Week in Review 2024 – 12/27

Assess

This will be my final post in 2024 and therefore, it is a good time to assess or at least recount, what I achieved this year. Here is an abbreviated list:

A detail image of a the hot air balloon on Ciel de Noyer.
  • I learned sufficient Japanese to have a few casual interactions with Japanese citizens during our trip.
  • I finished out my term on SAQA’s Board, ending as the Treasurer. Best of all, I haven’t added a single other volunteer event or position to my life for the remainder of the year.
  • Ciel de Noyer was done in time to be hung for my open studio.
  • I finished piecing a behemoth of quilt for the 2024 Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I am currently quilting it.
  • I am done piecing the background for Pelicans on Patrol, as well threading painting the three pelicans soon to be appliquéd on it.
  • I am prepared for 2025. I know what work I will have on exhibit at my two overlapping solo exhibitions this Spring. Also, I purchased the background fabric for Broken Hearted, my 2025 Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt.

Pelicans on Patrol

Rosemary Williams shared this photo on Unsplash. It is the reference photo for Pelicans on Patrol.

If you were paying attention to my assessment list, I mentioned three pelicans were thread painted and yet there are four pelicans in the photo. There will only be three in the quilt. Art principles suggest that odd number of elements are more pleasing than even numbers, so I assessed the pelicans and have opted to try three first. I can always thread paint the fourth if needed.

All 749 pieces are stitched together.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Coming up with a design for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge in 2025 was no easy task. After assessing my choice from last year, I knew I wanted to make something smaller. Of course this relative. In fact Broken Hearted finishes at 70″ H by 45″ W. Still that is approximately half the square area of this year’s quilt. I call that a win.

My 2025 Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt has finally come together.

EQ 8 comes with 100’s of fabrics and colors to play with. I tend towards choosing something fast that will give me an idea about value and hue. Hence the polka dot fabric surrounding the hearts.

My heart is broken.

No, I won’t be using a polka dot fabric in the background. That is simply a stand in while I hunted down the perfect fabric. I found it on Spoonflower. Isn’t this glorious?

True, fabrics are pricier on Spoonflower, I love that I am supporting a fellow artisan and getting something fairly unique in the bargain. Spoonflower prints fabrics on demand, either your own design or one designed by someone else.

My final assessment, not a bad year. The New Year is just a few days away. I feel prepared and ready to do what I do any year, get in the studio and create.

I’m linking up to the following posts:

Subscribe to Gwyned’s Blog

By Gwyned Trefethen

I am an artist who uses fabric, thread and miscellany to create designs gifted to me by my imagination.

22 comments

  1. Maybe your biggest accomplishment is that you haven’t signed up for any other volunteer positions, lol! It’s been a good year for you on so many different fronts. Congratulations on a year well lived.

    1. Ah, you caught that, Jenny. Yes, I’ve been a very active volunteer for SAQA and other organizations for 40 years. My primary goal this years was to say no to new volunteer positions and absolutely, positively not raise my hand for others. True, I have enjoyed volunteering, just as I enjoy creating, but I needed a break and more than a few weeks of vacation. It’s good to have the time.

    1. I struggled learning languages in high school and college. So, I’ve been delightfully surprised to discover, in my dotage, that I rather enjoy learning a language. It is like solving a puzzle. Japanese and now Mandarin, are particularly engaging because of the departure from Romance languages and an alphabet I grew up with.

      Perhaps the great reveal will be next week. I expect it will be the week after though. I tend to under estimate the time it will take me to accomplish the next step in a quilt.

  3. It looks like it was a great year – and no new committments!! haha! Love that one!! your RSC is going to be so great!

    1. For the past several years there has been subtle and not so subtle pressure from my family to cut back on my commitments. This year I was ready. No surprise, like any empty space, it hasn’t remained empty for long. I am looking forward to taking breaks working on my RSC quilt. I see the first month’s color is pink. The perfect way to begin Broken Hearted.

    1. What is amazing about finding that fabric, is once I turned to Spoonflower, I found it in less than minute. I love their search feature. I put in two key words (sky, rainbow) and got a love selection of fabrics. So, so tempting to order more.

      As for the great pelican reveal, I think that is a week or two away.

      Always good to hear from you.

  5. The background fabric for your 2025 quilt is stunning, it should look well with any color fabrics. Good job not taking on new responsibilities for next year and you learned some Japanese, awesome! Happy New Year!

    1. Thank you, Gretchen. I can’t wait for the background fabric to arrive. It should be here early next week.

      Yes, learning to say no and not volunteering doesn’t come to easy to me, especially since I enjoy the camaraderie that comes from most volunteer and work and that shared sense of purpose.

      And a Happy New Year to you, too.

  6. What a beautiful background fabric for your new quilt. I love the choices that are available at Spoonflower, but it can be so overwhelming to have infinite options!

    1. Thank you, Angela. Yes, there are many, many fabrics to choose from at Spoonflower. However, the search engine was great, since I knew what I wanted – a whisper of a sky that would complement rainbow colors. This narrowed down the choices considerably. Also, I’m pretty decisive. Once I see something that will work, I don’t continue to look just in case there is something better. I settle for the first workable choice.

  7. I’m sure it feels good not to have added extra volunteer work, it sure takes up a lot of (crafting) time. That fabric is gorgeous! Glad you found one that works for your project. Learning Japanese is awesome, wonderful to be able to interact with Japanese citizens. Looking forward to the Pelican reveal.

    1. I started volunteering when I was around 12 years old, helping my mother at annual book sale to raise funds for her alma mater. Did more and more volunteering as teen in all sorts of capacities. By my 30’s, after leaving work to raise our children, volunteering basically became my career. So, it is good to step back, now that I am in my 70’s and have more time in my studio.

      I never thought of myself as a language learner, but I find, I am really enjoying it. First Japanese and now Mandarin. No, we aren’t traveling to China. My son is marrying into a bilingual family, where Mandarin is a primary language for some and secondary language for others. The alternate and combine languages. I’d like to have casual conversations with them all.

  9. Love your work, Gwyned. Original and Refreshing. The hot air balloon is absolutely awesome! Wishing you a sew joyful new year!

    1. Thank you, Preeti, for the very generous compliment. As I dipped my toe in art quilting, back in the ’90s, I would about the importance of having voice. Although I could see it in others, I couldn’t see it in my work. I was very eclectic. Like many beginners I tried everything that caught my eye. Now, I can see my voice, too. I’m still experimenting, but much less about trying what others are doing. Instead, I have something I want to achieve, like the 3D hot air balloon and I work out how to accomplish it.

  11. What a great year review, you achieved a lot. I wish you a creative new year, and I can see you are already prepared 😉 Happy new year dear Gwyned!

Comments are closed.