, for the mystery quilt I am doing for the guild.  I have to put them into the direction sheets I am creating for each step.  If I could ever figure out how to embed a PDF into my blog, I would post them for you to follow along, if you were so inclined.   Sometimes, technology gets me.

On a completely different subject, I want to share that I have now released 40 pounds!  It is pretty funny to put on my good pants and have them fall down around my ankles once they are buttoned and zipped.  Twenty more pounds, and I am getting new pants - and shirts, and a dress or two.  Just thought I would share.

Tomorrow, I start my three days with Bella, so I won't be back again until Friday.  Until then, joyful quilting everyone.

A lap quilt finished

This is my newest lap quilt.  It is made of 12" blocks from the BOMs over at 15 Minutes Play.  The background is Kona Jade (I know, it is blue, not green).  The sashing and binding is a Kaffe shot cotton with red warp and maroon weft.  There is a little bit of green Batik, that drives Tom crazy because it is not balanced.  The rest is fabric I made by cutting up my favorite Kaffe's and making fabric with them.  It is quilted with a large overall stipple in a King Tut variegated red by Superior on top, and a variegated gold/brown on the back.  While I love excellent quilting, I love seeing the fabric and the patterns created by the fabric more.  I think that is why I have not been really motivated to learn more about machine quilting.

Here is the back.

Originally, I was going to use a very colorful sheet I found at the Goodwill.  When Bella was over last week, she wanted the room darker for her nap, so I put the sheet up over the window.  It looked so beautiful, we decided I should make curtains out of it instead.  Then, I didn't have any idea what I would use, so the quilt sat.  I was going through a bin looking for something else, when I found this piece I had been saving for just the right thing.  I guess it was waiting to be found for this quilt.  I have a noren ( traditional Japanese fabric dividers, hung between rooms, on walls, in doorways, or in windows) that has these three ladies on it leading into my studio.  I bought it in Japan, and was really excited to find the fabric last year.  But I digress.

The quilt is 42" x 52"", just the right size for my lap.

Just a little snow this morning.  We are told we will get quite a bit tonight.  It will be interesting.

Joyful quilting, everyone.

2012 Sewing Technique Challenges

I have been working all year to be able to create a block like this.  The corners all meet nicely.  I didn't lose any points.  The block is the correct size. (This is a 12" square BOM for my traditional guild.) For my first year quilting, after a 30 year hiatus, I have been working at getting better at quilting basics. 

This is one of the first blocks I did last year.  The seams are crooked and the points are not great.  The colors are very strange in a "What was I thinking" sort of way.  It is a far cry from square, and it ist not the right size.  I am so glad I didn't let myself get discouraged.

In the past year, I have tried many, many things outside my comfort zone, and have learned to embrace many of them.  I especially like intuitive, improvisational quilting.  I learned to do curves so that my improv pieces would have more interest.  I learned to make fabric the Victoria way (15 Minutes Play).  I even worked on some applique. I got pretty good at fusible machine applique, but the little bit of stiffness in a lap quilt is off putting to me.

That brings me to 2012.  This year, I have a few big things, to me, that I want to get much better at.

1.  Y seams.  There are so many quilts I want to make that I don't start because they involve the dreaded Y-seam.  This year, I will conquer that fear.

2.  Hand Applique.  I love the look of applique, whether modern, traditional, or primitive.  I am just not good at it.  My points are non-existent.  My stitches are always too visible.  I don't like the idea of glue or starch and pressing, so I am going to have to learn good needle turn technique.  I also need to get the correct thread to help reduce visibility.  Then, I need to learn to make those pointy points.  I really want to make the Rhapsody quilt I have designed, but I need my applique technique to get better. 

3.  Hand Quilting with perle cotton and big stitches.  I have done a few small pieces using this technique, and I am not really happy with what happens on the back.  I can get the front to have fairly nice even stitches, but the back is not great.  I read on a blog the other day that Warm and Natural batting (my favorite) is not really good for getting these nice even stitches on the back. I need to learn something call the rocking motion with the needle. I will continue to work on my hand quilting this year.

4. Color.  I would like to work on getting out of my color rut.  I don't know how successful I will be with this because I really like to work with certain colors.  I plan on doing more charity quilts this year, so I am determined to experiment with color on these.

