Quilt Projects and Time out for Nature

Town quilt progress, Karen Gillis Taylor, October 2014

Last month I painted the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, and this following month I am consumed with making a very large art quilt. It will be about 58 inches square when done. My art quilts are usually less than half that size! My design wall is the floor.

The idea for this city quilt came from a small painting I made. I scanned the painting and occasionally made changes in Photoshop, then went back to the quilt making.

Painting inspiration for my town quilt. Photoshop sketch from original painting.

I was hoping to enter this quilt in a 9-Patch Challenge by the National Quilt Museum, but it turns out that a month is not long enough to finish this quilt, so I missed today’s deadline. Too bad, but I can’t cut corners to finish this one, so I’ll continue and just enjoy the process.

Building a cityscape, one patch at a time.

The quilt top is nearly done, design-wise. A few more colors and shapes to add, then it’s on to the quilting and finish, which will be a nice relaxing hum of the sewing machine. I hope! Until now, it’s mainly be drawing, measuring, cutting and ironing with a few seams in between. I still can’t believe I made it this big.

Dawn outside the sewing room is gorgeous today!

All my life I have had a tendency to give myself steep goals and work like crazy to finish. Do you ever get life out of balance by getting into an all-consuming project?

So I’m making an effort to remember to go outside for nature walks and appreciate the beauty of nature. It restores my soul.

Maybe you have ways of keeping yourself balanced in life. I’d love to hear from you, I could use the advice!

Thanks for reading,

-Karen

Tags: abstract cityscape, art quilts, artist lifestyle, avoiding burn-out