"Outback Wanderings"

I was inspired by the quilts of Ann Brauer. She uses a quilt as you go method with all different types of fabric to create beautiful landscape style pictures. Something about the lines & the colours just spoke to me. I had to give it a try myself.

But I did have to be different! I do need to make it my own.

I love the colours of the Australian outback so I decided to start there. I sewed strips of fabric to a paper square. Why, I'm not sure. I like the stability that the paper gives but it is a pain to remove. I may have to figure out another method that works for me.

I haven't decided how I'm going to quilt this yet. I may just quilt in the ditch or I may actually embellish it with thread & beads, etc. I also had to work with the colours I have on hand. I obviously could do with more fabric! Oh dear!

But I loved the process & I LOVE the look! I'm going to have to work further in this style.

Happy New Year

Well, I feel like life has taken over & I have no idea where it has gone! I was looking through my list of "Where We Have Been" & noticed that for the past year, our family as a whole has traveled so much that I'm surprised anyone was every home! It has been forever since I posted (although I have accomplished some things). On the other hand, your probably never noticed I was gone!

But it is a new year and, at the moment, I only have one trip planned for May for my son's graduation. So, for the moment, I have plenty of time in the house to get some changes done.

This is a big year. All of my kids graduate from their respective schools in May/June. But the biggest thing is that my husband retires at the end of the year. Yes, he will be a young retiree. I'm not that old! :)

I have decided that this is the year to figure out what it is that I want to do. Something I have already discovered this year is that I really do not want to be making large quilts, nor traditional quilts. I love the look of them & I always seem to get pulled in to making one. I feel that if I'm making a quilt, I have to quilt it & I hate that part. I hate having to fight with it to get it in the machine. I just do not enjoy the process. I'm also not enjoying the process of the 1/4" seam as it just doesn't always work for me!

So, for this new year, after I finish what I already have, I will no longer try working on a large traditional quilt. I still need to give small art quilts a shot but the large ones are out! Boy, feels good to finally have made that decision. Lets hope I can stick to it as I do love the look of these quilts!

I have been doing a lot of beading & will get some pictures taken soon. I finished my November Beaded Journal Page. I was having a bit of a problem with October & it was holding me back so I decided to put it aside for the moment & move on. I have not started December but I know what I'm doing. I also know what I'm doing for January, just need to get working on them.

So, I am here & I am working. This is the year to figure out what it is I really want to do & to put aside the things I really don't like doing. It is the year to organize, simplify and discover.

Framed

I finally managed to take a photo of my latest quilt. I designed this last year while I was traveling in Florida with my husband. He had an urgent work thing he had to do so I sat there while he worked, drawing. This is what I came up with. I like this idea so I think I will work with it & make a few more.

I used hand dyed fabric I had done during my very first attempt at dyeing. The fabrics were done in a gradation from Sunshine Yellow to Chinese Red. I love the red colours that I get with Chinese Red.