Tag: creative process (Page 1 of 7)

M³ – Ma’s & My Medallion pt1

October 30, 2026 / laura bruno lilly / 23 Comments

Once upon a time, there was a mother and daughter who liked doing things together. One year, shortly after the daughter’s parents moved into another house, the daughter thought it’d be cool to make a housewarming quilt for them. After all, she’d made at least 10 bed-sized quilts over the years, including a scrap quilt for her folks’ mountain cabin early on, way back in 1982.

When the daughter talked to her mother about preferences regarding design and color scheme, the two of them realized this would be a fun project to take on together…

And so, we did.

Ma offered up design ideas for the King size quilt-to-be, and I found a pattern idea for the medallion section.

Ma's design ideas with measurement notes — Ma’s design ideas with measurement notes*

We decided to position the medallion en pointe and square it up with to-be-determined related corner designs. The resulting center square would then be surrounded with alternating pieced & solid fabric borders until it reached the required length and width for a King size quilt.

The Color Works pattern used the traditional method for creating HSTs (half-square triangles). That is where each triangle is cut individually then sewn with another to make one HST block unit. Not only is that a time-consuming method, but manipulation of the bias in the process of further construction causes inaccuracies in the completed HST block unit.

A few years earlier, I was introduced to a groundbreaking new method of HST block construction based upon rotary cutting from the quilt book, Ocean Waves by Nancy J. Martin & Marsha McCloskey. Shortly after its 1989 publication date, I plowed full steam ahead and made a Queen size scrap version of that quilt***, relying heavily on my knowledge of using value as a means to make sense of multi-colored scrappy scraps.

Using this new-at-the-time bias strip piecing method solved the bias distortion problem. The bias strips are cut, sewn together on the bias edge, then cut into individual HST block units. That leaves the outer edges on the stable grain of the fabric with the bias contained and safe from excessive manipulation. A demo of this method can be viewed here.

Design and method determined, now came the fun part. Gathering fabrics. And…teaching Ma how to use the rotary cutter! A quick learner, we spent snippets of time together and separately dutifully cutting out hordes of bias strips.

Here then, is where part 1 ends. I’m wondering: did any of you, my dear readers, discover when this project began? If so, then did anyone further notice the length of time it took to complete? Hint: clues can be found in the featured image.

Let me know in the comments below and stay tuned for part 2!

*Sales advert from some department store – 1990s pricing on poorly stitched imported handmade quilt sets made with cheap quality fabrics, all sizes.

**The VIP Color Works Collection Triangle Quilt/Wallhanging by Janet Page for VIP. Pattern instructions such as these were displayed alongside bolts of new fabric collections and free for the taking. None of the fabrics from this specific collection were used in M³.

*** Photos of it are buried deep in a box somewhere. 🙁

Fall of Freedom Project Update

November 19, 2025 / laura bruno lilly

Monday evening, 11/17: I just pushed ‘submit’ on the Fall of Freedom Event Registration Form. This is a big deal. Not in the fact that Kevin and I are now committed to the deadline, but because even as creative participants, we don’t fit the mold – we are not an organization.

In fact, under the heading Organization Name I entered: No Organization, just two composer-musician educators in South Carolina collaborating on a Fall of Freedom Project – Laura Bruno Lilly and Kevin McKinney (Doc Snow).

So, you see, filling out the form required a very creative approach. And while not necessary, it does ‘prove’ our participation in this call to stand up for our right to free expression.

Yes, one of the things that attracted me to this event was the assertion that no effort is too small. Ours is indeed small. Just us two with a fantastic 6-minute video piece (almost finished*!) we plan to launch on my website and his You Tube channel on November 21.

And, according to the Event Registration email confirmation I received, ours is the first from South Carolina! Small but mighty, eh?

It’s great to be a part of this socially relevant event even if we still feel very isolated from the rest of those participating.

