January...

It seems like I have done little over break.  When you look at the pictures below, all of the seams I pulled out are not obvious.  I sewed the jeans down (partially) 3 times.  I basted the flyers on then sewed them on for real.  The soles, I finished today.  Before I can put the soles on, I need to be sure the jeans are where I want them to be because once the soles go down, I do not want to pull them off.

I have really struggled with reality in this quilt.  In The "Broken Pieces" Quilt, I worked quite well with the abstract.  I mixed real and abstract elements in the "Under The Sun Quilt", and I relied heavily on reality with the 7 Seconds Quilt.  With this one, I keep getting caught up in reality when I really don't want it to all be real.  Sure, I want the soles and laces to be real, but the body and the wall need to be free to be abstract so anyone can fit themselves in.  I find myself frustrated again and again because I veer off from reality.  I have to keep reminding myself that it's ok to veer off from reality.  THAT is what makes the quilts great.  If they looked like pictures, they wouldn't be mine.  I have seen quilts that look just like photographs; they are beautiful, but that's not what I do.

I clearly didn't make my end of year goal, but I can see the quilt top coming together nicely, and I hope to be ready for backing in about a week.

I sketched out plans for quilts in 2015.  I will go back to Gates, and then on to a Drag The River Quilt.  Gates is still up on the wall opposite to Digger in my room, and the Drag The River Quilt has been floating in my head for months.  I have already starting collecting fabric for that one.  I probably need to consider building a project board, so I can stop taping paper to the walls.  It sounds time consuming though.

I bought (on impulse) a Best of Run DMC album while in line at Twist and Shout one day.  It's been on in the car for the last 2 weeks.  Here's "Run's House":