Work In Progress... (or, Yet Another UFO)

I normally don't like to post pictures of an unfinished work, but I just wanted to let folks know I'm still out here and I'm still quilting. Due to playing nurse for several seriously ill felines over the past year, I've been almost totally out of circulation, and have barely had time to do any quilting at all. Over the past few months, Martin and I have finally gotten ourselves into a half-assed rhythm of cat care procedures, although we still haven't mastered the art of getting to bed before 3:00 a.m., so quilt guild meetings, classes, retreats and workshops are out of the question for now.... and, brother, do I miss them!! I have been able, though, to sneak into the studio for a little while every day and get back to work. I dislike working hit-and-miss and in itty-bitty chunks of time, but I'll take it if it's all I can get, and for now, that's the way it has to be.

This is "Ladies of Senegal 2", the second version of the original "Ladies of Senegal" which I made in 2002. I'm about 80% done with piecing the top, then will need a week or so to do the back (I almost always do a bit of fancy stuff on the back - no plain, one-fabric backs for me), then add another month or so to do the machine quilting... less, if I can start spending more time in the studio. Hopefully, it'll all be done by early May. I've never done a series before, but since the Ladies fabric was available in so many colors, I decided to give it a try. I have four more color ways of the Ladies, but they're all very small pieces of fabric - mostly fat quarters - so if I make any more versions, they'll be small wall hangings. That'll be fun, though, because with small pieces I can bring on the embellishments!

This is my fabric palette...
Working with just red, white and black has been challenging, but it's also been fun. I have another red/white/black piece in the quilting stage, but it's much smaller and went together much more quickly. Ladies 2 is going to be about five feet square, so it's involved a lot more dithering trying to make all the pieces work together.

Here's the original "Ladies"...