It's All Happening!

When 2009 started I wasn't quite sure what I was going to be doing creatively through the year but I did intend to work my way through some of the exercises in "Finding Your Own Visual Language". I did feel a bit lost without the Take It Further Challenge to spur me on this year as I enjoyed working on that in 2008 and I thought it was time to try and develop some design skills.

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I think I mentioned before that I joined the Quilters Guild at the end of last year and I've also joined the specialist group within that of Contemporary Quilters. Well, I now have to state publicly, so that I can't back out, that I have signed up for Contemporary Quilt Journal Quilts challenge. In a similar way to Take it Further I now have to produce a Quilt every month in the format 12" x 6" and every 4 months I have to submit images and details of the quilts, so there are deadlines! I have a lengthy list of techniques I want to explore or experiment further with and this is at least, a starting point for the quilts. I just have to decide whether I want to work to a theme or trust that the experiments will result in useable quilts. The remit for the quilts is very open so there is a lot of freedom both in the content and presentation, but it may be easier to have a theme in case inspiration is fleeting. Hopefully I will also be able to use FinYoOwVisLan alongside this quilting challenge and my design skills should grow too. Fingers crossed! Oh, by the way, I'm relying on you all to give me a regular kick to make sure I'm keeping up with the quilting! thank you :o))

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On the subject of challenges, I have finally got round to joining in a swap at MixedMediaATC_UK this month. We are having a 2 for 2 book page swap and this month's theme is Flowers.

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I used some of the fabric I had previously monoprinted (on the left) and dyed (on the right). The piece on the left has had lace and a pale organza machined onto it and then cut and frayed. Beads have been added as an embellishment. The piece on the right was actually my practice fabric from the fabric swap which I stamped and stencilled on in vaguely flower looking designs. I've then machined organza on top, trapping some gold bridal lace, and distressed it with the heat gun. Finally I've added just a few beads. The pages have been left unfinished on the edge so that eventually, when more swaps have been done, they can be edged by the recipient and made into a book.

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Finally today can I commend to you the Little Gems tombola which will be held at the Festival of Quilts in August? People are being asked to make an A4 sized quilt which will be raffled via a tombola to raise money for the Quilt Museum in York. There are no restrictions as to material and you don't need to have a hanging sleeve. If you click on the link you can read all the details. so if you've ever fancied having a go at an art quilt or a traditional quilt this could be a good place to start. That's another one for my list too!

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Can you stand a bit of not so good news? It's all right, it's not that bad..........just the pesky heating! We were woken up at 6 o'clock this morning by a very noisy grinding pump which I leapt out of bed to switch off, so we are once again relying on little heaters and waiting for the engineer to call! Grrrrrr!!! My DH got very confused and thought it was time to get up. I had to head him off before he legged it to the bathroom to get ready for work! Bless!