I WON — Quiltings Arts “It’s My Nature” Quilting Challenge

Quilting Arts Magazine posted this CHALLENGE “It’s My Nature” late last fall, and so I decided to enter “Peachy Posy” which I had just recently finished.  Details of my entry follow.  It’s one of my earliest Blog posts.  Sadly, there were not alot of participants… but that won’t rob me of my joy; I’m so very grateful!!  I don’t know what the prize is, but I am told that Quilting Arts has donated one!  Sweet!

This quilt, and entering it… represents alot of “stepping out” for me!

 

“Peachy Posy” is among many FIRSTS in my life recently!

We had a stormy Montana spring and those rainy skies became the inspiration for this design which began first as a sketch – and a  goal to start a sketchbook to draw my own designs!  It represents many “firsts” in my life, one of which was a time of recuperating after my first ever surgery…  and it was with great hope that I sketched, and after feeling much better, to later dye painted the fabric… and finally… with great anticipation I took it to my studio and further developed it to incorporate many of the techniques I teach, as well as the colors I love.

The blue background is my first try at  hand painted fabric, (I used ‘dye-na-flo’ paints/dyes from Dharma Trading) and I used 4-5 different blues to achieve  the deep, multi-layered colors that set that ‘moody blue’ tone I was feeling. The pinky- mango colored flower (also hand painted fabric) is ‘just being’ – weathering it’s way through the storms… stretching straight up towards the heavens… “Posing” in a bed of spring flowers after a cool, wet morning rain.

Smaller red flowers’ petals have a gathered and ‘puffed’ look, and additional white dainty ‘tip-toe’ flowers from white satin and yellow wool fabric add contrast and interest to the spring garden, all sparkling in the aftermath of the early morning rain storm, representing patience, perseverance, healing and hope!

I dearly love using those wonderfully thick and glitzy metallic threads, and so the background bobbin quilting on this piece begins with a navy metallic thread which fit my view of the dark, rain-soaked sky, and lots of variegated thread in purples and moody blues are quilted throughout the sky fabric in a geometric triangular pattern… resembling all that rain pouring down sideways!

This piece features bobbin play, some of my free motion applique techniques that I teach, with free motion couching, and embellishments with angelina fibers and textiva film, texture magic and beading.  Size 21″ wide x 36″ long