In 2005 I participated in my first Challenge Quilt for the Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association quilt show. The theme of the show and the challenge was "East Meets West." For five dollars I purchased the challenge package which included two fabrics -- one eastern and one western.
The requirements were:
Must use both fabrics, with a minimum of 12 square inches of each.
Length of all sides added together cannot exceed 100 inches.
Only five additional fabrics may be added -- one must be white or cream.
A heart must be included somewhere.
I wish I had a taken photos of the original fabrics. You get a pretty good idea of the eastern fabric in my finished project, the floral print with gold accent. The western print, however, was VERY western. It was all blue/dark blue/black with bucking broncos all over it. Let's just say that the broncos really didn't speak to me, so I carefully fussy cut my background pieces to not include any broncos. I chose to do a very small wall hanging sized quilt. The finished size is 12" by 12". The pattern came from 101 Full-Size Quilt Blocks and Borders. At the time (and probably now) I couldn't see myself doing something so fussy for a whole quilt worth of blocks, but I enjoyed making one. I met the heart part of the challenge by adding heart buttons. This was long before I free motion quilted, so the quilting is minimal, just along the border of the dress.
Edit: I am currently looking for any (small) amount of either of these fabrics as I want to make a memory quilt with scraps from all my quilts and this is the only one I don't have scraps from. :-/
I'm linking up to Quilty Flashback Friday.
Marji
I love that you show the scrapbook page for this quilt, Sarah!
Amber
Impressive that there is no evidence of the bucking broncos. Great work!
sarah
Post authorThanks. I wish I could show them to you. They were something! Perhaps somewhere in some really old photos I took pictures of the other challenge quilts at the show. Hm... (btw, the people who chose to feature the broncos did amazing work... I just didn't have a vision for including them.)
Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl
I know what you mean about a fabric just not speaking to you. I fussy cut the heck out of some fabric earlier this summer for the same reason. I also like that you have a scrap book put together of your projects. :) Good luck finding the fabric for a memory quilt!
sarah
Post authorI wish I had an album with all of my projects in it. They are here and there throughout my scrapbooks over the years. It's nice for those pre-digital projects, but I still don't think I have photos of all of them.
Laura
I hope you find pieces of these fabrics!
sarah
Post authorThank you. I have a lead from someone in my guild who might have some. But as we all know... finding small pieces of fabric in our stash is kinda like finding a needle in a haystack. :-) My fingers are crossed.
Denise
What a cute block! It's encouraging to see what you can do with completely disparate fabric choices. Makes me want to join a guild! I haven't scrapbooked any of my quilts, but I keep a quilting journal with notes on the pattern, fabric, drawings and pictures. I started it a few years after I began quilting, but I've been good about keeping the journal updated since then.
sarah
Post authorYour journal sounds lovely. I have a list in a spreadsheet now, but that's not quite as special. Being part of a guild is so fun and inspiring. Are there any guilds in your area?
Denise
The closest guild is an hour's drive away - during the fall/winter months
they meet every Wednesday evening from 7-9...but I drive school bus and my
bedtime is usually 8:30pm. There is a second guild a little further away
that usually meets on Sundays, but I haven't decided if it's worth the
kilometers yet...I'm sure if I keep my eyes open, I'll find something that
works with my schedule and mileage restraints!
sarah
Post authorIt's too bad that it's so far. If you have some local friends and family who quilt, perhaps you could start a small group get together.
Samantha
Thank you for sharing the project- esp the scrapbook page! What a great idea!
sarah
Post authorThank you! Maybe as I make my memory blocks from past quilts scraps I can also make scrapbook pages of each project. I can only think of one gift quilt that I have no pictures of and am no longer in contact with the recipient.
Elizabeth Dackson
I love seeing your quilty scrapbook, that's such a super fun way to remember the things you've made! I hope you're able to find the fabrics you're looking for to make your epic scrap quilt! Thanks for sharing at Quilty Flashback Friday, hope you'll come back and share again!
sarah
Post authorThank you, Elizabeth. I will.