Circles Pizzaz Ready to Quilt

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Ours was nice and quiet.

I continue to feel a little better every day following my back surgery. Saw the doctor last week and he said everything was looking good.  I still have to wear the back brace for FOUR more months. It is a good thing in that it keeps me from moving in ways I shouldn't.  He gave me permission to drive short distances.  WAHOOOO!!!  I must say my husband was  really sweet doing all the shopping, etc.  I'm up to walking 30 minutes a day.

Over the weekend I finished sewing together the Circles Pizzaz quilt which I started in February of 2016. I took a guild sponsored class byJudy Cisneros, http://judysisneros.com/  She was a very  good teacher. Sewing these blocks together were quite challenging due to the curved piecing. Through sewing these blocks I have become much more comfortable with curved piecing. Her book titled Circles Pizzazz is well written with many tips on doing the curved piecing.

Below is my quilt ready to be quilted. To plan the quilting, I like to print out a picture of the quilt and use an overhead projector marker to draw on a transparency placed over the photo.  I'm thinking of following the dynamic curved lines, using a multicolored thread on the black areas and a black and white thread on the colored part.

Below is a picture of the backing.  I like to use up some of the many fabrics

 stuffed into my dressers and cabinets. 

Beautiful Red-tailed Hawk

Spending a lot of time walking around outside, since I still am not able to drive or sit normally, etc., yet.  Saw this beautiful Red-tailed Hawk the other day from our barn. It sat in the tree for a good 20 minutes looking for some prey below. Maybe an idea for a quilt.

Playing with Layers

I had fun playing with paint, stencils, found objects, etc. the last few days and here are a couple of my more successful experiments. It was fun to just play with no purpose in mind.

I'm feeling better every day. My rash  from the surgical tape used on my back dressing has finally calmed down. That was nasty stuff!  Today I was able to shower and dry myself!  Yeah! Progress!

Finally Finished Shibori Quilt

Except for attaching the sleeve and the label I finally finished my shibori quilt. It's been difficult with my back issues to sit or stand very long so it was done in many mini sessions. I really like how it came out and hope it gets accepted into the SLO Art Museum's upcoming Dimensions Show. I'll find out by November 15th.

I used my own arashi and itijime dyed fabrics and it is hand stitched with a big stitch. Here's a couple closeups of it.

Hand Quilting Itajime Piece

This morning I finally got a date for my surgery after the insurance folks tried every delay in the book. It's scheduled for the third week of October.  Meanwhile, I'm trying to finish up a piece to enter in an upcoming show. Sometimes I have so many ideas on how I can do that and sometimes not a one. Something I find helpful to do is to lay a clear transparency over the piece and use water soluble markers to plan a design. Then if I don't like it, I can erase and try another one. Below is a picture showing this.

To figure out what thread would be best, I audition a variety of them on top of the quilt, unspooling a couple yards of each. I decided on Sulky variegated long staple cotton 12 weight threads. 

Finishing a UFO

    Sorry I haven't posted in awhile.  My back pain, sciatica is quite uncomfortable and painful, so am spending a lot of time in bed with knees bent over a wedged pillow. I am reading a lot.

    I saw my neurosurgeon on September 8th and now am I'm waiting to get the authorization from Workers Comp for my back surgery.  I'm really looking forward to getting this done and moving on!!

    I've attached a photo of a quilt I started quite some time ago, and pulled out of one of my piles of ufos to distract me if nothing else as I wait to get surgery.  It was from a guild sponsored class by Judy Cisneros called Circles Pizzaz that I took in February of 2016. In fact I wrote a post about the class. She was a very good teacher. There's not an easy seam in it.  It was a good project to help me with learning about sewing curves. Each seam is like easing in a sleeve. I've been working off and on with it, mostly off, as I can't sit for more than 10 minutes at a time, sometimes not even that. The background is not a pure black, there is a small light grey print on it that doesn't show in this photo.  Kind of fun to do something so different than my usual stuff.

Laying Low for Now

It's been awhile since I last blogged. I've been having a lot of lower back pain and sciatica, making it difficult to sit for very long. Actually staying in any one position, standing, laying down, etc. is difficult.  Although I've had periodical back pain through the years ever since my back surgery in 2000, it started to get more serious in about late April and into May. I kept thinking that as soon as school got out, I would feel better. Instead it just kept getting worse. It's the same kind of pain I had prior to having my fusion surgery in 2000 due to a work related incident.  I had a back x-ray a couple weeks ago and an MRI yesterday.  It's possible that I will need decompression and fusion surgery again. Needless to say, I'm not doing much quilting. I think I did about ten stitches a couple of days ago in a quilt and that's been about it. Hoping to get some treatment soon and get back to the life I enjoy, going places, seeing friends and being creative.  This is so not me! My husband has been absolutely wonderful, taking me to appointments, cooking, etc. I'm so lucky to have him.

Thank you to all my wonderful friends who have been in touch and wishing me a speedy recovery.

Meanwhile, to get some inspiration, check out Elizabeth Barton's latest blog post here: http://elizabethbarton.blogspot.com/