Shades of red

Taking a break from agonising about my college work, I had a lovely long afternoon at the sewing machine, catching up with this year's journal quilts. The first four months are designated as "shades of red" -

They use different variegated threads for the quilting, and need their satin stitch borders, which will all be black. The circles are paper and are added during quilting either by tucking them under the next strip to be added, or catching them with subsequent lines of stitch. Not complicated to do, but keeping to the concept was a struggle at times - I had to keep reminding myself to "simplify, simplify". My first attempt at "shades of red", months ago,  became a case of compulsively adding more fabrics and more bits of handstitch, till I had put so much time and effort into it that I was driven to keep on with this futile process till it was "finished". Fortunately there came a point when I realised it wasn't working and it was time to stop.

These red quiltlets, as a set or individually, are no great shakes - their limitations are all too obvious when seen through the impartial lens of the camera. (Colours are a bit off, but never mind that now.) "Shades of yellow" will provide a chance to do better and/or make other interesting mistakes. It's all about the journey, not the destination ...