On the Design Wall

My design wall is full of bits and parts that I'm trying to work into a cohesive arrangement. Maria Shell calls this step "glom-ing" - when it's time to making bit interact with one another another. It's been looking like quite a mess!

Though I've been satisfied with how each of the Old Italian blocks came together... 

...and as a group, they look cohesive enough. 

But putting bits together has been very challenging. I think I've met my match! But I'll keep going.

It's been discouraging to see how many scraps I've generated through this process. When possible, I'm using trimmed pieces to create new fabric, but as the trimmings get smaller, they've become less usable. 

I've now added all of my October fabric purchases to my stash - 96 yards of Painter's Palette solids. After I washing and drying each piece, I wrote the color name in the selvage. 

Then, I did an overhaul of my storage cabinet. These shelves contain only solids that are ½ yard or more. 

This bin is solids that are in chunks of ½ yard or less. How will I use these?!

These two canvas bins are nothing but pieces. How in the world will I use these?!

These 18 solids are what I've chosen for Saturday afternoon's virtual workshop with South Florida MQG to make a "Maze" quilt with Malka Dubrawsky. It is nice to have a choices of an array of colors and values. 

I find that after several hours of sewing, by evening I'm ready for handwork. This flex case, from Aneela Hoey's book Stitch and Sew has been a fun finish.

I chose thread colors based on the canvas-weight fabric I selected for the flex case back. 

My latest audio book finish is Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult, but I found it difficult to get through. I don't know whether it was my mood, or general lack of interest, but I forced myself to listen. 

The story is about Oliver, a scientist who studies whales; Jane, his speech therapist wife; and Rebecca, their beautiful 15 year-old daughter who is wise beyond her years. After an argument with Oliver, Jane and Rebecca leave California and embark on a cross-country drive toward Massachusetts where Jane's brother Joley works in an apple orchard. Their experiences during their travels - including a stop in What Cheer, Iowa, to visit a cornfield that was the site of a 1978 plane crash - along with Oliver's introspection as he drives in pursuit, are the point of the story.

What I did not enjoy is the author's story format - jumping from present day to the past, to the future, and back to recent past. Specifically, one scene - Jane meeting Sam when he's shearing a sheep, is repeated three times from the perspectives of each of the three people present. Maybe it's me, but I found it difficult to keep track of when I was listening, and who was telling the story. 

Linda's score: 2.8/5.0

Well, this is where I ended today's piecing. It's 46" X 71", so it definitely needs to be made wider. I'll be considering options... perhaps more X's, or perpendicular short strips.  

Linda