Monday, February 3, 2020

Voila! I figured it out....happily!

Remember that I went to a Sherri Lynn Wood workshop some time ago?


As you can see from this photo, I was a bit discombobulated by my work. I kept at it, but while there was something I liked, there was more I didn't like. People kept telling me it was good. That was nice, honestly, but I have to be happy from the inside. So I decided to put the whole thing on the design wall when I got home.

On the design board waiting for a plan
There it stayed and stayed. Life kept getting between me and it, including other pieces. Then last month I came up with a challenge for my traditional guild: bring a UFO/unfinished project to the February meeting with the intention of bringing it to an advanced stage for March. 

For example, I'll bring the SLW quilt pieces (that's my name for it for now) and tell the group I plan to bring it to a completed quilt top for the March meeting. Then in March I should commit to finishing the quilt for April. 

Reworking part 1
The problem was that I needed to get to a stage where I could make a commitment. What I had simply wasn't working for me, but I liked most of what I had. To add to the twist, I wanted to incorporate AHIQ's first challenge for 2020, hourglass blocks. 

I played and ripped and moved and added and subtracted and all sorts of crazy things for about three days. Then I read a couple of posts on the AHIQ blog and found the answer. Back to the design board, but with a plan I liked. Funny how a plan makes such a difference.

Reworking part 2
Reworking part 3

At this point (ready to go to the guild meeting) I have long strips of improv pieces that will be arranged in Chinese coins fashion. I've chosen a neutral brownish gray beige oddity for the background. 

  Final plan without the background
Once I arranged the strips in the order I wanted them, I pinned them with numbers, folded them neatly into a project box. Then added three stacks of magazines for the monthly mini (we buy tickets, the winners get to choose from the "minis" on the table until we run out) and even folded and stacked the two quilts I plan to bring for Show and Share. So I'm ready. Now to remember my phone, dues, and my stack of items. 


4 comments:

Karen S said...

Well done sticking with it and solving the problem. Sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees. I hope you enjoy the end result.

Kaja said...

Wow, Mary! I just love this! I like how you have balanced out the different components from your original bits and the way the hourglasses work in the mix. And the colours. Nice job!

Mary Marcotte said...

I agree Karen. I like a challenge sometimes, especially when everyone else seems to see something there. I really like what I have right now, so I feel safe in saying the end is near. Let's hope at least.

Mary Marcotte said...

Thanks Kaja. I think I'm on the right track. AHIQ gets the credit for handing over the answer. Funny how we can go back to a beginning to figure out an end. It seems that the Chinese coins challenge was quite a while ago (2018 maybe) but here it is again playing with the hourglass challenge.