Was it really that long ago? Visiting it was my birthday treat that year, and I took the trip up a few times during the three months it was open.

I liked that there were so many pieces of work (there were 23 in all) in a relatively small space. It was possible to get to know them over a period of time and to see how they related to each other. Although we wouldn’t think of Scully as a systems artist, the fact that he works in series means that you do see relationships between works very clearly and that the work becomes more than each individual painting.

In the catalogue for that show Scully says:

…very often with painting, when you see someone’s painting for the first time you can’t really relate to it. You have to see it over time, and you have to see different kinds of works by the same artist, and kind of live with it, live with the experience of that painting and come back to it until you sort of connect to it

Which has now transformed into this.

Only I’m making out of this.

I’m abandoning the floral print since I’m out of it.  It seemed like the best choice at the time.  I love the Mary Engelbreit fabrics and I can’t wait to get started on this quilt.

I just couldn’t bring myself to go back in the sewing room and work on them again.  Odd reaction, when I’m excited about doing something different.

Then it hit me.  I’m trying to do too much in one quilt.  The blocks don’t belong together.  They each belong in their own quilt.

The last thing I wanted to do is start three new projects, but there they are, in their glory, staring at me from the design wall.  And here’s the kicker.

That’s all I have left of the focus fabric.  So now I have even more opportunities to work with color and pattern. 

I really am excited about working with these blocks.  This shift takes me in the direction I need to go, it just caught me off guard.  A weird thought, since I was there sewing the blocks and couldn’t see it at the time.

Anyway, more to come…….

I changed the background about seven times before I came up with the fence, and then I changed the fence a few times.  The fence still bothers me a little.  But I’m not changing it.

I have quite a few projects I want to finish, so that will delay the start until later this year, or maybe first thing next year.  In my world that’s a blink of an eye. 

October already?  I could have sworn it was just summer.

One more block done, and the “not sure where it’s going” project has turned into the “I think I see it” project.  I don’t have a clear picture in my mind yet, but I’m on the verge.

The final quilt will be light years away from the project I had in mind when I started.  Can you see how each block has evolved? 

I’m really starting to enjoy this process.  I love how the idea for the next block flows out of the one before.  It’s like a breath of fresh air.

The color mix kept me interested, and I like this block much better than the first one.  The black and white fabric didn’t make the cut.  Maybe I can use it in the next quilt.

I tagged the last post “improvisational quilting”, but now I realize that’s not what I’m doing here.  Improvisational blocks would be much less structured than the checkerboard blocks.

It doesn’t matter to me what it’s called.  It just makes it hard for other people to find if I can’t come up with the correct tag.  Any ideas?  It can be the Name That Project game.

I usually like working with squares.  The fabrics didn’t excite me as much as I thought they would.  The next block will be brighter……with more contrast…..and black on white fabric.

The floral fabric is OLD.  I didn’t want to use fabric I loved to try out whatever this is, just in case I hated it and decided to pitch the whole thing.  I don’t think I’ve ever done that – pitched a quilt in process.

It’s a very freeing thought.

Fabric Used YTD:  34 yards

Fabric In YTD:  22.75 yards

Net Busted:  11.25 yards

Here’s the last sketch and the corresponding picture in the preliminary series work.

This is the one I decided to start.  It’s simple enough that it doesn’t overwhelm me, and complicated enough to challenge me.  I like the way that the leaves fall over and create layers.  My mind is spinning with interesting ways to recreate that.

To see all the other stash reports, visit Patchwork Times.

This sketch leaves a lot to the imagination.  I took the picture because I liked the way the stakes and the garden tools stuck out of the ground at different heights and different angles.

Unfortunately, it was a bad garden year.  Six weeks of 90-degree temperatures and no rain, followed by cold temperatures and constant rain didn’t do our plants any favors.  My picture lacks lush greenery.

In my mind, I see healthy tomato and squash and pepper plants in the background.  Not impossible, but more improvisation than I want to try in the first quilt.

This sketch and picture remain on the design wall to experiment with another day.

Thanks for the great comments on the last post.  Some wonderful ideas came out of the comments.

It’s turning into a long story, but each step makes sense when you consider what came before it.

I started with the tree picture, and next to it is my quick and dirty sketch.

I took the picture because I thought the trees falling and creating an “x” was unusual and interesting.  After sketching, I could see it wasn’t interesting enough to carry the entire quilt.  Too much going on, no real focal point, nothing to draw the eye across the picture, etc. 

I still like the lines in the picture, and I can use that as a framework for a more abstract piece.  Every time I look at my design wall and see that picture, I think the same thing. The idea doesn’t go away.

That in itself had me in a tizzy.  I don’t do abstract.  I don’t even like abstract.  I can find things in an abstract piece I can appreciate, but I never have a “WOW” moment over one. 

So why has this idea taken root and started growing?

I can’t answer that, or maybe I don’t want to.  But I’ve learned over the years to go with the ideas that won’t go away because they will nag you until you do.

Now it looks like I’ll be working on two different series.

