Progress on an Art Quilt

Today I spent a lot of time working on the art quilt that I'm making for the upstairs bathroom.  I know that putting a quilt in a bathroom may sound strange, but the upstairs bathrooms were updated and are now very, very white.  That was deliberate because I wanted to be able to change colors whenever the mood strikes.  Paintings won't be happy in such an environment, but quilts rotated from time to time should be okay (which gives me an excuse to make several quilts for each bathroom!).

The last time I put a photo of this quilt in the blog I had just re-done the checkerboard road.  Did I mention at that time that no matter how hard I tried that road kept on showing up smack dab in the middle of the quilt?  I think it's trying to tell me something.  Today I pinned (and re-pinned, and re-pinned over and over) the trees that are another part of the background.  They aren't sewed down yet so you'll be able to see little yellow dots all over the place.  Those dots are the heads of the pins. Here's how it looks now:

As I look at it now in the photos, there are a few things I wonder about.  My original intention was to have the trees growing from the highest "hill" down to one of the lower levels.  Today I seem to have forgotten that completely, but it only looks way.  The "birch" trees will be pulled down and some other lighter colored trees and saplings will be there too.  Guess I should do that before I sew any trees down.  This, with only some of the pieces in place, isn't as helpful as I had hoped

This photo is different only in that I cropped the left-hand side to see if I could "move" the checkerboard road that way.  Don't know that it works very well.  Does it still seem to be in the middle or is that because the lower right-hand side ends abruptly?  I do know that the trees closest to the road aren't happy.  Originally there was only one, but it was too big so I cut it in half.  The severely straight side on each tree is awful.  Well, that's easily fixed.

Tomorrow I meet with the art quilt group, and I'll see what they have to say.

Knitting News

Today's news flash about the lace scarf:  The following will not surprise most of you.  Every time I have undertaken a lace pattern, I have had to tear it out three times before I was able to knit the entire item.  And I had a cat who liked to sit by me and play with my knitting needles - or at least that cat was with us during one or two lace projects.  NOT that I am blaming the cat; I can mess up very thoroughly all by myself, but he was more fun to watch than the knitting chart!

Today I tore out the knitting on the current lace pattern for the second time.

Overwhelmed with the Number of Unfinished Projects? Take Heart . . .

Today I had a wonderful time learning how to knit 8 very, very short rows of lace.  The lace will be the edging of a lovely spidery looking neck scarf. Knowing how things go with me, tonight I decided to knit another 8 rows to cement the new knowledge and create muscle memory. The first row went very well so I merrily started another, and as so often happens to all crafters, I made a mistake.  I thought I had corrected it so I knit on.  By the fourth row, I knew I had not corrected anything; instead I had simply made it worse and far more obvious.

I stared at it for while; there was no "gift" except the experience in knitting and the experience I will gain by re-knitting everything.  Ah well,so things go.  Tomorrow is a new day, albeit a busy one, and I will start this project again.

Which brings up another point.  How many projects do I now have "in progress"?  I don't even know.  At least I can count the number of knitting projects I've started (I will include the one I tore out completely today) - a grand total of 2 sweaters, one pair of mittens, and a lace scarf.

The number of quilts I have started that I do plan to finish?  I have no idea.  Suffice it to say, a lot.

Then there are the paintings.  Those are probably quantifiable, but I'm not sure of the number.  Let's just say 7 more or less.

And you know what?  It doesn't bother me.  Oh maybe a little when I look around and feel momentarily overwhelmed, but it doesn't last.  This is one of those things with which I have an made an uneasy truce.  My explanation is that creativity isn't static; it keeps moving, searching, growing.  We are all constantly enticed by new ideas, new ways to do things, a new technique to master, a new craft to be mastered, a new representation of the pictures in our minds, and so much more.

It's the way it is, it's the way I am.