Bold and Brave ~ PQ Season 9.3

The Project Quilting challenge this week has been Bold and Brave. I wasn't sure what to do.

Going through the fabrics and patterns that I have at our new house, I found a Flamingo row from last year's Row by Row Experience and my idea came to life :)

One of my internet friends used a Flamingo for her symbol and even called herself "Flamingo ---" - she was a homeschool mom like me, that is where we met, on a homeschool bulletin board online. --- had a great sense of humor, even through trials in her family, including a divorce, followed a few years later by a tragic death of her children's father as well as losing a son to an accident.

--- was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple of years ago. She became discouraged with her doctors and treatment and several times debated letting the cancer over take her. During this time she met and married the man of her dreams. She felt cherished and found a reason to continue with her treatment.

--- was finally taken about a year after she married the love of her life.

I found that --- was Bold and Brave ~ choosing to forge ahead through tough times - and keeping a sense of humor through it all, even up to the end of her life.

SO, my quilt is a tribute to my friend "Flamingo ---"

 this pattern used quiltsmart , which isn't my favorite way of piecing squares. They come out the right size, but I feel the piece ends up a bit "pillowy" The quilt was pieced in three sections.

I used my walking foot to quilt the piece, I may add some swirls later on in the sections to make it look less "pillowy"

I tried a different method of binding, turning the back and folding it over the front. I will probably never use that method again! I didn't feel it was as nice as my regular method.

It sure turned out cute, though! I will hang this one on the wall in my Sewing Studio (whenever it is finished).

The quilt was created in Muskegon, MI and finished at 11" X 41"

#pqseason9.3

Triangulations - PQ Season 9.2

 I had a great plan for this challenge - I was going to do a quilt that would meet two challenges. Of course, I didn't have enough time in my week to really get this quilt done to the level I could call it done, I had to work and I also volunteer with homeschool kids on Thursday afternoons and Friday mornings ... so the first idea, a modern quilt with triangles is only partially done.

The top is pieced, I marked my quilting lines with the ubiquitous blue painter's tape, and started quilting.

 

The problem is, it needs detail quilting ... setting off those lovely triangles and that detail quilting takes time ... a lot of time.

 So, at work on Saturday, I realized I had a perfect little project I could do during the evening. I made a pincushion!

 I started with 4 HSTs and, since they were kind of blah, I added another triangle to each HST. I placed the HSTs in a diamond configuration and built my little pincushion around the diamond.
The pincushion is 3" square and 1 1/2" tall. It is filled with crushed walnut shells.

I made it in Muskegon, Michigan :)

Check out the other quilter's projects on the Project Quilting post.

Project Quilting Season 9 Challenge 1 - Home Town Proud

I carved out a little bit of time and made a little bit of a quilt.

The theme for Project Quilting's first challenge of Season 9 is "Home Town Proud" and since I have lived many places, how do I pick a Home Town? I thought about Cadillac, MI as we spent quite a few years there, I graduated from high school while living there, I got married there, our first two children were born there ... but we haven't lived there for over 24 years.

SO, I decided to go with the town I live in - Muskegon, MI.

For inspiration, I went through pictures that I have taken around town and came across this super fuzzy picture I took of the moon over the shoreline. We were out by the lighthouse, looking back and it was so wonderful a view that I took a picture - with my cell phone which has a lackluster camera. Thankfully, I could play with the picture in Photoshop and come up with something that I could work from:

I have to say, living near the big lake - Lake Michigan - is always an inspiration with so many possibilities for creativity!

I decided to piggy-back this challenge with an upcoming event in town, the Muskegon Museum of Art's Postcard Salon. This is a fundraiser event every year and I thought it would be a great idea to combine the two in this challenge, so I made a postcard sized quilt!

 I started much bigger than I needed to as I forgot to double check my dimensions and made it large enough for a 5X7 card, but needed only 4X6.

Working in a way that is very similar to my Cherrywood VanGogh Challenge piece, I started adding the highlights on the water and built from there. In fact, all but one of the fabrics is from Cherrywood Fabrics ... the moon is a batik.

I quilted the piece first with a translucent thread called Glitter from Superior Threads, this produced some shine in the water, on the lights and on the moon. I used YLI Wonder Invisible Thread Smoke for the rest of the quilting, giving the textural movement needed for this serene scene.

Shoreline at Dusk

I finished it off with a satin-stitched border in black. My Bernina does such a nice satin stitch!

#pqSeason9
#HomeTownProudChallenge