“Walk in the Park” is Day 30–the Project is Finished!

I did it! “Walk in the Park” is Day 30 of my 30 art quilts for the month of March project. When I started this project back on March 1, I must admit I wasn’t completely sure whether I’d be able to do it all in one month. Life got in the way and I missed a few days here and there, but I made the project a priority and doubled up on other days. Making the commitment to blog about my progress really helped. Thanks to all of you who followed along and commented on my work–I really appreciate it!

I had just about decided that I was going to make another Marbles top for the last day, but the center 3″ square of this one had been patiently waiting on my design wall for me to do something with it, so I decided to just build on that instead. I had tried to use the block in several other pieces in the last few days, but the colors were just enough different that it didn’t quite fit.

I learned a lot about making these improvisational blocks over the last month and there’s still more to explore. You would think that it’s just random and wouldn’t take very long to do, but actually there’s a lot of consideration about the colors and shapes as the piecing progresses. It’s a real challenge–sort of like putting together a jigsaw puzzle without the picture. I want to do some larger pieces and create a series that could be hung together. So you haven’t seen the last of these!

Next I have to finish a commission and get ready for the Great Falls Studios Spring Art Festival April 9-10, 2011. The show will be held at the Village Green Day School in Great Falls from 10 AM – 5 PM both days. I hope to have a few of these pieces quilted by then, but we’ll have to see how the next week unfolds.

I’m going to make it a priority to get these March tops quilted, so you’ll be seeing them again. In the next couple of days I’ll be posting about what I’ve learned from the project–it’s all kind of swirling around in my head right now!

If you’re new to the project, I challenged myself to create one art quilt a day for the month of March. Each piece is 16″x20,” uses only solid fabrics, and is entirely pieced by machine, not fused. I’ll choose the best of them, quilt them and mount them on stretcher bars, and show them in an exhibit later this year. Thanks to my friend and fellow artist Jill Banks for the inspiration, and many thanks to all of you for your comments and support!