what I'm working on

As I mentioned, I went to Gwen Marston's Beaver Island Quilt Retreat with my mom. It was very fun, very relaxing,and the location was just gorgeous.  The lodge is right on a lake, and all the trees were changing colors, plus the weather was sunny and warm.  It was so nice, and all the ladies were so friendly.  I'll post more about it in another post.

While I was there, one of the women at my worktable had brought a pile of pictures she grabbed from catalogs and magazines.  In it, there was a great picture of a carpet that really intrigued me. I don't have a picture to share, but it really inspired me. I pulled out my greens and browns and started cutting strips and hanging them on the design wall.  I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it.  I left it on the wall and went to bed. In the morning, Gwen came by and asked what I was working on, so I showed her and told her it needed "something".  She directed me back to the inspiration picture, and pointed out that there was some gold in the picture that set off the other colors nicely.  So I went back to my stash box and found some gold.  That was just what I needed! So I put that on the wall and it didn't look so dreary anymore.

Now this whole quilt is not a color palette I normally work with, so it was a real stretch.  I've been doing that lately--pushing myself out of my comfort zone in terms of color.  I feel like it is so easy to get caught up in the colors you like, the palettes you like, that you may not "grow" a lot as an artist. 

I was going to quilt it myself, but then my friend Ebony offered free quilting so that she could practice on her new longarm machine, and I knew it would be the perfect challenge for her. I don't know what she'll do, but I'm sure it will be great.  She has a great eye for design and I've always enjoyed her quilting designs prior to her getting this new machine, so I am excited!  I'll be sure to post once it is done.