To Do Tuesday – 22 November 2022

Fifty-nine years ago Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated President John F. Kenned in Dallas, Texas. I wonder how many people really remember this President who said, “Ask not what your Country can do for you, Ask what can you do for your Country”! I was 19 years old and remember exactly where I was when this happened. I worked at Texas Gold Stamp Redemption Center. (Younger generations are scratching their heads on this job) living in Corpus Christi, Texas. At the time I had bias against the President because he was a Catholic and my bias came from my Father who did not want a Catholic President. How life has changed. My Father was born in 1908, so he knew all about the Kennedy background. Anyway, I wanted to just post a little remembrance for him as the only one left in his family is his daughter Caroline.

Today I did my walk with a goal of not worrying how long it takes, but can I make the 1.5 mile. Mind over matter always helps so I made it and will now work on doing the 1.5 each day without laying off a day and then in a couple of weeks maybe I can work on the speed! Either way, I need to get off this lazy streak which is attributed to no sunny days, which equates to less Vitamin D for me!

The trip to Rockport is off due to the Flu Season hitting hard. I attribute this bad Flu season to all the 5 million who are illegally visiting our country! Remember they come from places where there are no vaccines of any type! Thank you Brandon. (oops broke my rule).

I finished 2 projects this last week! Boo’s and Bat’s and binding on 4 quilts (VERY LARGE QUILTS) check the details out here! I have the sweetest hubby – he ordered a frame for my B&B’s and framed it for me! Yea! Now to get the matching quilt quilted!

Now to a learning lesson from 2010. I entered a Storm At Sea Quilt in a quilt show. I had used 3 colors in the quilt, white, purple, and a light purple.

I received an Honorable Mention but alas, another Storm At Sea won the Blue Ribbon even though my quilt was well made it, was lacking in color and texture. Ah, the pitfalls in being a Traditional Quilter! This experience made me want to learn more about using color for movement and texture in my quilts. (Pre-2010, 2 or 3 color quilts were still very popular.) This was before the “real scrappy” look arrived along with the “Modern” (2013) quilts! If I wanted to stay competitive in quilt shows I had to take the time to work with the color wheel. In the meantime, machine applique and long arm quilting began to take hold in the quilting world, making it difficult for the Traditional Quilter to compete. Now it is all about technique, color, texture, and its affect on movement in the quilt, but mostly quilts are judged by long arm quilting. Hand quilting is now an ancient technique. When I started quilting, Traditional Quilting was being challenged by the Artisans who were moving into our little world, i.e., Kaffe Fassett! I think they have won!

In 2011, I signed up for an on-line class using color and texture in quilts. We were challenged to make 7 blocks using the Ives Color Wheel to practice using color placement for movement and texture. I never did anything with the blocks all these years other than to take them off the hanger and look at them trying to decide what to do with them.

This morning I set my goals for the rest of the year and to challenge myself on adding something different other than catching up on my long arm quilting. After my walk as I came into the Studio I noticed my 7 Color blocks hanging on the “to be quilted” rack. Again I took them to the design wall. Yes, this would be my challenges for the rest of the year – to make some 50″ x 50″ Lap Quilts out of them. Not all at once (tempting) but maybe one a week or every other week. It will challenge my skills in color and design. Here are the 7 Medallion Centers made in 2011 that will hopefully end up as comfortable lap quilts. They will be fun to play with and but not as intense as My Summertime Blues ended up being.

I have an idea of what to do with the above block – it will be another Surprise quilt! I am thinking that I will tackle this one first!

Goals for this coming week.

1. Work on my new Surprise quilt
2. Load a practice quilt on the long arm.
3. Work on Moda Xmas Stitch-A-Long Block 7 (I think)
4. MAYBE start working on binding one of the 4 quilts in waiting!

Menu for Thanksgiving will be Meatloaf with Potato Salad for Clay and I will have scalloped potatoes. Dessert? Hershey’s Chocolate Kisses.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and be thankful for God’s Gift of Life!

© Nanette Chopin Cook at Doitrightquilter.com 2022. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nanette Chopin Cook and Doitrightquilter.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.Linking To:  My Quilt Infatuation; Confessions of a Fabric Addict; Finished or Not Friday ; Em’s Scrap Bag; BOM’s Away;  Sew Fresh Quilts; Crazy Mom Quilts;  Oh Scrap; Scrap Happy Saturday; Slow Sunday Stitching  Quilt Fabrication Mid Week Makers; Peacock Party; Design Wall Monday, Scrap Happy Days, Quilting Patch Linky Party, To Do Tuesdays

, Nanette