Feeling Challenged

OK…for the last few weeks months, I have been complaining on this blog about not feeling creative and not having any motivation to work in my studio.

It seems that all it took was a good challenge!!! 

My quilt guild has issued a “Complement Me” challenge where we are to use two different techniques and two complementary colors.  The size has to be 40 inches square.  Oh, by the way, it is due in 3 weeks!!!

I have spent the last 4 months lazily thinking about the quilt, but decided to get down to business last week.   My first step was to search the internet for inspirational photos.  I started by searching “purple and yellow” and found a wonderful purple daisy that would have leant itself to beading, but the size was just too big.  Then I found a green and red tree frog but the problem remained the same…..40 inches was just too big for the subject.

However, this got me to thinking about rainforests and the photos that I had taken in China and the ideas just started flowing.  I spent the next few days searching the internet for pictures of rainforest plants and leaves.

After I had collected and printed a good number of them, I started tracing out the ones that appealed to me.  To do this, I used a piece of transparency film and a fine point sharpie. 

Here are the resulting sheets…….

Also this week, I have been reading a new book that I purchased a few weeks ago….

In this wonderful book, she talks about making a quilt based on a photo and talks about three different forms of applique. 

The first is turned edge……no way  (especially not in three weeks time)!!!! 

The second is fused edges…..been there, done that!!!!

The third was raw edge …..definite possibility!!!

Her technique for raw edge is to draw the design on freezer paper, iron it to the front side of the fabric, cut out along the lines, remove the freezer paper and have the perfect shaped piece ready to glue to your backing fabric…..interesting!!!

……more to come……