Hugs for my Sweetie

I finally sewed today. I've been obsessed with my handquilting but I'm almost finished with Fruit Punch and don't have another project to start handquilting so that was the nudge I needed.

I made loads of Xs. Are Xs hugs in the old hugs and kisses = Xs and Os? I don't actually know. I guess Xs have "arms" and when you hug each other you have four arms involved. And you pucker up and get on O shape when you kiss someone. Works for me. This was my first batch of the day:


See that mismatched X in the bottom right corner? I don't know how, but somehow I misplaced half an X. When I picked up the last two bits I had, I loved how they went together. Might make some intentionally, but not sure yet.

These are all the Xs I made today. Almost all. I tossed a couple aside into the orphan pile.

The second one looks busy. I'm hoping it's because the Os aren't in there yet. The top one looks so peaceful and soothing with the white space. Maybe an idea to consider for another time. There's definitely a difference between the first pic (natural light) and the second (flash) so I think the colors in the top are better.

I couldn't stand all my strips just globbed together. So back into little plastic bags for all the colors I'm working on.

To answer some comments on my last post. Yes, I'll still be blogging. Yes, I'll still be sharing loads of photos of work in progress and tutorials as needed. That's my favorite part of blogging. Some kind of latent teaching instinct or something. I had no idea it was there. The thought of getting up in front of strangers to teach in person makes me want to pass out, but I can babble all day on the blog. All the tutorials will still be available on Quiltville.com.

I'll still be harassing (and encouraging) some of you quilters out there to try something new and work without patterns or plans.

I'm going to go blogring free for awhile. I don't want to feel guilty that I'm in the embellishment ring, but haven't actually embellished for ages. That I'm in the maverick ring but going off the deep end making quilts out of dental floss and bottle caps... Not that I expect the latter to happen.

Yes, for some years now I've been making non-traditional quilts, but I didn't see them as "art quilt." Not serious enough or something. I'd say not pretentious enough but I don't want to get myself into trouble.

It's always been easier for me to think of my work as folk art because that is inherently naive, imperfect and it doesn't matter how you do it. It's done by just plain folk. I did once look up the definition of "folk art" and it's all about learning the skills from your people and doing things in a traditional way - so when it comes down to it, I'm not actually doing folk art.

I love Outsider Art, but don't think I fit into that category since I'm not institutionalized or incarcerated and God doesn't speak to me. Don't understand the joke? Go to an Outsider Art exhibition sometime and you'll see what I mean.

The problem with thinking Art Quilt is that I freeze up and start overthinking the process, instead of just enjoying myself. Is this Art, how about this? Aiyee, must stop thinking.

Lois, almost all the fabric I've bought has been half yards. I love scrap quilts and fabric rarely goes into just one project. I want leftovers. I did buy a few fat quarters specifically for this project - I didn't like the fabric well enough to buy more than that. And I did go back and buy a couple of yards of previously purchased fabric that was working incredibly well for this and I needed more.

Atet (you are no-reply or I'd have emailed you), my husband has definitely had the experience of the French being polite when he approaches them doing his very best to speak French.

Thank you all for the encouragement and support. I'll still be around and hope you'll continue to visit.