Contemplating

Posting year end reviews of my quilts and making public lists for the future has never been an activity I use. However...

The titles of my former pages haven't fit my work for the last few years {and the pictures became increasingly misaligned} so I created annual pages. That's where I really looked at this year's finishes. Comparing my output with my plans highlights some serious discrepancies. They don't match what I thought I'd done this year. Although starting with improvisational quilts, it segued to scrap quilts. Nothing wrong with that; I love scrap quilting. But not what I intended. Also, individual pieces are much more rectangular while my intention was to make curved designs.

In 2014 I worked to finish or donate old quilt tops and blocks. That effort was mostly successful but there's a whole new stack of tops and UFOs this year. Here's where improv and curved piecing stopped. Many of the curved/improv pieces are unfinished. My life turned upside down early this year and when I returned to quilting all I could do was the comforting scrap style most familiar to me.

Quilt tops and blocks in progress 

What are my plan for 2017?
1. Finish what I've started.

• I didn't clear out the old projects just to store a new set.

2. Work more slowly.

• I'll only start another quilt as each is finished so I may as well have all possible fun.
• Edit: This does not mean one quilt at a time. I mean I don't want to rush each quilt to completion and I want to be more purposeful about making sure each quilt has a complete story rather than a quick finish. 

3. Consider ways to combine scrap with improvisation. 

• Improvisation means developing my own ideas and/or building off thoughts or things I see. My quilts are designed to be useful and useable. Combining multiple fabrics from multiple sources is the way I work. I've tried other methods but they don't interest me for long.

4. Continue curved piecing and working with triangles. 

• Incorporating free-hand cutting will be one way to keep this going.

While I contemplate how to actualize the plan, I also want to incorporate more thoughtfulness into AHIQ. Kaja and I want it to be a locus for improvisational and utility quilts. A good idea, but it seems to need more than just a linky party. I want to include ideas for quarterly study. This will take more thought.

 

Our final 2016 AHIQ link up is this coming Tuesday. Hope to see you and your work there.

Happy Holidays!

Enjoy the day, Ann