WIP Wednesday

Naturally I have several unfinished projects. But I decided I really needed to work on my son's graduation quilt if I was ever going to actually finish it. And believe me, the jury was out on it for a while. It's quite an intense quilt. I don't even want to think about how many hours have been spent on this piece - let's just say I love my son a LOT! I started it before he graduated in June 2015 and of course now it's August 2016 and I'm not quite finished with the top, although I'm elated to say: The hard part (piecing) is DONE! WOO HOO!

And I'm glad I did finish it, because I like it. Which is a good thing when one has spent so very much time on something. And yes, finished is a relative term - I still have some tweaking to do and a few additions, but really, that paper piecing of those airplanes was nuts!. And made even more so because I hand-drew the templates, which meant they were totally imperfect, but whatever. i got 'er done, that's what matters.

It's funny, I was reading what Amy Garro at 13 Spools had to say about copyrights, derivatives, etc. in response to the Modern Quilt Guild's post about said things, and as I writing my response to her, this quilt popped into my head. I realized that it was, in fact, a derivative of her Icy Waters piece, which I had not connected before. I had not connected it because when I "got" the idea for this piece, I was sitting with my sister-in-law, talking to her about trying to come up with a great idea for a quilt for Jonas, and suddenly I just started drawing, and this is pretty much what I drew. And yeah, I thought it was my own idea, and it was, sort of. But clearly we are influenced by so many different things that we see. I want to give Amy a big shout out - she really is an inspiring and amazing designer. I pretty much love everything she does. Thanks for sharing, Amy. You rock!

I'm also finishing off my little table runner that I call "Eggs." I don't have a photo, but I'll share it when it's finished. It was a whim, and I've had fun doing it. I'm also finishing my improv piece with all the half-square triangles leftover from another project. I'm doing a kind of straight line thing on it, switching thread colors, which as everyone knows, is a pain. Funny thing is, I'm not sure it was really necessary - that it's making all that much difference. What do you think?

Actually I know what you are thinking - it was a waste of time to change thread colors - it simply does not show up! Aw well. Live and learn. Oh Well. I must say that I am amazed by how difficult a time I've had with the straight lines - even using the walking foot with the guide I have had to backtrack and fix. A lot. And it's still imperfect. Annoying? Rather, but I'm really very very nearly done, just a few more lines and some FMQing, but hungry tummies were calling so I needed to make dinner. I will finish it tonight. Haven't decided on the binding - think I'm just going with a white binding - I'm not sure I need to add any more elements to this piece. I really am a minimalist at heart, I guess. I have started not one new project, like I said I wouldn't, until I finished all the WIP's I had. Now I am almost done with them, so I'm percolating, percolating - what do I want to make next? What a fun thing to contemplate! I do so love to create new things. Enough of all that - gotta get this finished so I can hook up with lovely Lorna over at Sew Fresh Quilts for WIP Wednesday. See y'all in cyber space..