A quick update before I move on to the future.

What have I been doing since May of 2021.  So much, so little, so much!  It seems every to-do list still has items on it, but when I look back, I did quite a few things.

I spent a lot of time in my garden.

I made my first SAQA benefit auction quilt in June 2021.  I am currently working on this year's now.  

My kids convinced me to adopt 3 little (very naughty) kittens, which helped soothe the heartache when my Professional Quilting Cat, Tookie, passed away that Christmas.  All three of these kitties have taken on the role of quilt helper, but I still miss the Tookster every time I am working on a quilt. 

I've made several more One Block Wonders, and discovered a new book allowing you to use a panel as your fabric, One Block Wonder Panel Quilts.  Since you are always looking for large scale prints, panels are awesome to use, and you can choose to incorporate a whole panel into your quilt or not.  It has been a fun option to play with.

I've also participated more Star Wars mini swaps.  I created this "band poster" for the Max Rebo band (plays in multiple Star Wars movies).  I think this is my all-time favorite of the ones I have made for the annual swap.  It is so fun and different, and I designed the entire thing myself instead of using someone else's design.  

And last year I made this Leia mini for my partner.  

I participated in the Graffiti challenge for Cherrywood Fabrics.  I must admit I didn't enjoy this one as much as some of the past challenges.  It also had me questioning if I really wanted to participate in future challenges, and I haven't to date.  

I went to a bunch of quilt shows, soccer games, and diving competitions, and traveled with family to some amazing destinations like Sicily, and Fargo, ND (which I list as a funny thing, but was actually a great place to go!).  And I had a quilt accepted into Road2CA that wasn't part of a Cherrywood challenge.

I took a drawing class, finally!  And feel like this is the ONE essential skill that has tremendously helped my art quilts progress.   I am currently in a second drawing class because I couldn't keep up the drawing habit without the accountability of being in a class with homework and grades, etc.  

I also took two painting classes recently and have learned so much!!!  I highly recommend you expand into other mediums if you are leaning toward making art quilts in the future.  The oil painting class was my favorite of the two, probably because it is more forgiving than watercolor.  Both classes were great, and I hope to continue with both these mediums.  I'll share more on that experience in a future post.

That's it for now!

Jen