Suggestions
Denis Morton, a favorite yoga instructor of mine on Peloton, begins each lesson with “I make suggestions. You make decisions.” What genius encapsulation of how my life feels. Although, I would conjecture that I both make the suggestions and the decisions about the suggestions. For example, how can I best use my time? I have a priority based decision making process for this. Sometimes I follow that. Sometimes, I decide to ignore or reframe my priorities and focus on something else.
Secret Mission
One thing I opted to focus on this week is the secret mission.
Since I have designed my Secret Mission quilt with a bold central embroidery design, I thought it would be fun (or my suggestion to myself) was to add some additional embroidery throughout the quilt. This would tie it all together. My decision was to go for it. Anyone who has used an embroidery machine or done longarm quilting with a pantograph, knows positioning is key. Since I am relatively new to machine embroidery I did a trial run, which I shared last week.
Note how some flowers are more centrally located than others. Naturally, this bugged me. So, patting myself on my back, I realized I could design a positioning template. Aligning the placement with the template guarantees that the flowers are centered and facing the correct direction. I swapped out the thread colors, as well, so that the mini flowers wouldn’t get lost in the background fabric. One more reason to love my Bernina 990 is, once I nailed the layout for the flowers, I can save it in my favorites to return to again and again.
Project 17
Project 17 – 2’s suggestion was released last Sunday afternoon. There were several reasons for me to opt out of this one. The primary one being the suggestion to use plaid. Really? You have got to be kidding. Now I know, there are people who use plaid routinely and love it. I am not one of those people. One helpful suggestion was to create your own plaid. I checked into that. No way. At least not for a project that I wanted to accomplish in one week or less. Could I possibly have any plaid tucked away in my stash? Seems I did. 🙂
That vibrant plaid fabric is a relic from my past. I believe I purchased it as part of a guild challenge back in the early 90’s. I know I entered something but I have zero idea what it was. My suggestion to anyone who struggles to know how to quilt a piece is “when in doubt use the fabric as a guide”. Before I machine appliquéd the posies, I quilted the plaid. Wouldn’t Posies on Parade brighten up a young girl’s room?
Accepted or Declined
These two pieces were submitted to calls for entry. Which piece was accepted and which one was declined?
Or…
Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their answer. OK, it was a trick question. Both pieces have been accepted several times and both have been rejected several times. Most recently, Sunrise Over the Gulf River returned from the Art in Embassies program. It spent 3 years at the US embassy in The Republic of the Congo. Today, you can see Little Lake Butte des Mortes in Summer at the South Shore Art Center in my hometown.
Rainbow Scrap Challenge – 2026
I chose not to work on The Rainbow Scrap Challenge this week. I opted to work on other things. This was always in my 2026 plan.
Question of the Week
How do you feel about suggestions?
I’m linking up to the following posts:
Such a trickster you are. . .BOTH was the correct response! LOL I liked your answer to the challenge of using plaid and wahoo for unearthing such a relic and getting it into a usable and finished piece! I like suggestions. Sometimes I take them; sometimes I don’t and sometimes they lead me down another path!
Yes, that was rather evil of me. However, I wanted to make a point. Different jurors view art differently. Just because a piece is rejected from one call doesn’t mean it is bad, it simply didn’t fit with that juror’s concept.
Suggestions can be catalysts, can’t they. Your response is precisely why I participate in Project Quilting. How can I take a suggestion and make something even if that suggestion is something I wouldn’t ordinarily do?
Isn’t it just surprising the stuff we sometimes find in our stash that we have no recollection of or the why of it. I’ve done a declutter this month and it has been very surprising at times and also inspiring to finish a few projects cause I really didn’t want to let them go.
Suggestions are welcome, they make you think about a subject in a different way, but it isn’t a command.
I usually something about the fabric in my stash, just not the whole story. The bigger surprise is why I cling onto as much as I do. Of course, the answer is as soon as I eliminate it, I need it.
Precisely! Suggestions can be a great jumping off point.
How do I view suggestions? Depends on the source! Sometimes I suggest ideas/approaches/processes to myself; sometimes these come from others. I tend to be a bit more…um…cautious about those from others — again, depending on the ‘other’ doing the suggesting, and the subject matter. I’m rather grumpily independent that way!
I agree, Margaret. The source of the suggestion can greatly influence how seriously I take it.
Your embroidered flowers are much smaller than I thought – they are so pretty in those spots, Gwyned! And that plaid was a very serendipitous find – it turned into something very fun and sweet. I wouldn’t expect to find any plaid in my stash either (but I suppose you never know)! I don’t mind suggestions about my work – sometimes they make me think!
Yes, Diann. The mini flowers are truly mini. They are approximately 1″ square. The central featured embroidery is approximately 10″ square and contains lots of mini flowers.
I admit, recalled seeing that plaid when looking for other fabrics of a certain value. The big question was which stack of fabric was it in? The miracle is I found it in less than a minute. Panicked when I saw it was just 9″ by 12″. Then realized I could use it as the background for one of my 8″ x 8″ by 1.5″.
Suggestions are perfect catalysts.
I love those embroidered flowers. I am glad you figured out how to set them in the center.
There are so many amazing embroidery designers. Collecting patterns is as addictive as building a stash. I like that I am able to support these genius artisans by purchasing their patterns. Grateful that the patterns can be used for personal use, but also for cottage industry type artists like me. Good to hear you like the designs, too.
Plaid!!! I am one that loves plaid – and so very proud of you for working with something you don’t like – that is a BIG challenge. but! You nailed it!! Sometimes I do not take suggestions well, but I like that I get to make the decision…. maybe haha
… And you do plaid so well, Alycia. Suggestions are great, but it is good to take them under advisement and not see them as commands.
I am enjoying seeing how you are incorporating machine embroidery into your work, Gwyned. I’m looking forward to when you can share that secret project because the glimpses you’ve given us are very intriguing!
When I bought the Bernina 990, it was for the sewing side. I saw the embroidery side as something I was unlikely to use. Still, nothing ventured. I have zero interest in embroidering tea towels, napkins or embellishing jean jackets. Surprise! Now I am making all sorts of discoveries of how to meld my quilting with embroidery. Can you tell I’m having fun?
I can’t wait to share the full project, but that will have to wait several months more.
Your Posies on Parade is postively cheerful! It’s always fun to revisit fabrics from our past!
I surprised myself with Posies. I’m glad it brings you cheer. I confess, the bright colors make me smile.
Hi Gwyned, I’m glad that you found your plaid fabric. It will brighten up any room! Thanks so much for linking up to I Quilted This!
Thank you, Andree. Always happy to link up with I Quilted This.
I teach yoga, specifically Yin yoga which is different from any of the others because we stress fascia and work with acupressure. I often say “This is the basic pose; listen to your body and make it work for you” which is basically what Denis is saying! I like the way he phrases it. Your 17.2 piece is so bright and cheery, much needed in this horribly long. Cold snowy month! Little Lake Butte des Morts is a sad name (morts means ‘the dead ones’ in this usage) though it’s a lovely piece.
I periodically take Yin on Peloton. I love how poses are held for longer times, so the body can relax into them. Yes, I have had to learn to listen to my body, especially as I age.
Little Lake Butt des Morts in Summer got its name because it is the view from our condo that sat at the edge of the lake. There are several versions of how the area/lake got its name. All involve the French settlers and the Fox Indians who were the original people in the area. Here is a link to one explanation for the name. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Lake_Butte_des_Morts It was a beautiful place to live despite the disturbing name.