A few months ago, our guild speaker made the comment that quilters should NEVER… ..EVER…..participate in a challenge!!
Her contention was that the challenges put too many parameters on the quilt, meaning that it funnels you into one direction.
I don’t know about you, but I COMPLETELY disagree with this comment.
In my 35+ years of quilting, I have participated in over 60 challenges and mysteries and I have learned SO much from them. So let’s start on a journey of Challenges….talk about the successful ones as well as the unsuccessful!!!
The FIRST challenge that I ever participated in was back in 1987!! We had just returned to the US after spending 6 years in Australia and were living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I was only 2 years into my quilting career and was excited to join the “River City Quilters”!!
Not long after I arrived, they handed out a small packet of fabric and challenged us to make a quilt from it. I don’t remember all of the details but I remember being so excited as I looked at the fabrics and let design after design pass in front of my mind!!
Unfortunately, my ideas were greater than my abilities but I still played with the fabrics and came up with my FIRST completely original design……
This was made before I was machine quilting, so I did a minimal amount of arc quilting….BY HAND!!
My stitches are actually pretty even and small but I will say that the batting is SUPER thin so that helped!!
Now….would I have EVER tried to design this quilt without the push of a challenge???
The answer is a resounding …..
I believe that this first challenge DEFINITELY propelled me down a path that I might not have tried before and that is why I do challenges!!
Next week I will show you my SECOND challenge….it is interesting I promise!!
As you know, I have been participating in the 2022 Monthly Color Challenge from Patterns By Jen.
This year, the challenge focuses on Spices and this month’s Spicy entry was “Nigella seeds”. But what exactly are Nigella seeds? I turned to a 2016 post from Food Republic for the answer…..
“Nigella seeds are probably one of the most confused spices. Over the years I’ve heard nigella referred to as onion seeds, black cumin, black caraway and fennel flower, among others. Let’s just simply call them nigella or kalonji (from Hindi). However you choose to name this spice, what it lacks in aroma — it has just a hint of a savory scent — it makes up for in taste. Nigella seeds have an oregano-like quality with herbaceous notes, a slight bitterness and a warm, toasted-onion flavor. I like to add them whole to salads, sauces and even soups at the last minute just before serving. They are a great replacement for sesame seeds without the sweet element.”
Jen had designed her block to have a light background…..
….but since I have planned for my blocks to have a dark background, I ended up making it in the opposite colors…..
It was a simple block to make although there were a number of pieces to cut…..
….and Half-Square Triangles to sew…..
….and, of course, a little bit of ripping to do…..
Once laid out…..
…it was a quick process to finish the block…..
And then came the fun of photographing the block, pulling out a forgotten box of beads…..
I even found a favorite pair of earrings that had been put in the box to be fixed…..
….and they even match the block color theme!!!
I would say that a new block and “new” earrings make for a good quilting session!!
Last week was all straight lines and this week we switch over to a BUNCH of curvy ones!!
If you are interested in joining the challenge, either by making a quilt and quilting along or by printing out blocks and drawing along, you can find all of the resources on the “Quilt Challenges” tab at the top of this page, or by clicking HERE.
I hope that you enjoy this week’s video and start practicing your curvy lines…..
I am certainly happy with the first TWO blocks….
….now I just have to design the rest!!!!
Are you in a rut with your machine quilting? Sure, you know HOW to do FMQ and you have 4 or 5 patterns that you do well. BUT, you are bored with those designs and need a push to try some new things. If so, please join “MOVE-IT…. a Free-Motion Quilting Boot Camp”!! I will take you on a FREE 10-week journey to learn new designs and become more comfortable with just MOVING IT!! You can sign up by clicking **HERE**
While I am NOT Peter Piper, I did piece a pink peppercorn block as part of the 2022 Color Challenge from PBJ (Pattern’s By Jen).
The first task was to find out what a pink peppercorn was…..
A pink peppercorn (baie rose, “pink berry”) is a dried berry of the shrub commonly known as the Peruvian Peppertree….. WOW…..MORE P’s!!
They are members of the Cashew family and have a peppery flavor. They are often blended with commercial pepper.
Even MORE interestingly, Wikipedia went on to say…… “In 1982, the Food and Drug Administration banned the import of Brazilian peppercorns from France into the United States, asserting that people who eat the berries risk an array of acute symptoms, such as swollen eyelids and indigestion, similar to poison ivy. In response, the Government of France maintained that the berries are safe to eat if grown in prescribed conditions. The United States later lifted the ban. “
WHO KNEW!!!
After this history lesson, I searched for a good photo……
….and then for fabric….
Remember that I am keeping the same background fabric for all of the blocks and had already cut it.
The first step was to draw a diagonal line on the back of the background fabric. This was made difficult by the dark color of the fabric…..
I accomplished the task by using one of my favorite marking tools…..
….the White Marking Pen from Clover.
The only “problem” with this pen is that the mark isn’t visible when it is first marked…..
but appears within a few seconds….
You HAVE to be patient!!
Once I had the pieces ready, it was a bit tricky to lay out the block…..
….but the final piecing was straightforward…..
Each month, Jen asked us to show our quilts of the same colorway but, frankly, I don’t have any pink quilts.
BUT, I DO have a pink mug rug that I made several years ago so let’s go with that……
