About two weeks ago, I was really feeling quite smug as I thought I had my Art Prize entry for 2014 all pieced out and ready to trim and photograph. I was going to use a workshop piece that I had created last fall.  But I pulled it out and really didn’t like it for this exhibition.

So , I gave myself 48 hours to decide: yes or no to Artprize 2014. The answer was yes but with a new piece. And I only wanted to devote one week to see if i could create something Artprize worhy. Here is the chronicle of events over the past few days in pictures. I am not going to spend  lot of time editing them for you but just lay them out as I took them.

I wanted a plan to limit my overall craziness as I obsess over new designs. So I wanted to make another piece similar to Rooflines #8, a red/blue piece. Super simple , I thought.

 

 

Start with lots of strips so I have options.  I really hate strip piecing -why did I choose this?  Too late to change and I decided to just plod ahead. Ok, just focus and take pictures. Think about values.

 

Black and white looks good. Keep going.  I have no more of the lighter colors but I ignored this blatant fact.

 

 

No problem as the board is filling up. Ignore design and fill up the board. Seems like a great plan.

 

Filling up but kind of dark. Add lavender strips. Rip it apart to do it.

 

 

Needs rooflines inserted. Good job with one set in and looks good.

 

 

Other sets of roof lines needed and placement looks good. Keep going. Wake up in the morning and realize that it looks like a set of draperies. Ugly draperies. It was a few hours of panic. One of those Ralphie moments form The Christmas Story when the dogs steal the turkey. What are you going to do now, Miss Smarty? Better cut it up. Ok, cut away.

My favorite tools for the nasty job of changing design mid -stream :

 

A spiffy seam ripper

 

 

and my tailors’ chalk as I can’t live without it now. Chop it up and insert pieces.

 

Better, I suppose. But I had no idea how to inset parts and pieces on the other side. It was way past my construction level and i was in a piecing pickle. I could have done it so much easier IF I had a well thought out design.

Learn how to inset seams and do all sorts of strange rip outs in order to make it work.

 

 

Slowly making progress.

 

 

Almost there.

 

 

Done as it will be for now. It measures about 68×65 so not a small piece.

 

 

My critique in my journal. I give it about a 5 on a 10 point scale with room for improvement need but a god seed project. Yup, I have spent 105 hours on it from april 16-April 26th as I am trying to calculate how long some of my processes take for our Master Class.

 

That’s all the fabric I had left at the end of the piecing frenzy. And there is the anatomy of my process and Rooflines #15.

I will give it 48 hours to deem whether or not it is Art prize worthy. I never like a piece when it’s first finished. I do love the accomplishment , though, of conquering this piecing job!