“We live in a time when dissent is punished, truth is twisted, and silence can seem safe. Under the banner of Fall of Freedom, we stand together in creative resistance, because when free expression is under threat, art becomes our voice, our shield, and our sanctuary. Artists are a threat to American fascism.”
from the fall of freedom website

*Our scheduled voice-over recording session set for between-lessons (Kevin) on Monday ran into technical difficulties. My home alone ZOOM H4n Plan B recording session the next morning yielded (unknown to me at the time) too much background noise to use. Technical issues resolved, we hustled to set up again for another between-lessons (Laura) recording session Tuesday early afternoon. Successful this time around. I like to think of this as our ‘surprise snafu scramble moment’ that all projects with a tight timeline & deadline experience.

Breaking News 😊: I just went to the Fall of Freedom Participants Page. I entered in the ‘search events or states’ line – each item individually – first the name of our project, then Kevin’s name, and lastly, my name. Guess what? Each item entered yielded the same result. That creative entry I mentioned above? It pops up along with the name of our ‘event’. Check it out!

It’s amazing what a new set of strings will do for one’s sense of well being

November 2, 2025 / laura bruno lilly

Prior to my first face-to-face meeting with K (Fall of Freedom presentation piece collaborator), I quickly changed out strings on the Prisloe.

My thinking being: if we are going to live-perform our evolving ensemble presentation piece in 3 weeks, I need to have freshly broken in strings for the momentous occasion.

Weeks of private student lessons and daily personal practice sessions take their toll on any set of strings. However, I will mention that the plus side of old strings is that I feel freer to work on my prepared guitar pieces. 😊

That said, I made the switch from the old, dull, thuddy, non-resonant set to a fresh new, crystal clear, deeply resonant set.

It’s amazing what a new set of strings will do for one’s sense of well being.

“The thing of it is, regardless of the strings used, music is played, compositions are created, techniques are explored, expanded and maintained. For myself as a musician, each time I re-string one of my instruments, there is a sense of expectation. A moment in time where everything seems possible, opening up a wide world of sonic possibilities, hopes, dreams and deep expressions of my (he)art flowing through my fingers into the outer realm.
And when the right strings are strung, those aural rewards inspire and invigorate…
The thing of it is, regardless of the strings used, music is played.
Life is lived.
And when the right strings are strung, life is magical.”
me, Laura Bruno Lilly

Due to time constraints, we both agreed a ‘fast production’ of our Fall of Freedom presentation to be the #1 priority. To that end, our collaborative performance piece will be using elements of electronic manipulation of my composition (classical guitar) and his instrumental inflections (trumpet), as a background base for the performance of voice-over adlib spoken word phrases, poems, etc taken from the 641 wc list.

It’s a start. And I’ll keep you updated on it’s progress.

Meanwhile, I’m dancing on a new set of strings…

ShoutOut: Fall of Freedom Event

October 24, 2025 / laura bruno lilly

Note: I’ve been managing a constant stream of migraine waves since mid-September resulting in controlled silence on my end of various communications – including blogging! As many of you know, doing what needs to be done (work, teaching, just laying low, etc) during those times is challenging and often impossible.

Today I seem to be in a migraine lull hence a blog post to communicate something that I wish to share with you, my readers.

On the cusp of my birthday, which coincided with a No Kings Day event 🙂 , I stumbled on something that ignited my activist/creative self and catapulted it into a sense of possibility.

It’s a sort of ‘No Kings Day’ only for the Arts.

“Fall of Freedom is an urgent call to the arts community to unite in defiance of authoritarian forces sweeping the nation. Our Democracy is under attack. Threats to free expression are rising. Dissent is being criminalized. Institutions and media have been recast as mouthpieces of propaganda.

This Fall, we are activating a nationwide wave of creative resistance. Beginning November 21–22, 2025, galleries, museums, libraries, comedy clubs, theaters, and concert halls across the country will host exhibitions, performances, and public events that channel the urgency of this moment. Fall of Freedom is an open invitation to artists, creators, and communities to take part—and to celebrate the experiences, cultures, and identities that shape the fabric of our nation.

