Hi friends!
A clean slate.
That was the first challenge this past week for Project Quilting.
Do you know about Project Quilting? Kim of Persimmon Dreams has been hosting a series of challenges each January-March for the past 17 years! You can read more about it on her website – click here to open a new tab and go to her blog to read about the challenges.
Where did they get that challenge idea? They started with the Pantone color of the year, called Cloud Dancer, which is basically an off white. More like the NON color of the year.
But what does a color like white do for us as quilters? It’s gives us a clean slate, a neutral place to start, a fresh beginning. We can go anywhere with our quilt, in any direction! We can pick any fabric, we can make any blocks, we can apply any appliqué, we can quilt using thread in any color of the rainbow.
January often feels like a time for a reset, a clean slate for ourselves. We set new goals for the new year, set new intentions or resolutions and we try to establish new habits and healthy lifestyle choices (okay… breakfast this morning was a bagel with eggs, bacon and cheese. Fail! But oh so tasty!).
Back to the challenge. You have a clean slate. What will you do with it?
As Kim wrote- “Pantone’s choice is at heart an open space to breathe and let creativity sing.”
What is Bringing me Peace?
So in the quiet, what makes my heart sing at the start of this new year? I admit to feeling overwhelmed right now, saddened by the events in this country and the direction we are heading. Heading away from seeing each other as people but instead seeing anyone different from us, with different beliefs, as the enemy.
What is bringing me peace right now?
I have this picture I took on my phone of a sunset last month. It was beautiful, glorious in color and the short time in the evening that I spent sitting quietly by the water, watching the sun set and the colors swirl and change, was immensely peaceful. Calming.
Nature. Being outside by the water, even on a cold evening, basking in the glory of a sunset. Peaceful for sure.
My Quilt Plan
So my quilt. I planned to make it to reflect those colors, that sense of calm.
First I debated trying to really capture the scene and then realized, I didn’t have to. I could do a minimalist version and just capture the essence. Maybe I would try to keep the white space for reflection, for dreaming, for thinking of what comes next. So that was my plan. Start with a big blank piece of white fabric and add small lines of color using fabric and thread, leaving the white space there.
Sounded great! I had a plan! Next I hunted through my stash to find fabrics and threads that would represent the colors.
I decided to fuse down the strips rather than pieces them together so I found my Lite Steam-a-Seam 2.
Cut some strips and fused shapes to my fabrics.
And then… next thing you know, I have filled all the space. The white is gone. (Well, it is still there are the top but I will cut that off!)
The scene is there. It’s a little abstract but there. I guess I really wanted to do the scene.
I tried to go minimal but ended up a little more maximal!
Time for some quilting. I chose to do some curvy lines and some straight lines.
Trimmed it to size, added some binding and ta-done!
In just a few hours I have this cute little scene. Ready to hang and make me smile.
How about you? What is making your heart sing right now?
happy quilting!
Kate
Beautiful response to the prompt! Getting outside and seeing the sun always makes my heart sing.