what if

what if and away

this blog is temporarily inactive. most of the action will be  going on over at spirit cloth for a while under the 'what if' category. i am working on combining the blogs but i haven't figured out how yet. so what if i experiment over there for the time being?
this is a sketch of something i might ask questions about later.

what if #136: what if i simplify?

it's a new year and i am trying to clean up my approach to things a bit. slowing down more and simplifying my life. less commitment and stress, more stitching. continuing to refine my style. i feel that trying to manage too many things just results in a tangle. i have run into some unpleasant competitiveness and weird email encounters and that is not what i had in mind.  SO i am revamping this site a bit, possibly combining it with spirit cloth...possibly starting over with a new compact style. i just don't know what but i need change.  i see a lot of you have started what-iffing and sharing stuff on your own blogs and flickr groups and that is so cool for me to see.  i am wiping my links clean here and laying low for a while. it will all come together sooner or later. there is no way change that really. thank you all for your continued support.
today i also asked what if i play with birds a bit. simplify them for some quilt block ideas. i am inspired by this old onei did years ago but never actually stitched it.

challenge yourself

hey. the holidays are upon us and everyone is obviously very busy. i dropped out of all outside challenges with deadlines and rules. i was enjoying sharon b's challenge but i realized what if could be reread whaTIF anyway....so i will stick to challenging myself for now.  i have been thinking....what if i open up the CQR group and just make it general what iffing? there is a new group over here.....join up if you like and ask what if and let's share what we learn. i will be making some changes to this site over the holidays to fit to my new idea.

in the mean time....this project continued from here  and here ...just because i asked what if i finish up all my loose ends before the end of the year?  

what if #115: form and function

many times i start out with a plan, but rarely does it take the original imagined form. today i am think about why that is. i suppose that part of it is changing my mind during the process. but with this one it was necessity. the floats of the stitch were becoming too long and interfering with the functionality. and so i asked myself what if i go back and slice up the larger areas into smaller pieces. and do the design has begun to morph within itself. same framework. different feel. motif/ design is often derived from the chosen technique itself.

one more thing...Sara Lechner has chosen to join me in focusing on what if on her new blog. go take a peek.

what if CQR is more?

.....today i want to say more about CQR. the group has produced many wonderful pieces that to me represent small journeys on a personal level. perhaps i should clarify my objective here.....
my reasons for starting this challenge was to demonstrate a thought catching and questioning process. i picked Crazy Quilting for several reasons.
1. it is a form of quilting which is my focus
2. its roots are in recycling and personal expression which is close to my heart
3.it has a recognizable style which seems to have a large following
4. the style included repeated techniques
5. i knew it would create a stir

...i was curious and asking myself about style. i think of style as a culmination of technique and ideas over time. hopefully it evolves as a personal symbol of achievement and a method of communication. but i thought to myself, what if style is also a stopping point? is it a place where we collectively rest and forget to go forward?  a path to over and over? so i put myself out on a limb with that question. and then i asked what if just the techniques and the materials change? What does it become and where does it lead? Crazy Quilting as it is has nothing to do with this question except i used it to make a point. a jumping off point. an exercise in questioning. I am thinking that eventually it will turn into AQ. Alternative Quilting. jumping off from anywhere.
I am just getting back to the internet after technical problems. I am very excited with the group's work and its atmosphere for sharing ideas.
i have chosen today to feature Karen's new block, because she has no blog and besides being exquisite, it illustrates very well what i was thinking. and the photo presentation just says to me what if we see with new eyes? a beautiful block, thank you Karen.
I have set up a photo album and will start loading in pics from those who have no blogs first, so you can see the work that is being done.i finally have some time to review all that has been done.

what-iffing and responsibility

thanks to all the CQR participants. forgive me for not responding regularly and getting all the photos posted, especially those who have no blogs. you might be thinking "what if she gets organized?  my internet has not been kind to me lately, i just cannot stay online with any consistency so i am very backed up.  i will be making some changes over the weekend to help me cope better with this flood of creativity.

...just had to smile when i saw this one in our flickr group this morning. reminding me of this:

And what is life? A crazy quilt;
Sorrow and joy, and grace and guilt,
With here and there a square of blue
For some old happiness we knew;
And so the hand of time will take
The fragments of our lives and make,
Out of life's remnants, as they fall,
A thing of beauty, after all.

part of a poem by Douglas Malloch

(today's feature photo by Jeana ) because she asked....What if my 3 yr old joins in the fun?
What if I give her a foundation, glue (a small amount this time!) and a pile of scraps, ink and a stamp?
What if I don't stop her from using the ink pad as the stamp?
What if I do stop her from gluing it to the wall?
What if I do stop my 1 yr old from eating the ink?
E REALLY enjoyed this - I am so glad I let her do it instead of worrying about the mess. I hope to add this 'what if' philosophy to my daily life more!

what if #59: part 3-quilting up a storm

there is nothing quite like stitching to transform a pieced textile into a unified  tapestry. i stuck with ' what if i just do a straight kantha style stitch? ' no fancy stuff. just varying the thickness, 2, 3 or 4 strands of floss, random neutrals. each piece treated separately. i also quilted in between the embroidered dots (tiny invisible stitches) to give the whole piece an equal tension and prevent bubbling.  if i had embroidered the dots after adding the muslin back i probably would have prevented the tension difference but sometimes when you are what-iffing, instead of planning, you have to take the thoughts as they come and deal with each step as a new challenge. the floral pinwale corduroy on the right remains un-quilted because it has something special that i have not yet identified . 
the piece now has a life and i am thinking what if i name it "the longest night" and add some story elements against that thought?
the sunlight has inspired the feeling of ghosts and i am wondering if i can use this wonderful sheer i received as a gift from mary....maybe sun  ghosts from solstices past.  transparent appilques?  what if i cut them out and try that?

of course then there is the question of where to put them. i like the right side of the window ...there is that lovely strip of raw silk from stephanie, the rough texture seems a perfect contrast to the fine sheer so i thought what if i just pin them there and see?

i like them there and the printed corduroy is organic and sprouting somehow. this can work. what if i just work those ghostly suns into the surface with more stitches? lots of them. if you missed part 2

what if # 28: beautiful silk

nothing concrete has formed here yet  but i am just staring at this piece of silk...a gift  from Neki  at  A Moveable Feast.... and wondering what if....?  what-iffing is like that sometimes. it starts with a trance of some kind. a pull toward something with a stronger center than yourself.  a need to complete something. or to give in to something.

i wonder if Neki dyed this herself? i like visiting her blog because it is a working blog.

what if i get moving and try some dyeing this weekend?

and i am wondering... if i should try this coloring book quilting technique over shibori dyed silk.

what-iffing

i would like to make a note that this process of what-iffing, thought catching, one thing leading to another, is a marvelous way to produce variations on a theme, a method of expanding a process for as long as it can stretch your imagination. this is also happening big time over on this working  blog.
 

i am now preparing to answer a new question....what if i fold back the flaps of a cut . tack them ragged style. i think i can create motifs with holes in the middle. with shaped halos.