That seems like enough to tackle for this year.  I will continue to work on my traditional piecing and my intuitive/improv quilt techniques throughout the year.  The quilts on my list of 2012 "Want to Makes" has some of all of this.

What techniques do you want to work on this year?

Joyful quilting, everyone.

BOM blocks and a new project

The BOM blocks for January for my guild were fun to make.  There are two 12.5" blocks here.  I had fun going through my scraps looking for 18 different brights to make the 2.5" squares for the corners.  I love bright quilts, but I don't seem to make many of them so I don't have loads of brights.  I thought I would find some in the fat quarter collection I won at my December guild meeting (over 100 of them), but there weren't many brights in their either.  At least I have a good strong red group.

When I went on the Western Washington Shop Hop last June, I found this pattern I had to have.  I don't often use commercial patterns, but I fell in love with the example.  It is very hard to see in this photo, but there are some curves in this that are done in a Cathedral Window style.  Today, I finally got to the fabric store, gift certificate in hand, to buy the fabric I will use for this small quilt.

The color on the left is a deep rich plum that is repeated in the little pattern elements of the orange.  These fabrics are from different manufacturers, but they work really well together.  The middle batik is a much better color match than the photo shows.  I am pretty excited about getting started on this project.

This just makes my WIP list a little longer, but I really enjoy having several projects going at once.  That way I don't get bored.

I hope you are all planning a safe New Year weekend.

I am going to take a little break until at least Sunday.

Joyful quilting, everyone.

Making a doll and contemplating a finish

 Bella has asked me to get her a pink soft doll with pink hair and pink clothes.  I bought some pink flannel a couple of weeks ago and a pattern for a 15" baby doll.  Today, I decided to begin the process.  I had to iron on interfacing which I was worried about with the flannel, but it worked okay.  I have not followed a commercial pattern for a long time.  I would not recommend this pattern for beginners.  It is not user friendly.  I got called away before I was able to finish stuffing her, but I think she is looking cute.  I have to figure out how to create the required pink hair.  I think I am going to use yarn.

I don't think I have posted these blocks all together.  I have until mid-January to figure out how I want to finish this and get it completed.  I am thinking of using a Kaffe shot cotton in purple with red undertones and Kaffe print cornerstones.  It will all really depend on what I have in my stash.

Tomorrow night, I am going to see my husband, daughter and granddaughter in the Polar Express.  Tom has been playing Santa in this dance adaptation to the story for a few years now.  Until then, I am going to keep working in the studio.  Only one week to Christmas.

Joyful quilting, everyone.

A little of this, a little of that, and a finish - finally

First, the finish.

Ta da . . .

I have been working on this Hawaiian applique for over five years.  After I got it cut and basted, I put it away, thinking I was never going to have the patience or skills to finish it.  I finally decided I would never develop the skills unless I tried, so I got it out a few months ago and did the needle turn applique.  Then I hand quilted it.  I put the binding on today from an old Hawaiian shirt of Tom's.  It isn't perfect, but I am really happy it is done and somewhat presentable.

It is amazing, but I actually got this done in this mess of a studio.

As you can see, I have projects everywhere.  My design wall is off to the left.  The board to the right holds all my inspirational bits and pieces.  The table to the left holds quite a few orphan blocks and UFOs.  The stacks of fabric and books on the end of the table in the middle are waiting for me to put them away in the other room.  I try and keep everything for one project in a separate basket, so you can see them stacked around.  One of these days, I will have to clean up a bit.  Unfortunately, I would rather use studio time to create, not clean.

Today, I also tried something new to me.  I wanted to try string quilting.

I got a 12" and a couple of 4" blocks put together before I decided to put this away for another day.  I did this by creating a largish strata and cutting the block units from that.  There was much too much waste for me.  When I get back to it, I am going to try a different approach.  Besides, I also discovered that the greens, teals, and turquoise fabrics I want to use are all very different sizes, most much to small to make good strata.  At least I like the results.  Tom likes these and hopes I continue.

Here are the JL blocks I made (2 each).

 

And last but not least is the final block for my BOM quilt.

