Fun and exciting things have been happening in my quilting world, I'm not sure where to start; so, in no particular order, here are some of the happenings I have to report on:
Well, *almost* in no particular order, there is one thing that makes the top of the list.
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| Pictured here with a 3rd Place Ribbon at the "Quilt Plano 2011" show |
"
Double Vision" ~ the big red quilt ~ is
"Honorable Mention" worthy and will be displayed at the wonderful
State Fair of Texas this year. That is
very exciting news for me. Look for it in the Creative Arts Building.
Another exciting thing: I was one of 12 recently picked to design and make a quilt block with a fabric line from Cloud 9 Fabrics called
Miscellany by Julian Rothman. I thought it would be fun since I don't like to follow pattern instructions and am continually thinking outside-the-box (or, and probably more accurate, re-inventing the wheel).
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| (Click image for a better view) |
When the fabrics arrived in the mail, I instantly had my favorites of the 8 pieces. Of course, as with many other projects, that changed as I began working with the fabrics. But one piece remained constant. I don't know if I got lucky, or if it was intentionally cut this way, but I received the perfect cut for fussy-cutting my focus fabric piece.
I had a bit-of-a-time (why it's called a "challenge") trying to decide on a block pattern that would allow these unique fabric patterns to come together; that is until I remembered a recent trip to the
Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows at the Navy Pier in Chicago. I've been wanting to do a quilted wall hanging that looks like stained glass and here is my opportunity to get started.
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| (Click image for a better view) |
There is a lot of thought process that goes into a block design. First was coming up with a pattern idea. I looked through lots of photos of the stained glass windows for my inspiration and for this block challenge I liked a circular design. Next, coming up with a design to show a circular pattern yet finishing in a 12" x 12" square. As you can see from the photo, there was drawing, and folding of paper, and more drawing before cutting out the pieces.
Before cutting up the fabric, I also had to decide which fabrics looked best next to each other, which directional fabrics needed to be considered for which piece, and then fussy-cut them to show off their individual designs. And, all the while, taking into consideration what the big picture will look like when placing multiple blocks together for a wall hanging or even a bed quilt.
When I finished my block, it looked ... unfinished, at best. ("Hideous" was actually the word I was using to describe it to a friend. My pattern design for this challenge seemed to be a failure.)
One of the other challengers had raised the question of using additional fabrics. We were given the option to use One other fabric and it had to be a solid color.
Hallelujah! I knew exactly what I needed to do.
Here it is, my masterpiece, now on it is way to be judged:
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| (Click image for a better view) |
Just for fun I put this together to see how it might look as a wall hanging:
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| (Click image for a better view) |
And, the last but certainly not least exciting thing I have to report:
Quilting is Murder is back! I love a good who dunnit. Even better when my two favorite pastimes of quilting and reading mystery stories are blended together. It's not too late, sign up to be a quilt detective today and join the fun.
Next up, it's time to start the
Christmas projects!
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| Reversible Tree Skirt with button closure ~ 64" x 64" |
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