Journal Quilt – M is for Move and Manage
Journal Quilt – M is for Move and Manage, 12×12″ Fibre Art © 2012 Diane Duncan
My Inspiration
For my June journal quilt I selected the letter M. M stands for ‘move’ or ‘manage’. Our lives have taken a dramatic change and suddenly we are faced with the fact that we will be spending a winter in the north once again. While we loved the spirit of the Osoyoos park we visited in November and December 2011, we found the weather too cold for long-stay comfort in our RV, the cost of propane off-set any saving gained by the off-season rates of the park and the dampness brought my allergies back into play big time. I’d love to revisit the site during ‘harvest season’ and experience the hustle and bustle of the wine tour season.
So ‘M’ stands for ‘Move’ as I searched for a ‘stick-built’ home for the upcoming year and possibly beyond. My search culminated in a rental property in one of the buildings built for media use during the 1988 Winter Olympics, just around the hill from the COP ski hill. As I am writing this after the move-in, I can tell you we are thrilled with the condo unit. It’s modern in appearance and has accommodated most of our needs – even a tiny art studio! And it has a wonderful view of the Calgary skyline! And I also must tell you, it is a testament to the powers of visualization – we look out across a grassed area – as visualized by my sub-conscious when I was just coming to grips with the potential for a ‘change’ of direction!
I’ve decided that ‘M’ also stands for ‘Manage’ as it was left to me to arrange the logistics of our move while Don focused on ‘getting well’ again. This involved finding a mover, flying east to open our storage unit and connecting with our movers and a host of decisions here on the local scene – not to mention all the change of address stuff that goes along with a move!
The Technical Stuff
For this piece I decided to do hand-stitching and make this journal piece a portable project. In the end this may not have been a good decision as the piece did not get completed until late August but I am pleased with it never the less. Earlier in the year I signed up for TAST – Take a Stitch Tuesday on Sharon B’s Pintangle website, a wonderful resource site originating in Australia. I managed to complete samplers for several weeks (retroactively I must admit) but have to confess it has fallen by the wayside as a result of a ‘too full plate’ this year. Maybe I’ll sign up again in the new year? Anyway, my re-initiation to the joys of hand stitching provided me with the inspiration for this piece. Maybe I will be more adventurous in the use of hand work in the future.
Detail of M is for Move and Manage
The fabric is coffee dyed, hence the variations in color although they are not as clearly delineated now as in the beginning. The design was actually developed to follow the variations in background color, making them less evident. I included an ‘interior window’ in this piece to remind me of this technique learned in a workshop years ago. The binding on this one is a ‘wrap around’ from the backing fabric.