January 1, 2023: Hello!
It has been a long time since my last post. I’ve been sharing art on Instagram, but not on my blog. It’s hard to do everything you want sometimes. So I am starting anew… əˈno͞o/ adverb: In a new or different and typically more positive way!
I plan to keep writing and sharing my art process here on a regular basis, perhaps once a week? I’ll see how that feels and adjust from there. Sharing on social media can be rewarding… or not! Personally, I often feel curtailed by the “rules” of posting there and not being able to show photos in the format I’d like to. Also, it’s difficult to link to other sites. Although I do enjoy inspiration from other artists, many of whom are good friends, I really want to try and use my own blog to share in the ways I would like.
So, what have I been up to?
Working on my latest quilt, very slowly, but surely! Below are what the blocks look like BEFORE I sew them together to make a 4.5” x 4.5” square. Lots of tiny pieces, which make a wonderful variety of quilt blocks and require precision. I am following a pattern designed by my friend, Frieda Oxenham that I did two years ago. On Instagram during the pandemic, Frieda led us through 100 blocks in 100 days. You can see what I made on this page!
These blocks are part of row 9 (out of 10 rows) that will create this lap quilt. There are 10 blocks in each row = so 100 blocks total. I was doing one block a day when I started on August 7th, but Hurricane Ian at the end of September really got me off track. It was a very intense and scary storm, almost a Category 5 by the time it landed below us on the SW Coast of Florida. Because it did not go directly through us, our home on the river was not affected. There was only one large oak tree in our front yard that got damaged during the storm. A very large limb cracked and part of it came down in our front yard, smashing plants — but not our house. We had to have the tree removed entirely. The limb was hanging off the tree for 10 weeks until Terry’s Tree Service could get to us. They are the best, but so incredibly busy after the hurricane. To tell you the truth, what happened to us was really nothing compared to the devastation further down the coast. It was the stress of the hurricane that shook me up a bit and kept me from my art for a while.
In a short time, I recovered from the experience and got back to my art, phew! Now I am working more slowly on this vibrant quilt, which is perfectly okay. The quilt top is almost done! To give you an idea of what it will look like, here’s a photo of my Color Mix (2) quilt with 8 rows completed. It’s wild!
I am excited, because almost all 10 rows are sewn together! This is made mostly from fabrics designed by Kaffe Fassette. I was attracted to the bright colors, even though they are quite different from what I usually work with - see my 1st Color Mix quilt.
I would love to know what you might like to see on this blog. Current projects? How I made something that you’ve seen on this website or shared elsewhere? Inspirational ideas? Something else? I’ve had a blog since 2006, but I don’t think they are used as much as when I first began blogging. I still see them as a valuable tool, so let me know your feelings either by using the comments below, contacting me personally through my contact form or email, or replying to this post if you are receiving it via my mailing list. Thank you! Lenna
“Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake.”