I have a fat quarter pack of plaids I wouldn’t mind using up, and I thought a smaller version of this quilt would make a fun charity quilt.  I scaled the whole thing down in EQ6 and headed into the sewing room armed with a list of the fabric requirements.

It didn’t take long to realize that my plaids were darker than the ones in the original quilt, and they didn’t look right with black.  They looked better with tan, which made for a blah baby quilt.

The plaids went back into the drawer.  Out came the Mary Engelbreit fabrics I won at the Chinese auction earlier this year.  Those fabrics have so much busyness that I find them hard to work into a quilt.  I ditched the original design.  I couldn’t find a pleasing way to make it with such busy fabrics.

I started sketching new designs.  I’m still sketching new designs.  I’m even considering going back to the original design.

My husband picked up my sewing machine today, and it’s back in my sewing room, good as new.  What a relief!  Now I can spend some time sewing and give the designs a rest.  In a few days I’ll go back to them with a fresh eye.

I have not fallen back into the rhythm of life since we returned from vacation.  I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.  I do miss all that walking (terribly), and I find myself restless and craving the outdoors.

In our absence the construction crews managed to tear up every major road between where I live and where I work.  I settled on a route today that doesn’t double my commute time or leave me sitting in traffic when I’d rather be home.  It only took six tries to get it right.  No mindless driving for me.  I have to think about how to get where I’m going.

I figure by the weekend I’ll be back in the swing of things and sewing like crazy.  Meanwhile progress is slow.

And because posts without pictures or links are BORING, I’m sharing another park picture that I’m considering for the series.

Something about the light draws my attention.

Fabric Used YTD:  22.375 yards

Fabric In YTD:  20.5 yards

Net Busted:  1.875 yards 

I got out and walked yesterday so I could take pictures at the park.  I was the only fool on the trails.  The temperature had dropped from earlier this week, but the humidity had increased.  I swam when I got home to cool off.

Now I have plenty of pictures to play with as I work through the series planning.  I haven’t picked a favorite yet.  I took this picture because of the way the trees formed an “X” when they fell.

This one is just a nice shot of the trail.

I definitely have enough material to keep me busy.

For links to all the other stash reports, visit Patchwork Times.

I never have.  I never really thought about it until a few months ago.  I’m sure I read articles on it in various quilting magazines and books.  I could see the point, but it never held any appeal for me.

For whatever reason, I’ve changed my mind.  A friend who has thought about it much more than me was kind enough to share some of the information she had accumulated.  I already had some material on it from classes I’d taken through Quilt University.  So now I’m reading through it all, trying to organize my thoughts on working in series.

The key, of course, is to pick a theme.  In order to pick a theme, you have to know what you like.  A series can run for a long time.  It’s important to pick a theme that will excite you for the long haul.

To help me pick a theme, I’m wading through my “image file”.  I’ve also heard these called inspiration files.  Mine consists of magazine and catalog clippings, photos, sketches, notes and greeting cards, with a few odds and ends thrown in.  Here it is in all its unorganized glory.

It took me an hour to find it last night.  I had it spread out through three different rooms, in multiple places in each room.  Not much inspiration happens when you can’t even find the file.  I expect I’ll continue to find items I saved for that file for weeks.

Tonight I’ll start sorting it, putting items with common subject matter together.  I don’t expect many surprises.  There will be a nature pile, and a pile of images with strong geometric patterns.  There will be a “fun and bright” pile.  That will probably cover it.

My goal is to get organized enough to use the file for reference, and to find a box to put it in.  There has to be something around here….

c. Susan Sorrell Hill

The Illustration Friday word of the week is deja-vu.

Artists do love working in series…and we also love revisiting our favorite subjects, symbols and situations. Psychologists would sagely say that we are “working something out,” something which usually resides deep at the bottom of our subconscious…something which can be safely explored with pencil, paint and paper. Perhaps we are.

Regardless of the psychological implications, it is just plain fun to make a second, third or hundredth version of something which we feel so connected with. Each time, we see the object or the subject from a slightly different perspective, and perhaps with a bit more clarity. Working in series can be a very effective way  for an artist to discover exactly what she is trying to express with her art. Following the hand and the eye is an excellent way to discover the heart…

My favorite movie on the subject of deja-vu is the very funny (and vintage) Groundhog Day. Bill Murray plays to perfection a man who is rude, arrogant and altogether unpleasant to the people around him…and he wonders (again and again) why he can’t get the girl of his dreams. Fortunately for him, every morning is a new chance to do the same things all over, but in a better way. Doing so eventually leads him to a reality where he is kinder, gentler, and, of course, gets the girl. It’s an entertaining comedy, but it does have a profound point to make: every morning is a deja-vu…we wake up in the same life, with the same people and the same jobs, houses, health and circumstances. What will we do differently today with those constants, so that…ultimately…our life flows sweetly?

c. Susan Sorrell Hill

The last module is about working in a series.

A new intake happens in the first week in July, so why not enrol and join in with the others learning about design and colour?