This is the last you will see of this until it is finished and ready to enter in the contest over at 15 Minutes Play on December 1.

I can't wait to see what I get done tomorrow.  I hope it goes as well as it did today.

What are your plans for the weekend?

One block to show

I spent quite a lot of time getting a couple of quilts ready to go on the frame.  They had been stored for a while, and picked up tons of threads and other garbage.  I am a bit anal about hanging threads, so they had to all be clipped or removed.  Then I spent time making more fabric for the BOMs.  Neither of these things was photo worthy.  This is the only block I got put together today.    Hopefully, I will get a JL block or two made tomorrow morning before I have to pick Bella up from pre-school.  That would be nice.

I have been thinking about quilting lately.  Not piecing, but actually quilting.  I have been trying to convince myself that I have to learn how to do fancy quilting if I really want to call myself a quilter. I even started practicing every day for a week.  I finally figured out that it is just not my thing. I would much rather spend time playing with fabrics.  I really enjoy seeing a well quilted piece.  I have a deep admiration for those who enjoy doing this.  That being said, I finally realized that I am really all about the fabric and color and what patterns I can create with them.  I have also realized that is okay.  My quilts are going to continue to have simple quilting unless I win the lottery and can afford to have someone who enjoys quilting do that part of it.

Now it is your turn.  Do you prefer a quilt where it is the quilting that shines, or one where the fabric is the star?  Isn't it wonderful that this art form can be so rewarding for all of us.

Joyful quilting, everyone.  I will be back on Friday.

More progress



Here is today's JL block.  I noticed yesterday, when all the blocks were on the wall, that I needed another pair of really dark ones.  I found this fabric in my stash, but don't know what it is because the selvage was missing.  I think it is going to work very well.  14 down, and 34 to go.

I wanted to tell you about my adventure with Tom at the local chain fabric store.  We went in to get ten yards of my favorite batting, Warm and Natural.  We went to the back, where it is usually hanging, and there was none there. There was Warm and White, and Tom suggested I get it instead.  I don't like the white, and there were not ten yards on the roll, but after looking at the other batting they had to offer, I decided to try it.  I was armed with my 50% off coupon, but of course the batting was already on sale at 30% off so the coupon was no good.  That always seems to be the way.  Tom was amused by this when I explained it to him.  Before we got the white batting cut, I asked the clerk if they had the natural in the back somewhere.  She informed me they don't carry it.  I was flabbergasted since they have always carried it before.  Another clerk, who overheard the conversation, said there was probably a bolt in a box in the back.  We went back and found it.  Hurray!  The first clerk set about measuring the batting and lost count about half way through.  Tom began to chuckle.  Check-out was just as much fun.  Only one register had enough cash to take cash customers.  Of course, we didn't know that until we got our turn at a non-cash register and had to go back to the end of the line for the cash register. It seems as if everyone used cash yesterday.  By the time we got out to the car, Tom was laughing out loud.  It was contagious.  From now on, I will be able to find the humor in my visits to this store.

When I was cleaning out a basket from an old project, I found these fun HSTs and built another quilt for AAQI.  This one is 11" x 7.5".  I love pinwheels, but usually don't make them because I have trouble with the centers.  This piece went together pretty easily.

I made this BOM block using some of the fabric I made yesterday.  Of all the BOMs, this one should be the easiest.  I managed to mess it up a few times before I got it put together.  Hmmmm.



Last, but not least, I did some more building on this piece.  I love these colors together, but I realize they are not every bodies taste.  I also realized I needed more lights.  I dug through the stash and found some pale purple batik.  I will add some in tomorrow.  I also need another dark, but don't have what I need.  Since my palette is limited, I think it needs to be purple.  Today, I added in some red/orange stripe fabric from another thrift store skirt.  I really love this fabric, so I am glad it works with this.

I guess that is all for today.  Who knows what tomorrow will bring.  

Joyful quilting, everyone. 

