My WIP Wednesday 14 - Sharing My Creative Spaces

For several weeks I've been sharing my creative spaces with my 19yo, who is home for the whole summer after her freshman year away - far away - at college. When she was back for spring break, she saw me working on Beachwalk and Sea Breeze and said, "I could make a dragon quilt that way!"

In her rare spare moments back at school, she worked up sketches in a little notebook of 10 different dragons depicted in their environments. When the semester was over and she moved back, she worked those into full-size layouts, then loaded them into the computer and flipped them to print out reversos.


She blithely combed through my stash and scrap collections, where she found most of what she'd need. We made a run to JoAnn's and the quilt shop for missing component choices, then she did a thorough search online to fill in the gaps. 10 dragons with individual environments require a LOT of different fabrics! Oh, and a WHOLE BUNCH of Steam a Seam Lite 2 - we ordered 14 yards, and maybe that will be enough. 

She patiently traces her pieces onto the fusible stuff, spreading out all over the kitchen counter. She meticulously cuts out the pieces and then steals the iron for solid spans of time - usually, of course, right when I'd be needing it, too. ;D But I'll have plenty of share-free time with my iron when Fall term starts up again, so I'm not really complaining.




She's written out the story of each dragon - explaining its tendencies, character, and environ and plans to incorporate those on the back.


So far she has completed the Blue Desert Dragon with its adorable baby - it's absolutely amazing in real life:

Blue dragons are extremely lawful, despite their proclivity for evil works.  As such, they are often chosen as fair and honorable judges among dragons when disputes of Draconic law arise.  They are among the most long-lived of dragons and have become very hardy living in their harsh, desert environments.  They strive to find order in things and are excellent strategists.  They love collecting historical items and information and freely interact with sages to learn new historical findings, strategies, and battle tactics.

Then emerged the Black Swamp Dragon with its purple highlights (the colors are much more balanced than they show here):

Black dragons are among the more common types of dragons, inhabiting bogs and marshes.  The spiny fin along their neck and back serves to push aside detritus in the swamp water as they swim.  They are extremely territorial and pride themselves with the age and quality of their swamps.  The better and larger the swamp, the higher the black dragon is deemed in their society.  They dislike trespassers, but they will generally let travelers through if they offer something that will improve the quality of their swamp.


Then we met the Green Forest Dragon:

Green dragons inhabit forests across the land; it’s quite easy to tell if a forest is inhabited by a green dragon do to a prevalent odor of chlorine gas from the dragons’ breath.  They are quite territorial, but they will allow travelers to pass through their forests as long as they don’t harm the forest.  Elves are usually welcome to coexist in their forests, as the elves will generally improve the quality and beauty of the forests.  They love to play psychological games with travelers.  Their spines are poisonous, and normally they do not tolerate riders at all.  

(She thought the tree pieces looked like mustaches and had to stage a photo op with her beanie dragons.)






And finally the White Arctic Dragon (breathtaking in real vision with its sparkly ice and shimmering auroras):

White dragons are among the smallest of dragon species and will give way to larger dragons when confronted.  Living in the arctic, they are built to conserve heat and withstand icy temperatures.  As they fly, the ends of their wings freeze and chip off; as such, the membrane is constantly regrowing to replace the lost bits.  They use their frosty breath to freeze prey before devouring it.  Their lairs are filled with strange ice sculptures surrounding the artifacts of their hordes.  They mark the edges of their territory with identifying ice sculptures that are unique to each dragon like a fingerprint.

Right now she's working on the Red, and then will come Brass, Bronze, Copper, Silver, and Gold. She just amazes me - saw me using a given process, envisioned her very own creation using that process, plopped down and made it all happen. I can't draw something out to match my mental image with any good results at all!! lol And here she just spits them out with no artistic training whatsoever. She'll probably be a natural at thread painting, too, when she gets to that stage! If she wasn't my Beloved Egghead Sweetie, I'd probably be utterly green with jealousy. ;D

A big "Thank you!" to Lee at Freshly Pieced for hosting WIP Wednesdays 

It really keeps me motivated to keep those UFOs going! (Go check out what everyone else is doing - there are some really neat projects out there!)

Also, Check out my BOMs AWAY Mondays regular link-up.

This week's stats:

New Projects - 0    

Completed Projects This Week - 0    (Machine broke, couldn't finish Hugs and Kisses)   

In Active Progress - 3    (Hugs and Kisses, What a Hoot, Sailing)

UFO Firing Range - 36.333          

Finishes for 2011 - 17  

Completed tops awaiting quilting:

Hugs and Kisses from Above (in progress!)

What a Hoot, Devon! (longarmer’s!)

Sailing with the Flying Needles (is at the longarm studio!!)

Around the World with Mr. Hernandez (Mr. Hernandez's)

Around the World with Mr. Hernandez (Heather's)

Marissa’s Howling at the Moon

One charity wheelchair quilt

Dreamy Unicorns

Wagon Wheels West #2

Be Attitudes

We Love Kelly

Devon's Silk Spinners

Marissa's Minky Squares

Kelly's Thirties Hand Quilter

Kelly's Calico

Leap Frog Lily Pond

Poor Forgotten Orphan from 15 Years Ago