"Skyscrapers" unquilted top Cindy Grisdela 2011

“Skyscrapers” is Day 22 of my one art quilt a day for the month of March project. I have to say that this piece turned out completely differently than I envisioned it! Yesterday was a difficult creative day. I spent several hours on a top and it just didn’t work–so I changed direction and made a fairly simple design so I wouldn’t get farther behind.

Today was the first day I had difficulty getting motivated to go into the studio to work–I think I was worried that I would have the same problems as I did yesterday. So I decided to take a completely different approach. Different color choices, different design idea–just different. Making these stripe sets is relaxing for me because I just choose the colors I want to use, cut the stripes freehand and sew them together. I made three different sets so I’d have plenty to work with. Then I started playing with them on my design wall. I happened to run across the three lime and purple triangles that were left over from “Neighbors on the Square” about a week ago–and they happened to be just the right size to go with the tall rectangles I was making–so I changed direction and turned them into skyscrapers. I wanted the stripes around the edges to represent the energy of the city, but the whole effect is muted somewhat by the fact that I used softer colors. I like that.

This is one of the lessons of my project. I can have a bad creative day sometimes and still go into the studio the next day and feel energized by the design process. Not every day is going to be a masterpiece–the important thing is to show up in the studio every day to work. That’s how improvement happens.

"Second Ten Days of March" Cindy Grisdela 2011

First Ten Days of March Cindy Grisdela 2011

Here are photos of the first twenty days of the project. I can only get ten days worth at a time up on my wall. It’s interesting to see the progression, isn’t it? The second ten days definitely seems more coherent. I think I still have some ideas left for the last 10 days! I’m going to have to start thinking about which ones to finish and exhibit.

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. I’m posting nearly every day on my progress, so check back often! My inspiration was fellow artist Jill Banks deciding in January to paint 100 faces in 100 days. Click on her name to see her progress as well.