Two New Blocks and a finish

I had just enough made fabric left to make another BOM block.  Tomorrow, I need to make another big piece of fabric to finish the blocks.  I have six more to go now.  A couple of them need large squares (9").  I had trouble with the green stem in this As you can see, it is not quite centered.  I have one more stem piece I have to make for this project.  I guess I better read how to do it.  I also have to include leaf triangles on one block, and I think I will use the same green rather than make green fabric.  I hope it turns out okay.  If not, I will just go ahead and make some green fabric.  Maybe I will let you all be the judge.

Here is today's Jacob's Ladder block.  I love this floral.  I had a small piece of it in  my original stash, but didn't know what it was.  Then, on a trip to Sister's Quilt Shop in Chehalis, WA, I found a bolt hidden on a bottom shelf.  I was quite overjoyed, but relatively broke, so I was only able to buy a yard.  It is Christmas Presence by April Cornell for Moda.  Not sure why I love it so much, but I think it is the colors.

I also spent some time finishing this mini quilt top this morning, before I finished piecing Bella's quilt top.  I am so slow at applique.  Part of it is my glasses.  I really need new ones.  Part of it was the light I was working with.  We fixed that a few days ago, so I was finally able to finish it.  I you want to know more about this quilt, hop on over the Quilters, Books and Bindings. I have explained it in a couple of posts there.

Tomorrow, I will be making more cloth, making a new JL block, working on my Christmas quilt, and hopefully doing a little quilting.  What are you planning for your Saturday?

Joyful quilting, everyone.



Studio time

I added two more blocks to the JL QAL.  this time, I used a really nice pink floral.  There are several shades of pink in it.  These will probably not end up near each other in the final quilt.  I just put them together on the design wall so I could see the pattern.  I liked it so much, I decided to make a small one for this months AAQI quilt.

This will finish out as a 9" square with the binding.  I am going to quilt it with red thread with diagonal lines.  I have wanted to make a red and white quilt all year, so here it is.

I also made two more blocks for the BOM sampler.  I am amazed at how different the jade fabric looks in both photos.  It is really about half way between both.

 The other big thing I did today was to load a quilt for BASICs on the frame.  This top and back were pieced by Irene Armok.  You can see her work at her blog.  She does many wonderful things.

This one is going to get an all over stipple.  I really like this quilt.  Someone is going to be very lucky to get it.

Tomorrow, I will be with Bella, so not much studio time I think.  I think I will do a bit of quilting on the BASICs quilt before I pick her up at pre-school.

Have a joy filled day.

Starting new quilt tops

Today, I decided to cut into the made Kaffe fabric and start working on the 15 Minute BOM quilt.  I love the intensity of the jade with the made fabric.  The only thing I don't like about the whole process is working with the Kaffe fabrics.  Shocking, I know, but it is true. 

When I purchased my first 1/2 yard of Kaffe fabric, I was so excited.  It was so bright and so soft.  It was the stuff quilty dreams are made of.  Then, I bought more pieces as I found them on sale.  Slowly, the pile grew.  Then came the day to start cutting and sewing.  That also became the day of my frustration in sewing.  This beautiful fabric has absolutely no body.  If I just look at it too long, it distorts and takes on a totally new shape.  This would only be a good thing if it was growing, but it is not.    Use spray starch, you say?  That would probably work, but I have far too many allergies to airborne things to try that indoors.  My only solution is to just take my time and summon all my sewing patience.  Fortunately for me, I just love the way this collection of fabrics looks, so I will continue using it, even if I do get frustrated.

All of the blocks I am building for this sampler quilt are from tutorials over at 15 Minutes Play.  If you are interested in creating your own, using made fabric, head on over there and look in the right column for the BOM tutorials.  I am not going to use all the blocks in my sampler.  I have selected nine I want to use.  I will use the star at the top in the four corners, plus eight others.  I am going to have to make much more fabric, but I have enough right now for three or four more.







The other project I started today was the Jacob's Ladder Quiltalong.  I have joined The Adventures of the Empress of the Universe in this quiltalong.  She has set up a Flickr page so you can see what others are doing.  I am using this pattern from Quiltville's Quips and Snips (Bonnie Hunter) for my JL.  Here is what I have so far.

