100 Days of Dice Doodles: Week 5 Update

More free motion quilting fun with Week 5 of my 100 Days of Dice Doodles. Read on for more information about doodles 31 through 37.

31/100

The sky has been heavy with smoke from multiple active wildfires located in throughout the Bay area and Northern California. I photographed the smoke-filled sky this afternoon which included a glowing red sun which appears as a small red dot in the photo. 

I started by stitching out the blue sky and sun--which are still there but are obscured by the smoke. I used a variegated brown thread for the smoke (although wish it had less white patches to better capture the smoke) and then overstitched the sun with a reddish-orange thread.

I am thankful for all the firefighters working to contain the fires, our HEPA air filter that is working overtime, and an N95 mask for when I need to go outside. Stay safe all!

32/100:

Today's text-inspired doodle is inspired by Round 1 of Modern Free Motion Fillers and FUN! with the Desert Quilters of Nevada. This new live, online format provides more flexibility with scheduling. Now I can more readily teach a 6-hour workshop into 2 smaller sessions, which prevents overload of information, as well as the opportunity for practice in between sessions, which ultimately translates into a much more effective learning experience! 

I found a great quote that really captures how free motion quilting requires practice, practice, practice...

"Practice puts brains in your muscles."

-Sam Snead, American professional golfer

Another benefit of the online classes is that I have access to all my sewing/quilting supplies. One of the participants inquired about various different feet and couching during the workshop. I was able to pull out all the FMQing feet for my Juki TL-2010Q for a short demo, which prompted a fun little photoshoot! 

Below is a photo of everyone's fabulous stitched samplers with a few sneak peeks of their faces. 

33/100:

My preparations for the next day Free Styling & Spiraling workshop promoted me to stitch out a spirangle design using one of my favorite color combos (chatreuse and red-violet), and two of my favorite free motion filler motifs!

And here's just a snippet of all the funky spirangles improv pieced by the Ventura Modern Quilt Guild!!

34/100:

This doodle was inspired by memories from my freshman year at Siena College and hanging out on the grassy knoll in the academic quad. The first photo is from my orientation when I barely knew anyone. Fast forward a few months to the same location where I am surrounded by my wonderful circle of friends (most of whom have stayed in my life all these years!) 

Thinking of this year's entering class and how very different their first year of college will be given Covid 19... may they find their circle of friends...

35/100:

It had been almost a week since we last had sunshine, as the skies continue to fill with smoke from the California wildfires. Longing for the sun reminded me of the lyrics from "Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In" written by James Rado & Gerome Ragni, music by Galt McDermot, and sung by The 5th Dimension:

"Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in, the sunshine in

Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in, the sunshine in

Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in, the sunshine in

Oh, let it shine, c'mon

Now everybody just sing along

Let the sun shine in

Open up your heart and let it shine on in"

Sun and clouds design were inspired by the psychedelic art from the 60s.

36/100:

The word Value came up in several conversations today: valuing our time and talents, importance of using value in design, along with the value of connection and partnerships. The global pandemic and regional wildfires have certainly prompted me to reflect on how I value my time, self-worth, creative energy, skillset, business, support of organizations, and our finite resources.

“It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.”

― Roy Disney, American businessman and co-founder of The Walt Disney Company

37/100:

It took two sessions, but I managed to catch up on all my business accounting. In celebration of all that bean counting, I counted out some bean-shaped peanut m&m's for this dice doodle! Some sampling and taste testing was conducted, purely for design research purposes!

Which flavor(s) of m&m's are your favorite(s)?!? And do you have a favorite color?!? Feel free to conduct your own scientific research and report back on your results!

And there you have all 37 Dice Doodles...