January Inspiration - indigo

 Whew, January is finally here!  M and I are slowly working through our long distance stitches project - I am so excited to actually start sewing!

For the holidays I went to Alaska for a couple of weeks.  On the way there it was cloudy so my view from the plane was very blah, but on the way back I got to see sunrise above Washington from the air.  Living in farm country I am fascinated by the patterns farming and ranching makes to the ground.  It always reminds me of potential organic quilting designs.  In eastern Washington contour plowing creates fabulous wavy designs following the topography of the land for miles.  Imagine my surprise when flying over mid Washington to see perfect circles on large plots of land!  I of course first imagined aliens and crop circles but it occurred to me it is most likely due to the way that area uses the hundreds of feet of revolving sprinklers.  I missed getting pictures of the circles, but I did get a few good pictures of farms from above.  You can see below the wonderful patchwork it makes of our land.

When I got back in January that I got my inspiration box.  Inside I find a this mix of blues and a white fabric, silver metallic thread, white and bronze ribbons and a fabulous selection of beads.  I had previously gotten some tone on tone fabrics with the idea of doing something with the farm patchwork idea.  The fabrics create a very interesting blend.

Included in the box were some inspiration words;
cozy
winter
silver linings
new

Oh the potential!  Did some delighted texting and decided to do 12 inch blocks.  As I am doing a quilt-as-you-go method, I am seriously thinking about piecing both sides.  We will see.  I see a side with a modern design, and a side with a 4 patch variation.  My creative brain is percolating away!

What do you see when you look at the pictures below?

see you next time!

Materials for Indigo's January Block

Inspiration picture - farmland from the air in Washington

Inspiration sketches

Journey Begins - indigo

Well, here we are.  it is December 2013 and the adventure/challenge Molly and I set for one another is in its beginning stages.

Inspired by the blog http://eightbyeight.wordpress.com/ M and I exchanged texts a while back with wildly varied ideas on how we could take this idea and make it work for us.  We bandied about thoughts like - random idea generator each month; creating a long list of ideas to draw out of a hat; quilt as you go method; etc.  the list went from strictly outlines to almost no rules at all.

As is wont to happen, life passed in the meantime.  We get busy, priorities change on a dime.  Living many hours away from one another means communication can be sporadic and short.  Even in the day of social media it can be difficult to maintain a relationship long distance when the immediacy of taking the kids to school, caring for the pets, and putting food on the table is always in our minds.  Random texts checking with one another occur "still want to do this?"  "yes!!!"

So, we may keep the rules fluid.  What we both agree on - send each other a package once a month within the first week.  Blog our thoughts once we get our packages.  Mid month - blog progress.  By the end of the month - blog the resulting block.  By participating in one blog to make that happen we get to share the journey with you and one another.  At the end of the year, we will have 12 blocks each created from the shared ideas and craft growth experience.

So, we invite you to come and play with us.  Share in the journey with your own friends and family.  Create blocks from your own fabric stash (we know you have one!) and post your creative adventure along with us.  We would love to see what our fellow travelers discover along the way.

I am working on the holiday madness.  This week, put together my first package.  Bake a lot of cookies for my local quilt guild.  Clean the house in preparation for traveling.  Fret, worry, and create.  The holidays at its gloriously busy best.

-indigo

Indigo Desk Tree 2013