I am using floras of the old fashioned sort along with the Kona Aloe.  I am going to make two squares of each floral I can find.  I think I can get two squares out of one fat quarter.  I had this print in a 1/4 cut.  Most of the others I have are largish scraps I am hoping will yield enough.  I am still collecting, but I wanted to get this one started.  In the end, this will be a very scrappy looking quilt.  My florals are all over the place colorwise.  This will be a longer term project than the BOM sampler quilt.
Tomorrow morning, Tom and I are going on a photo safari, so I hope to be able to post some cool animal photos tomorrow afternoon. 
Joyful quilting, everyone.

Playing in the studio today

Today, I wanted to get my guild's BOM done today.  I think I will make a few more of these and make a lap quilt using rainbow colors.  I have always liked this block, but have found it hard for some reason.  Getting all the pieces in the right place sometimes gets confusing for some reason.  I was pleased that this one came out pretty well.  Hopefully, they will be easier now.



I have been really wanting to make this cow from Mary Lou Weidman and Melanie McFarland's new book, Out of the Box with Easy Blocks.  I call this one Dreaming of Paisley.  I used some of my paisley collection and a piece of dark sky/cloud/moon fabric I was recently given.  The contrast between the cow pieces and the background is not as strong as I want, but this was a practice piece.  The pattern in the book is for a much larger quilt.  I wanted a small piece to hang on my bedroom wall.  I started out by using my math skills (LOL) to reduce the size of the pattern.  I adapted and adjusted as I went.  Now that I have good measurements, I plan on making more this size with brighter colors and more contrast.  I really love so many of the patterns and designs in this book.  So whimsical and fun.

The last thing I worked on today was pulling fabric together for the next block in my art masters quilt.  This time I have selected a piece by Henri Toulouse Lautrec called The Clowness.  I have always been a Lautrec fan, and I chose this painting for the colors.  I am using primarily batiks for this piece.  I have some process issues to work out before I proceed much further.  I am also expecting more yellow fabric from a very generous follower in the next day or two.  I will be posting more about this block as it progresses.

Until tomorrow, joyful quilting, everyone. 



A couple of small new things

I have been a bit under the weather the past couple of days and it has really affected my quilting.  Most things I sewed together got taken apart again because they were done wrong.  My brain was not working as well as it needs to for quilting.  So, today, I was determined to get something done to post and to get me started in the right direction again.  This is my guild's BOM in process.  I love the colors and hope to win the blocks this month.  I have more of this green fabric.  It is a Robert Kaufman manufactured in Japan.  It has a very interesting texture.  I wish I had bought more when I was in California.  I will finish up two of these blocks tomorrow and start on the presentation blocks.  They are also Christmas colors.  They are for a member who loves Aunt Gracie fabrics, and I have a vintage piece of Christmas fabric I think I will use for her blocks.

One of the other things I did over the past couple of days is to deconstruct several of the thrift shop shirts and dresses in my stash.  When I saw this one, I thought it would be great as a first border around Hokule'a.  These are just on the design wall and not attached yet.  I am thinking of putting some pieces of the dark background fabric in random places around the border to let the center breath instead of walling it off.  I was inspired to use this bright fabric by wonderful advice from members of the Rebels group of quilters.  Fabulous quilters who share ideas and advice.  I think the next border will be stars of some kind.  I do love star blocks.

Finally, I have decided to start practicing my free motion quilting so I can move beyond the stippling stage.  I do like the look of stippling because I want the focus to be on the fabric and the patterns of color and design, but there are times I wish I was a better free motion quilter.  From the look of my first small practice piece, I have a long way to go. But hey, it's a start. I am going to work my way through Leah Day's FMQ tutorials, trying to get at least one small piece done each day.  (When I say small, I mean 3" squares)
Other than that, not much else to report.  Have a joy filled evening.

Here we are after our recital. Bella, in pink, was born to be on stage.  She did a fantastic job.  Lisa and I were two of our quartet.  According to the applause and the comments of our family members and some audience members, we did a fine job.  We sang a medley of Broadway musical songs through time.  Once we decided to just have fun, we all really enjoyed it.  I am so glad I did this and can check it off the bucket list.  Oh, and here is the hat.  It is a bit crooked, but I think you get the idea.

I spent a few hours in my studio today and caught up on my June BOMs for 15 Minutes Play.  First, I needed to make some fabric.  I have a plastic bag full of scraps just for these blocks.  I would like to make a quilt with the blocks at the end. 