Art matters. Artists are a threat to American fascism.“
from the Fall of freedom website

As I delved deeper into this, I realized: this is a good fit for me. This is something I can do. This is something I want to do. Alone? Perhaps. And if necessary, yes, I’ll do my part as a soloist somehow, somewhere and in my own way. Even if it means just busking my “641” (see below) piece in a random outdoor space or playing it to some of my private students during their lesson. 😉

I’ll figure something out.

Meanwhile, I immediately came up with an idea for a project specific to the theme of Artistic Freedom/Activism. Simply put it’s a spoken word/music piece. I’ll take words from the 641 (word count) federally banned words and phrases list – current as of 10.1.25 – and create sentences, poems, catchy quips, use singular words, etc. which I will speak & intersperse amongst varying lengths of original music snippets.

I’ve begun choosing words and selecting/composing various musical snippets to play around with…it’s since morphed as project ideas do, but that’s my starting point.

This past Monday evening, I attended a ZOOM Fall of Freedom orientation meeting and I am encouraged. It feels good knowing I can speak up for Freedom of Expression/Speech/Etc. in this manner and in an organized event where it could perhaps make an impact.

Additionally, I reached out to a music teacher colleague of mine who is of like mind and excited to collaborate with me on this activist/creative venture in support of Freedom of Expression.

I’m not sure if I can find any local places (I live in a small, underserved* city in the South) that would be open to allowing this event, but I do have a modest list of places I’ll approach in the next few days. My collaborator buddy no doubt has a few of his own to check out where he lives. We may stumble on a group who is actually actively organizing an event and needs participants!

In any case:

I’ll – we’ll – figure something out.

Care to join us?

I’ll keep you posted as this venture evolves & unfolds!

*FYI: just one of the “641” among others used naturally within this blog post

Remember My “Ankara Reward” Tactic?

August 2, 2025 / laura bruno lilly

Well, it’s come in handy as a transitional tool to ease into taking a break for most of August.

After weeks of teaching summer session lessons, following through with essential tasks, the editing/layout of my current Giving Voice series (part three is still in the works), and dealing with heat, heavy air and asthma, I’m ready to hit the pause button.

To refresh your memory, a little less than a year ago, I expounded on the virtues of a method I devised to help stay focused, motivated and balanced while working on specific music project goals. I set up a way to accrue points on time spent doing various aspects of specific items (ToDos) related to my primary music project Goals and translated them into ‘reward time’.

I called it the Ankara Reward because I’d been itching to play around with the Ankara fabric/Moda Grunge fabric combo I designated & set aside for a specific quilting project*.

Generically speaking the formula works like this: for x amount of time I spend on my priority/primary focus, I can then accrue y amount of minutes towards dedicated time for a certain other desirable activity focus.

Using this as a controlled ‘reward time’ helped when I was in a slump and needed motivation to keep going with my primary focus – music. It also served as a creative break that enabled me to return to my music with fresh eyes and an eager spirit.

Within weeks, I dropped the literal formula and flowed seamlessly from task to task. Making progress on ToDos, Goals, Tasks and plenty of Etc.s!

That said, musical goals are not as easily shared while in progress, so attached are some photos for you to see the Ankara Reward in progress.

left to right: 3 Ankara fabric finalists, chosen Ankara fabric, early piecing, first block with layout info, first block.

rolled up in noodle for easy storage — rolled up in noodle for storage

first section layout — rolled up in noodle for storage

stopping off point for now — **Stopping off point for now – July 31st, 2025**

*my friend Mary and I took an on-line lecture class together on Ankara Fabrics awhile back. She, true to her ‘Zippy’ moniker, whipped up her version in no time. Me? Like I’ve said before, I am a slow stitcher.

Weekend Notes 9/14-15/2024

September 15, 2024 / laura bruno lilly

‘Start with Now’ is a good umbrella catchall phrase which describes my on & off approach to feeding the blog with sporadic & unscheduled posts…That said, let’s jump right in!

