Project QUILTING 14.1: The First One • 10 Comments

sarah • January 8, 2023

The first Project QUILTING challenge of season 14 is The First One.

I am a habitual overthinker. I have a list of things I'd like to work into my PQ challenges this season and none of them were the "perfect" fit for this challenge. So the options to meet The First One theme seemed infinite. I brainstormed some ideas and considerations with my daughter:

my first quilt
my first blog post
my first IG post
red, the first color in a rainbow
the letter A
the number 1
the first PQ challenge I participated in, PQ 8.1
fabrics from my first PQ project
the very first PQ challenge
my favorite fabric designer, Alison Glass
my first Alison Glass Sun Prints (as seen in this 2015 mini I made)
my favorite print from Alison Glass Sunprints 2015, Grove

Taking all these things into consideration, I chose the purple Grove Sun Print as the first fabric for this project... my Sun Prints are precious, rarely used fabrics in my stash. And this print was used in my first Project QUILTING project way back in 2017. I decided I would improv piece some simple 1s, using each of the Grove prints... which happens to be in 8 color ways, a nod to my participation in PQ since season 8. I looked back at what the very first Project QUILTING challenge was, way before I had heard of the challenges... rectangles! Ya know what really simple 1s look like? Rectangles!

I started by cutting my rectangular number ones from my scraps. The size of my fabric scraps dictated the size of my rectangles. From here, I oversized each section of my quilt when I pieced the background to surround each rectangle and trimmed down when I puzzled them together.

I paired my prints with Alison Glass Kaleidoscope solids. These are the colors I landed on: Blue Jay, Poppy, Carrot, Peacock, Cosmos, Dahlia, Grass, and Sunflower. Tip: Use a sharpie to label the color name on the selvage edge of your solids. I used "AG" here to indicate they are Alison Glass.

I made a little thumbnail sketch of free motion quilting motifs, choosing four angular and four curvy motifs.

I matched my thread colors to the solid fabrics. I used Aurifil 50wt for the quilting in Light Delft Blue (#2720), Red (#2250), Green (#2870), Yellow (#2135), Fuchsia (#4020), Magenta (#2535), Bright Orange (#1133) and Dark Turquoise (#4182). (Colors listed left to right, top to bottom in their placement in the finished quilt -- see photos below.)

I enjoy using a medley of free motion motifs on a project. My Sunset All About Angles quilt comes to mind as another one that features a wide variety of free motion motifs.

My binding is Alison Glass Kaleidoscope in Charcoal. I attached my bias binding with Aurifil 50wt in Black (#2692) using my machine binding technique.

My quilt is trimmed to 14" x 18.5", making it placemat sized. It is my first finish of the new year.

I love the different appearance of the quilting in overhead and side lighting. The shadowy side lighting really shows off the texture.

As a longtime participant of Project QUILTING, I'm excited to be a sponsor this year. Each week as a Weekly Sponsor I have contributed a PDF pattern to one winner. Week 3, I am the Ultimate Weekly Sponsor. The prize is a spot in one of my self-hosted open enrollment live virtual workshops. I'm also a Grand Prize Sponsor. Again, the prize is a spot in one of my self-hosted open enrollment live virtual workshops.

I'm linking up on Kim's blog for the Project QUILTING The First One challenge.

P.S. This blog post is my *first one* of the year. :-)

2022 Wrap Up and 2023 Goals • 2 Comments

sarah • December 31, 2022

I planned for 2022 to be a year in survival mode. I started out the year strong with a new gratitude practice and leaned into playing with color and exploring with mixed media. In February, I started a 100-day mixed media project.

In 2022, I gave twice as many lectures and taught twice as many workshops. Thank you to everyone who took a class with me or attended a lecture, and I hope to be coming your way soon, virtually or in-person. If your guild or group hasn't scheduled with me, there are opportunities for you to sign up as an individual for live virtual workshops with me.

The goal I wrote down in last year's post was to get back to sending newsletters regularly. I sent 21 newsletters in 2022. This was after just two in 2020 and four in 2021. It's been great to keep in touch with folks and I really appreciate when people reply to my newsletters to ask questions or share something that is inspiring them. If you don't already receive my newsletter, please subscribe here to stay in touch.

Looking forward to 2023, I'm adding two brand new workshops to my lineup: How Do I Spell That? Improv Pieced Letters and Improv Triangles 4 Ways. I'm excited for more ways to play with improv with my students. (Be sure you're on my newsletter list so you're first to hear about registering for these live virtual workshops which will be held in May!)

I'm also really excited about teaching All About Angles: A Planned Improv Approach to Quilt Design at Empty Spools Seminars during Session 4 in April.

All About Angles: A Planned Improv Approach to Quilt Design: Sarah comes at quilt making from a perspective of planned improv and an opportunity to play. She will start each day with a demonstration, introducing the initial parameters of this pieced improv technique, followed by design variations. Students can choose to work in a small series or on one larger composition. Sarah’s instruction will include lessons on color and value, and discussions will include free motion quilting and finishing ideas.

A big goal for 2023 is to purchase a longarm machine. There is a list of home projects that need to fall into place to create the space for the new machine, so we'll be working out way through that list. I'm thinking Fall for the new machine - happy future birthday to me!

Tomorrow I'll be starting a practice of 15 minutes of sewing a day (unless I'm traveling). My sewjo has been a bit lacking. I've found through numerous 100 day projects that 15 minutes a day is a good goal for me... some days it feels like a chore, and others it is the springboard for much more time in the studio.

January 1 is the kickoff to the 14th season of Project QUILTING. I've been participating since season 8. Last year I made tiny little artist trading cards for each challenge. If you haven't joined the series of one-week challenges I hope you'll check it out. The community is wonderful (and there are prizes!). Be sure to ping me with a link to check out your projects or tag me if you share on social. I'd love to see what you create!

I hope your 2023 is peaceful and you are surrounded by beauty and creativity.

I'm linking up with Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl for her #2023PlanningParty.

Top Nine 2022 on IG

sarah • December 30, 2022

I share my work over on Instagram @sarahgoerquilts. Here are my top nine posts (based on "likes") from the year. My year of sewing was grounded in community, with many of these posts being about bee blocks. It's fitting that the post about my mom is in the center as the grief of losing her filled the majority of 2022 for me.