A Bend in the Road - Finished

I signed up for Stitched In Color's Curves Class this month, and last week we covered improv curves.  Actually, I've done some improv curves before, so for my practice this week, I worked on an improv curves WIP... the quilt that I started at Sherri Lynn Woods' Get Your Curve On Workshop. 

To be honest, this poor fellow never got a lot of love from me.   We had the option in the class to make "c" shapes or "s" shapes, and I thought "oh s's are pretty..." so I made those.  Then I laid them out and was reminded of worms.  Then I sewed them together and was reminded of brains.  Then I made more, sewed them on, and was reminded of intestines.  Aside from the slimy disgustingness of the squiggle shape, I really did not like how I distributed color in the piece.  There were smaller moments in the quilt that I really loved, but they disappeared in the overall top.

I read in Rachel's class intro that she had been inspired by Sherri Lynn Woods' work, but when she really thought about it, she didn't want to do quite the same thing.  When I brought this top out of hiding this week, I looked at it and decided that I felt the same way.  So I chopped it to pieces!  Don't worry... I sewed it back together after.

Cutting the piece into blocks allowed me to re-distribute color and get rid of the wormy-ness of the original work.  I got my curves practice in for the week by piecing some new improv curves to get enough blocks for a 40" square top.  Having finished this - now I really want to make a wonky rail fence quilt.  Wouldn't that be so pretty?

I straight-line quilted an echoed X and backed it with a piece of fabric that I hand dyed using the shibori technique.  I used a medium grey Kona for the binding to keep things calm and let the top be the star.  I did put in a little stripe of dark plum anywhere that I joined strips, just for a bit of interest that's not too in-your-face.  

I hadn't planned to finish any UFOs this month because I have a lot on my plate at the moment.  I surprised myself and did one almost by accident.  Maybe this is getting to be a habit??  That would be awesome if it were true.  Who else has been hittin' the UFOs this year?

New year, new project

It's resolution time again...

Last year, I made resolutions to take my machine for service, finish UFOs, limit my fabric purchases, and make clothing.  In the end I rocked the first two, bombed the third one (fabric collection still growing by leaps and bounds) and almost completed the last one (I sewed 5.5 garments and my goal was 6).  Thanks to my UFO-busting goal, I also finished 9 quilts in 2012, which is awesome compared with my previous average of two quilts per year.

My goal for this year is to get down to just 1 quilt-in-progress.  It's gonna be a rough road, since thanks to a few new starts toward the end of the year, I currently have 9 quilts going.  Yeep!  To help me out with this goal, I've joined my friend Melissa's awesome group, A Lovely Year of Finishes.  The plan is to finish one project, big or small, every month.

I'm excited!  For the first month, I am actually taking a break from quilting for what should hopefully be a quick & fun project:

Yes, I am finally making a Renfrew!  I have been eyeing this pattern almost since it came out, and I snatched it up a few months ago when it was on sale over at A Fashionable Stitch.  This is going to be a bit of a practice go using some green stretch vellure (yum haha).  But I do need a few warm & comfy shirts for slumming around the house this winter, and I think this guy will fit the bill. 

What's your first project for the new year?