I sorted through my ‘Goals for 2024’ to where I’m on-track with some, delinquent in others. I am basically pleased with achieving a tenuous balance incorporating prioritized focused attention on specific ‘goals’ with living life in its everydayness adding spicey bits of fun, delight and love as opportunities arise.
I set up a way to accrue points on time spent doing various aspects of specific items related to my primary music project goals and translated them into ‘reward time’. I call it the Ankara Reward because I’ve been itching to play around with the Ankara fabrics I’ve teamed up with Moda Grunge fabrics designated for a specific quilting project. Using this as a controlled ‘reward time’ helps when I’m in a slump and need motivation to keep going with my music, but mostly it prevents me from going down a rabbit hole of avoidance pulling me away from my primary focus.
I learned a valuable lesson while using the Ankara Reward as a motivator/break from my primary music project goals: delayed gratification of a reward earned results in diminished joy in reaching that ‘reward’ and makes it feel less significant as a motivator as I continue with the focused tasks.
- Instead of planning a time to redeem my ‘reward’, I decided to forge ahead reasoning that I was on a roll and would be happy to indulge my reward at a later date. The problem with that? I had no idea this would lessen the positive aspects of achieving the ‘reward’ plus deplete my drive to continue with tasks related to the goals they were attached to!
  - I learned that delayed gratification has a limit for its usefulness – kind of a weird example of the law of diminishing returns.
I renewed my driver’s license and bought my ‘Real ID’ star. What’s amazing is that my license photo came out uber well!
I found a recent photo of myself to crop and use in a professional application. What’s amazing is that it came out uber well!
- take a peek: I added it to my ‘About’ page just for fun
My birthday month is fast approaching. I love my birthday month. But this year I’ll be tipping over the 9’s into my next decade of life…and if I’m honest…The tipping point is kinda hard for me this time around.

Goals, ToDos & TryOuts – part 2

July 9, 2024 / laura bruno lilly

First seen in this earlier post and then again in part 1, a certain coffee mug takes center stage as an example of a ‘quick TryOut’.

That said, the ‘quick TryOut’ to finish Aromatic Steam Arising is only as good as the sum of its parts. Meaning: one of those parts was to compose a soundtrack specific to the video. That part was right up my alley and I certainly had fun noodling around on both the UKE and CG for ideas. The noodling resulted in two separate 4 measure motifs which I then entered into my NOTION notation program and arranged as a duo. Adjusting for the duration of coffee mug’s stellar performance, I came up with the 34 seconds of music needed for use in the video.

That was the easy part. Next came the actual putting together of a cohesive video highlighting my raw unedited phone footage in sync with a NOTION instrument rendition of my ASA 34 Seconds accompanying audio track.

Enter stage left – the challenging part of my ‘quick TryOut.’

Armed with some working knowledge of Canva, I decided to go forth and dive deep into using their free tools for video/audio projects. It took me a few days but I learned much through the process.

As promised, here is my first attempt at making a video with my personal & original uploads using Canva tools. Enjoy!

Aromatic Steam Arising postcard — **An easier to read version of the ending page in the above video – yes, I need to ‘fix’ that! 🙂**

The Meaning We Make with Our Hands (Poem)

June 3, 2024 / laura bruno lilly

In reading about the stories we as creatives tell through our (he)art, I came across this phrase from a Quiltfolk blog article.

It resonated. I ruminated. I wrote a poem.

The Meaning We Make with Our Hands
Laura Bruno Lilly © 2024

I tell stories
I paint pictures
I touch hearts
		with sound.
Found sound
Composed sound
and sometimes spoken.

Phrases shaped
Rhythms formed
and all the silent in-betweens.
Peppered throughout with tone colors
                both nuanced and bold.

Listen
My music speaks
		its own truth.

