Those Little Things: More Than A Concept

The Take It Further March Challenge was decided a few weeks ago, but I am only now ready to begin this challenge. Sharon asked, “Do you ever notice the little things, the small moments, the details in life? This months challenge is to do just that, pay attention to the tiny details. Sometimes the small things become emblematic for something larger. That is it!” 

From the moment I read the concept for this month’s Challenge, I knew IMMEDIATELY what I would create for a small quilt. You see, for the past several weeks, my home has been pulling heavy-duty with a major renovation in our kitchen area.

When it was time to gut the kitchen from top to bottom, our lifestyle became rather disrupted. While we were in demo-mode, the remainder of our home’s main floor was transformed into a warehouse. Wall-to-wall boxes filled this room – somewhere there is a living room underneath all of those boxes.

 The worst part is now over. We increased square footage, installed a set of French doors leading out to our covered back porch, and then began installing our new cabinets.

WHEW! This has been quite a bit of work for the two of us! I’ll be happy when we are past the next couple of phases: floor installation, ceiling lights, painting….

During this renovation, we were forced to adapt to new surroundings. Change is okay, but I have learned that change without those little things is a challenge. Nevermind that we have been living without cabinets. Nevermind that we had no dishes or cooking utensils because we had no cabinets. Nevermind that we had no easy access to appliances because we had no cabinets. Nevermind that we had no countertops — we had no cabinets! 

Nevermind any of those inconveniences…..We had a bigger problem: WE HAD NO SINK!

We had no running water, which was bad enough, but what was worse was that we had no kitchen sink. Just look!

Do you know how many times I have stopped myself from automatically pouring something into that sink-hole??? My, my….I’ve learned the hard way that the sink is one of those very BIG little things.

For me, the kitchen sink ranks Number One as one of those little things. One of those little things we take for granted. One of those things we ignore because they are of little consequence and seemingly insignificant….

This month of March, I give homage to Ye Wonderful Kitchen Sink. I will give her the glory she deserves, in a color that she will wear proudly….

So here’s my pin-up design, complete with an enlarge copy of a sink that will soon be transformed with fabric. Somehow I’ll applique a fabric-sink in the center with I-dyed-it-bright-pink cottons, and hopefully it will resemble a sink. Those other wacky bright fabrics are going to surround Ye Wonderful Kitchen Sink to celebrate how I’ve learned the hard way to love-my-sink. (Now I think I understand why some sinks are placed on pedestals…)

Remembering: Finishing Life Facets

Finally! I have finished quilting my February Take It Further Challenge and will add binding today. I took the photo early this morning and none of the quilting really shows up. I plan to use the background fabric to bind this wall quilt, hoping to use fabric strips cut from the sections that now looks like swiss-cheese cut-outs.

Tomorrow, I’ll post about the March TIF Challenge and how I will interpret the theme presented. Participants who have signed onto this year-long challenge are well underway, so I have some catch-up to do. After reading the concept, I knew immediately what “subject” I wanted to do. I’ve also had time to think about how I want to present this “subject” for the March Challenge too. So, stay tuned…..I think that my March TIF will yank a smile out of a few folks.

Remembering: Quilting The Life Facets

Amidst the hustle and bustle of our early Spring season, while deep in the throes of our kitchen remodeling, I have found some time to quilt my February TIF Challenge, Life Facets.

I hope to finish the quilting today — it has taken longer than I had planned, but I got a little carried away with some of the quilting. 

 I have used more than a dozen different Sulky threads, following along with all of the color variations.

Remembering: Bordering The Life Facets

Finally! My February Take It Further Challenge, Life Facets, is ready for quilting. I will be machine quilting this project today, following some of the facet lines and geometric shapes. I also plan to do some free-motion quilting in the background areas, too.  I think that I’ll use a glittery gold rayon thread for the quilting.

While working on the corners of Life Facets, I had hoped to use a Gordian or Celtic Knot. I found 2 Celtic Knots that I liked, but in the corners, there was nothing to unify them to the design — no visual relationship.

So, I went back to the ‘beginning’ and worked with the faceted design. I drafted a corner facet unit for a beacon effect. The corner facet units are asymetrical like the center blocks, but they are turned upside down for the corners.

Each of the four color-groups were then added to borders in an offset rhythm with respect to the color-group. Placement of each facet was arranged by color, in a counter-clockwise motion, around the quilt. This placement is similar to the counter-clockwise motion of the center facet block design.

I hope I can finish quilting this today because I need to work on the March Challenge project. Yesterday, I snuck a peek at the March TIF Challenge and I IMMEDIATELY knew what my quilt would be. More later…..