Week in Review 2023 – 03/17

Facing Fear

I spent the week facing fear. It started when I went to the Project Quilting site to learn what the final 2023 prompt would be. You guessed it – fear. This is not something new to me. I face fear frequently. Not paralyzing fear, but definitely fear that I might prefer to avoid or am forced to push through. Maturing, a word I prefer over aging, is a fear I confront frequently as I cope with my changing energy, declining memory and deteriorating eyesight. No, I am not nearly as decrepit as that makes me sound. However, with my 70th birthday only weeks away the changes in my body compared to my 20th birthday are dramatic.

Only one more row to go and In the Beginning’s top will be pieced!

Acceptance

One way I cope with fear is to pare down to the essentials. There are only so many hours in a day and I only have so much energy, so I cut back. This week it meant putting aside my work on In the Beginning. Yes, to make that decision I had to face the fear of not making the entry deadline. That was easy. I am substantially ahead of schedule. Instead I focused exclusively on my Project Quilting 14.6 piece.

Project Quilting

The actual prompt for Project Quilting 14.6 is “Conquer a Fear”. Yikes! The thought is that the subject matter of the piece could reflect a fear OR you could choose to tackle something in the making of your piece because it scares you. Since there is only one week between announcing the prompt and posting my finished piece one fear to conquer is simply to stop dithering and start a piece not knowing whether I could do it. The fear I opted to face, don’t laugh, is needle turn appliqué. I have tried, tried and tried again to do needle turn appliqué. I so admire those who can do it. Invariably I think “forget it” and when appliqué is required I use any other technique but needle turn.

The final Project Quilting 14 entry for 2023

So… it occurred to me that my problem is because I am left handed and everyone who has tried to teach me or what I have seen illustrated or demoed is done right handed. I Googled “needle turn appliqué for left handers”. Eureka! Another left hander had a YouTube video on the topic. I watched it. I faced my fear and miraculously it was as though I had been doing needle turn appliqué for years. All the larger pieces of the cat were done this way. I’m not done yet, but I am fairly certain I will finish the quilt in time to link to Project Quilting this Sunday.

How Does Your Garden Grow? will look similar to this when it is finished.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge

I spent some time this week piecing scrappy green stems for How Does Your Garden Grow. Then I laid them out on my design wall to get a sense of how they look together.

Because I focused on Project Quilting this week, I didn’t make any more green stem blocks for March. I am OK with that. I can return to my stems next week.

I’m linking up to the following posts:

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By Gwyned Trefethen

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

15 comments

  1. piece o cake people say to pre crease with your fingers, all turning edges before starting needle turn. Fabric has memory. I do it that way but I’m right handed. Good for you to conquer your “fear” and get it done. I just finished mine yesterday, come see!
    your RSC is a wow!
    body changes are no joke. They happen like thieves in the night
    LeeAnna

    1. I picked your PQ 14.6 out of Nina Marie’s link-up in a heart beat. Since I took accounting as one of my classes in college I saw FOMO and I. thought FIFO. So, glad I read your post to get the translation. Interesting take on the topic. I love that you said take that to your fear with your party animal colors.

      One thing I like to do is for needle turn appliqué is to stitch along the seam line with tiny stitches using a thread that blends into the fabric. It does the same thing as the crease – acts as a guide AND encourages the fabric to fold at the stitch line. I’ve done that in the past – it was stitching without understanding the best orientation and direction for left handers that made my stitching feel awkward and the result poor.

      Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts, LeeAnna.

  2. Gwyned, I’m sorry I have been out of touch from my end but I certainly don’t feel out of touch with you as I have continued to enjoy and learn a lot from your blog, perhaps not quilting per se but enlightening life lessons.

  3. Congratulations on conquering your fear and discovering what you could do with needle-turn applique via your left hand. Me? I’m right-handed and while I can do needle-turn (and have done), it’s not my idea of fun. I once did a pair of appliqueed pillow shams (a gift for my sister) that included a bazillion needle-turned leaves and berries. That was the crowning glory and complete end of my interest in needle-turn applique! Now I admire from afar — and your cat is delightful!

    1. Thank you, Margaret. Can’t say that I am so captivated by needle turn that appliqué that I it will be my go technique from now on. However, I am grateful to have it should it be the obvious choice in the future. Now if I was doing berries I would have probably given up. There is a reason why I didn’t start with tiny circles. 🙂 Glad you like the cat. Isn’t that a quintessential cat pose?

  4. Your cat looks great, and hooray for a YouTube video for left-handed stitchers! That’s was the perfect way to figure something out that you needed help with. I enjoy seeing your garden grow, too!

    1. It is funny how I rarely think that being left handed makes a difference in what I am doing. It does. So, finding that YouTube tutorial for left handers felt like a miracle. Thank you Diann, for your kind words.

  5. Congrats on learning needle turn appliqué for lefties! (I’m glad to know your fear wasn’t cats!). Like you, I am learning to adjust to age-related diminishing capacities. Where’s that darn magic wand when you need it?

  6. Well done with the needle turn appliqué, the cat is lovely! I’m so happy that you found a tutorial that suits you, plus that you were able to conquer a fear, you did great with the challenge!
    Thank you for sharing, and linking up 😉

    1. I can now say I have officially finished the challenge. When I wrote on Friday, I still had the windowsill left to frame and the facing to do. It is good to have the Project Quilting challenges done for 2023. Thank you for being an encourage, champion and fellow traveler on community challenge projects, Frédérique.

  7. You Tube can become our best friend🤣the last 2 yrs I’ve noticed it seems to take me longer to do simple task ,I thought something was wrong I didn’t know it was because I’m getting too close to 70,🤣you’ve brighten my day! Luv your cat applique!

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