Homage à Ma’s Uncle Tran Mawicke, closeup

Weekend Notes 3/2-3/2024

March 2, 2024 / laura bruno lilly

“Mounted over canvas”

As per recent quilt-blogger discussions about how to mount certain fiber art pieces: Mary over at Zippy Quilts posted a callout for suggestions on how best to display a ‘map’ quilt she recently completed. The overriding consensus suggested mounting it over canvas.

About two years ago, I experimented with this technique.

“Homage à Ma’s Uncle Tran Mawicke” Laura Bruno Lilly, MMXXII – Mounted over canvas

During the Pandemic, while noodling around with the idea of floating a design utilizing negative space as part of the composition, my Homage à Ma’s Uncle Tran Mawicke came into being. Pleased with the result, I wanted an equally unique way of displaying it.

Ma’s Uncle Tran* was a prolific commercial & fine artist, illustrating numerous magazine articles, sci-fi books, fashion magazines & catalogues, calendars, advertisements, creating art by commission, for both private/personal and public purposes, etc.

My Homage features a common color palette used in many of his works, but does not reflect his style of art.

As a true ‘working artist’, I’ve no doubt he experimented with different modern techniques and emerging schools of art-thought during his lifelong career. I’d like to think he might have explored a sort of “abstract expressionism meets graphic art” approach to his own work. In that way, my Homage title makes sense.

That’s the cerebral narrative. Truth be told, at some point during my immersion in Homage, something about it ‘felt’ like the Great Uncle I never knew – connecting me to both him and my (he)artist Ma.

*Mini bio: Tran Mawicke was born in Chicago on September 20, 1911 and died November 28, 1988. He’s best known for his commercial illustration, landscapes, and portraits. A graduate of the American Academy of Fine Arts and Art Institute of Chicago, his work spanned from 1935-1988. A prolific storybook illustrator, he also has credits such as film posters, covers of magazines such as Collier’s, Reader’s Digest, Good Housekeeping, and BusinessWeek. Tran served as president of the Society of Illustrators from 1959-1961. He traveled extensively and called Bronxville, NY home-base for most of his life.

“Bonus Day”

Last Thursday was February 29^th. A whole day inserted into 2024’s leap year to correct time discrepancies in our calendar related to Earth’s orbit around the sun. Think of it as an expanded version of the ‘extra’ hour received when we in most states of the US set clocks back in the Fall thus ending Daylight Saving Time.

This added date – an extra day tacked onto February – felt like a Bonus Day to me, hence the name. In fact, I planned for this Bonus Day in advance in order to take full advantage of my perceived ‘extra’ time!

Right before lunchtime, after a morning of unabashed glee pursuing indulgent (he)artistic endeavors, I got a text notice that my shingles shot was available & waiting for me at the CVS. Since this prescription had been ‘out of stock’ since December** I decided the unscheduled task took priority, so I got jabbed ASAP.

I am thinking you know what comes next…Yes, you’re correct in thinking my extra hours were then consumed by an overpowering fatigue – which for myself is a normal reaction to any vaccine.

And yes, you’d think I’d remember that – but no.

Overall I felt okay about that interruption, and I did indeed make up for that ‘lost extra’ time in the days that followed – gaining traction (and new insights) on a few music projects and progressing on a surprise gift I’m making for that new Papa cousin’s baby girl I mentioned in an earlier post. All of which I hope to reveal in the near future!

**What can I say? We live in an underserved area and that’s part of how life is for us. Case in point: a regular rhythmic cycle of empty shelves at stores has been a fact of life since moving here in 2012 – way before the Pandemic put that Reality front and center for many formerly unaccustomed to those sorts of issues.

How did you spend your Bonus Day this Leap Year?

Cookie Mats #1 & #3 Finished — Cookie Mats #1 & #3

MMXXiii – part two

December 31, 2023 / laura bruno lilly

I finally finished my Cookie Mats the other day.

Please allow me to use them as a simple means to illustrate a handful of the many personal revelations/reminders I gleaned during this past year.

I started them the day after reading Laura’s post on making her own “Cookie Plate Crumb Catcher”.

