Project Quilting Season 4, Challenge 3

Well things have been quiet around here again. Part of it is late nights at work; the cold weather does not-so-good things for the transportation industry, which makes for busier workdays. The other part is me trying to alter my routines. I'm trying to consolidate my time so it is more effective and so I can spend more time creating. So far, it is going alright.

The quietness will continue next week as I have to go out of town again for work. This time I will be spending a couple days in Bismarck, ND. It's been many years since I have been there, so I am excited. The landscape isn't as flat as the Red River Valley and it generally is warmer, even though is it straight west. Though I wish I had some free time so I could head further west to one of my favorite parks and even go into Montana for a bit. Such is the paradox of business travel. I am going to take my camera and try to fit in some picture taking, though I am headed there with three co-workers so freedom to roam is limited.


Now onto the main reason for this post. I finished up my piece for the third challenge today and think it one of my favorite items I have sewn to date. The challenge was to take inspiration for the work of Annie Young and translate it to a quilt. After looking through her posts, I feel for the background of this painting and thought it would work well as a pieced background. Her work also involves a lot of floral images, so as a fellow lover of flowers, I thought it well suited for my background.


My biggest challenge here was discovering how few black and white prints I have in my stash. With no time to go shopping (or wait for something in the mail), I went forward with my plan. I figured by cutting skinny strips it would cause the prints to distort and with some FMQ over it, I think I did alright.


I broke out some batiks to use for the tulip. I know many modern quilters hate batiks but I am a huge fan of them. I can't see this working well with commercial prints and don't think it would sing if I had used solids. The perfect scenario would be having a stash of fabrics hand dyed by me, but that isn't the case. Yet. The stem is yarn that was couched down by machine and the flower is raw edge applique. Because this is an art piece, I went with a non-traditional binding method which is simply zig zagging over the raw edges.


To sum it all up: I am in love! I would like to continue working in this manner, so be watching for more. I actually had forgotten how much fun it is to FMQ and doodle with my sewing machine. Before I get too deep here I am intending to clear out the older projects I have going.

I probably won't be posting until my mid week WIP update. We are expecting a blizzard tomorrow (not as bad as the east coast) and then I am out of town. Hope the weekend treats you well!