100-Days of Mini Improv Quilts | Tapping into my quilty joy

Even though I loved it last year, I told myself I wasn’t going to participate in the 100-Day Project this year.

My schedule is quite busy over the next few months and fitting in another project is the last thing I need to do. But…I woke up this morning and couldn’t get the idea out of my head. I spent my entire morning walk plotting it out. It went a little something like this:

“Hmmm, I really shouldn’t take on another project...

But it was so fun last year, you don’t really want to miss out on the fun, do you?

No, I really don’t! But what can I work on that will be fun and not too challenging to sneak in between my other commitments?

Hmmm, I do love a mini. And I love improv.

But you did improv last year.

Yes, and it was SO fun!

SOLD”

Here’s the thing, turning your passion into a business is an amazing opportunity, but it can be stressful at times. What I loved about my last 100-day project was that it was ALL about fun. And that’s exactly what I need; a project to tap into my quilty joy. After all, isn’t that why we started quilting in the first place?

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WHAT IS THE 100-DAY PROJECT CHALLENGE?

In case this is the first you’re hearing about The 100-Day Project then here’s a quick overview.

This creative challenge was started in 2013 by Elle Luna and Lindsay Jean Thomson. They even have a site set-up dedicated to just hosting this annual challenge. Most of the connections happen over on Instagram with #the100dayproject to make it easy to follow along and connect with new makers.

This is supposed to be about developing a creative practice and having fun. If you miss a day here and there, they say to just keep going!

New this year is a series of interviews with a few different artists. You can listen to the ones that have already been shared here and sign up for their newsletter to stay up to date and get some encouragement along the way!

MY PROJECT RULES

So, to keep this as straight forward as possible, here are the parameters I outlined for myself during my walk (amazing what you can think through in an hour 😉):

• I can only use scraps and material already in my stash. I’m keeping my fingers crossed this actually helps me put a dent in my fabric scrap stash. I’m running out of storage space and I really don’t want to just toss them.
• Sessions have to be short and cannot exceed an hour. I’m hoping to target 15-minute daily sessions. A quick in and out!
• They will all be minis. No larger than 12" square. At least that’s the current plan…
• Which will hopefully also put a dent in my ever-expanding stash of batting scraps (the situation really is getting out of control).
• The focus is to play. There are no rules (other than those identified above) and the point is to just let loose and create for the fun of it and tap into my quilty joy.

That’s it! That’s my plan for my 2018 100-Day Project.

Easy enough, right?!

Here’s the first stack of fabric scraps that I’ll be dipping into. These are leftover from my Plus Infinity quilt and I’ve been meaning to play with them for quite awhile now. I was wavering between blue or green as the kick-off to this project, but with a little help from you through my IG Stories poll, green won out (it was neck-in-neck for quite awhile with blue being the front runner before green took over)!!

I may just need to alternate between those two colourways to see what I can create and keep things interesting 😊

UNEXPECTED BENEFITS

A side benefit of all this is that I’ll be fulfilling a personal objective of reducing the amount of waste I create. I’ve been limiting my rate of consumption and trying to live a more minimal lifestyle – in all areas. I’m always shocked at the number of garbage bags I see people throwing out on a weekly basis. I can’t control what others do, but I can be mindful of the waste I’m creating and try to limit it as much as possible. This is just another step towards achieving that.

I’ll be sharing my photos witH you over on Instagram with #100daysofsfdminis in case you want to follow along. There are always so many amazing artists and makers that participate in this creative challenge, so be sure to check-out #the100dayproject to see what everyone is getting up to.

I hope you’ll consider joining this creative challenge and would love to know what you’ll be tackling – share in the comments below!

Happy quilting!

xo

Shannon

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