Like her, I needed a fun diversion tucked between my holiday prep and regularly scheduled life commitments.

That was November 19, 2022.

This is December 31, 2023.

Personal revelation #1- I can and do finish projects!

Also, around that time, the overarching theme (for me) of the coming New Year 2023 began to emerge:

Mindfulness – doing things with intention, not just as a default ‘go-to’ action.

Interestingly, each time I journaled about working on my 3 CPCCs in my Morning Pages, the word ‘fun’ is mentioned.

“Yesterday, I started work on another CPCC. I’m finding it fun.”
“As fun, I’d like to work on sewing the first few squares for one of the CPCCs sometime today.”
“I’m re-learning traditional piecing with those CPCCs. I ‘winged it’ on certain parts of the first one – a normal process for me – and it came out fantastically well. The second, I decided to be more follow-the-rules with squaring up each block to a certain size before sewing them together and it came out awful. So, the third one I’m trying a combo of both methods and so far so good! HA! This has been a fun ‘hobby’ reliever thing to do during my spare moments. Plus, I just might get a CPCC out of it with two to gift to others!”

Cookie Mats #1 & #2 on design wall — CPCC #1 on top perfect, CPCC #2 on bottom, prior to ‘squaring up each block’. It didn’t sew up well at all so I deconstructed it and threw the fabric in the scrap bag.

While that final quote is a good example of mindfulness in the making of those 3 CPCCs, the consistent use of the word ‘fun’ caused me to realize I needed more of it in my life.

Personal revelation #2- I realized that having fun was more satisfying than seeking happiness. Something I used to know, but somehow forgot. (For the record, joy* is an entirely different gift and one I actively nurture deep within my soul.)

Fun is in the moment and feeds the need in the now before it withers. Happiness is a quest that requires vigilance and can become myopic – in some respects it is frustratingly elusive and not easily sustained.

Shortly before the end of 2022, CPCCs #1 & #3 were completely pieced and ready to be layered with the usual quilt sandwich fixins (batting & backing). I packed them away as I was poised with a mindfulness focus of ‘living life outloud’ in the coming New Year.

Fast forward to November 2023.

In need of my annual holiday prep diversion, I pulled out the 2 CPCC pieced tops and began the process of taking them to the finish line. Again, a fun thing to do, especially as I pieced scraps and leftover small half triangle scraps into blocks to further turn into mug rugs and/or table trivets. Truthfully, I was avoiding doing what really needed to be done in order to finish those 2 CPCCs.

About this time, Wendy posted about taking a fabric therapy break from her own holiday preps. The Tote she produced – and oh so quickly – called out to me. I emailed her about purchasing it and before I could step away from the computer, she responded.

Scrap triangles as future mug rugs & table trivet

“Could I just gift it to you? I’d love to do that. It’s the season of giving, and nothing would make me happier! So no need to pay anything. I’ve been smiling to myself all day, just knowing I can share this with you! I had no plans for this tote, but I just knew it would have a place to go. I’m just delighted! Send me your address, and I’ll get it on its way!”

(here it sits atop my folded cutting table underneath a few pieced scraps & leftover half square triangle scraps on my design wall – quickly put to use as my new project bag)

Personal revelation #3- I forget that while it’s fun & rewarding to give to others, it’s sometimes fun & rewarding for others to give to me!

As I dutifully cut the backing fabrics and lightweight batting, I had and AHA moment. Why not turn these into more versatile mats that offer both hot and cold protection to table surfaces? That’s when I grabbed the InsulBright used for hot pads and added it to the quilt sandwich fixins. As an unexpected bonus this addition offered a firm bottom layer which enhanced my modest walking foot outline quilting.

Light batting, thinsulate, backing fabric layers — Backing, InsulBright & batting

Christmas fabric backing on Cookie Mats — Backing, InsulBright & batting

Personal revelation #4- I can function in a ‘color within the lines’ type of world, but I really am an outside the box type of gal.