The first June block is called Beacon Lights.  I have to say I have never seen this block before.  I enjoyed making the block because I got practice making quarter square triangle squares.  I haven't done that before.  This is not my favorite block I have ever made, but it will be fine in the quilt.

The second block for June is the Courthouse Steps.  I do really like this block.  I am using different background material for each block.  For the Courthouse Steps, I used a burnt orange.  I like the way it looks with the turquoise based made fabric.

Tomorrow, I think I will start making flying geese with the Kansas Troubles Perennials.  I also want to start getting everything ready for my sister-in-law's visit.  She is coming from the D.C. area to spend a week with us.  I am really looking forward to her visit.  We are going to do many quilty things.
Until tomorrow, joyful quilting everyone.

Playing with fabric

I am going to be watching Bella for the next seven days, so I won't have a bunch of time in the studio.  I have been working hard to get all my blocks made for the various guild blocks I said I would make.  This is my stack of 28 mock log cabin blocks for the guild bee.  The only thing I have left is to start on the mystery quilt.  I have not decided on fabric for that one yet. 
Speaking of fabric, I decided I wanted to play this afternoon, so I made some fabric.

The second May BOM for 15 Minutes Play is a pinwheel block, and I decided to make my spokes blue.  I started piecing scraps until I got enough to put an 11" x 11" block together.  After I got this made, I thought I might like blue and orange spokes instead, so I made some orange fabric.

I cut the blocks to five inch squares, then sliced them diagonally to create the spokes.

Now, all I have to do is piece it all together.  I do love working this way.
I hope everyone has been enjoying a great holiday.  I will blog when I can over the next week. 
Joyful quilting, everyone.

A new block and a fun book

I am in charge of finding the block of the month for my guild this month.  I was looking through Quilter's Cache and found this one, Crossed Roads, a 16 inch block.  If you haven't been to Quilter's Cache, you owe yourself some time to spend over there.  There are thousand of traditional and original blocks with great directions.  When I present this, I am going to ask people to use purples with a floral theme and cream for the crossed pieces.  I think it will turn out great.
I also did a few other things in the studio.  I worked on my design for my Ricky Tim's style Rhapsody quilt, sewed blocks together for the D9P and squared them up, and I started making copies of foundation pieces for a few of Carol Doak's stars of the states.  I finally got a copy of 50 Fabulous Paper-Pieced Stars by Carol Doak, and I am pretty excited about making more of these foundation pieced stars.  I love the first one I did and am looking forward to creating companions.  If you want to see more of Carol's work, and find some very cool free patterns, take a look at her web site.

Sunday in the Studio

Today, I spent much of the day in the studio, but most of what I did was prep for bigger projects. I started designing a Rhapsody Quilt based on Ricky Tim's instructions. I watched part 1 of his show on Rhapsody quilts and got very intrigued. I am not sure how I feel about all the applique that is involved, but I love the look of this genre of quilt. I have designed the basic background for the quilt and some of the applique shapes. So far, I think it is doable. I may scan the design when I get it all drawn in.

I also worked on another 15 minute block for the intuition quilt. These are all going to be 6.5 inches. Yesterday, I thought I would alternate them with some strings I built, but today, I decided I would alternate them with friendship stars. That is the wonderful thing about this quilt. I am just following my intuition.

Section 4 of the Oh My Stars quilt was posted yesterday. This is what it looks like so far. As I anticipated, I ran out of the light color I was using in the other sections, and had to start using something else. I am determined to make this quilt completely from my stash, so I am pretty limited. I don't have much in the way of really light fabric. I have three 4 inch blocks to make to finish this section, then I will put it all away until March.

One of the wonderful things I have discovered about quilting is that it is teaching me real patience. The world just seems to get busier and crazier as time passes. Maybe it is my age, but I feel a need to escape the insanity. When I get into the studio, I feel very peaceful. Not so long ago, I was always in a hurry to get things finished. I wanted to see the end result. With quilting, I really enjoy the process. I can't make it go any faster, or I make mistakes I don't want to have. So, I am just being patient, enjoying the process. It will all get done in time.