100 Days

Kitty Wilkin's @nightquilter Life as My Improv Coach lecture at QuiltCon ($14.40) was one of the most inspiring lectures I've attended at QuiltCon. During her presentation, Kitty explained how she documents occasions and moments in her life by choosing colors and shapes to represent each one. The concept is sorta like making a temperature quilt, but using one's own life and activities to create a quilt. 

I've been thinking about her concept since that lecture. When I returned home from QuiltCon I bought Kitty's $15 Quilt Your Life ebook. It's a guide to create your own life in a quilt, and includes instructions about how to choose parameters (blocks, sizes, color), and blank pages for journaling. 

Today, June 1 is my start date for tracking 100 days of my favorite activities.

This quilt will document four F's:

Faith + Friendship + Fitness + Fun

Faith - yellow and gold colors

1. Attending a worship service

2. Attending bible study

Friendship - orange colors

3. Central Florida Modern Quilt Guild meetings and activities

4. Big Cypress Quilters meetings and activities

Fitness - pink and raspberry colors

5. using weights

6. line dancing

7. power walking

Fun - blue, aqua, and green colors

8. ukulele-playing

9. finished audiobooks

10. blog posts

So every time I engage in one of these 10 activities, I'll make a quilt block to document it. That should give me about 12 to 13 blocks a week. With blocks being 5" X 5" finished, I'm estimating I'll end up with between 175 to 195 blocks for an approximately 65" X 75" quilt. 

Using Kitty's tracking page as a template, I created an Activity Log in my MacBook Numbers program. This way I'll be able to track activities on my computer or iPhone. I included an empty check mark box where I can check-off blocks made.

I have a rough idea of different blocks for each activity such as: a 25-patch block for bible study because our Zoom screen has a Brady Bunch layout; a flying geese block for Big Cypress Quilters because flying geese are in the guild logo; and improv-cut curves because power-walks take me along curved streets. Some blocks will be pieced, and several will be appliquéd either by hand or machine. 

As well, I went through solid scraps to pull a variety of hues and values that I hope to include. The lower right print is what's left of the fabric I used to make my ukulele case, so that's the fabric I'll put into the ukulele-playing block. 

I'm going into this 100-day commitment fully aware that activities could be side-tracked, or another might be added; or a block design won't be doable; or my color choices aren't quite right... but I plan to be flexible. It's a life quilt, after all, and life doesn't always go according to plan.

Whether you call it "quilt your life" or a "milestone quilt" or a "100 days project," this post is my commitment to making blocks for 100 days.

This is my story, and I'm sticking to it! Linda