Reinventing the Wheel Off the Wall Friday

  Well thanks to your encouraging words and finally the start of spring, I was much more productive this week.  Not only did I manage to get officially moved into my studio but I also started a new project.  Actually moving into the studio really wasn't that big a deal.  I had things pretty organized in my sewing hole so there wasn't too much sorting.  Still there was a lot of back and forth - not to mention putting the final touches on the studio itself. It feels great to be finally moved in!

So this week I managed to get my thread board made, a new ironing board crafted and start the last project for the room - a new quilted wall hanging.  Now, I know it seems a bit cliche - and well let's face it  - it is - but I wanted to have my own color wheel for the space.  I started looking for inspiration on line and found plenty.  One that really got me was one made by Judy Villet.  She used angles to give the illusion of a wheel but with no curve piecing. Great idea!  So all I had to do was create a pattern.

Now I know that most of my friends think my engineering degree is wasted on me - but honestly it isn't.  I can look at a traditional quilt and usually without too much trouble figure out how to draft it.  So I grabbed my largest graph paper ( I really do have a huge stash of all types!) - a pencil and rule and came up with a color "circle" of my own.  Its made up of 12 triangles (splitting up the quadrants into 30 degree angles).  I plan on paper piecing it right to this pattern.

Still the drafting nor the paper piecing isn't the hardest part of this

quilt.  Its getting the gradations right.  Although it might seem on the surface to be a color piece - it really is a study in value.  As always color gets all the credit when value does all the work.  I spent a good part of this afternoon picking out values - and as you can see by my board - I'm still not done.  Some of the values are still too close - so I'm going to hit my scrap stash next.

Once I get the values right, the quilt should come together easily and hopefully it will be ready for  studio blog link.  I would like to officially invite you all to participate in "Sew Many Spaces" this coming Wednesday.  I'm going to unveil my finished space and share some organizing tips.  Yes - I will be taking pictures with it "mid-project".  I'm really not to fond of seeing a studio all company neat.   You all can link up whenever you want - it will be open for a year.  I hope you'll share your space   - even if its only a dining room table.  I'm inviting some more famous quilters so that we can have a peek at where the big boys create (we'll see if any accept!).

Oh - and one more thing - if you'd like to participate - but don't have a blog -  you're more than welcome to link up from a photo host site (ie flikr) - just make sure you have descriptions.  Any questions please email me.

So what have you all be up to creatively???