First Challenge Quilt

As things here could deteriorate in the course of this week (see below), I am writing this blog post now so that on January 31 I can just upload the photo(s).

I have been struggling a lot with this first challenge – not because of the theme. Au contraire: I love it, and for a long time I have been thinking of making a series of work with the WALL theme. I love the structures, especially those of ancient walls that seem to fall apart. I love the subtle colors, sometimes the sparkle when the sun hits the wall. I love to photograph walls. I have tons of photos taken all over the world. So, what was my problem?

First of all, I had to meet another important deadline: my new seminar website had to be up by January 15. I am not an expert in web design and had to work with a new software, but I did it! Then came Christmas and our four-week family vacation. We stayed at home, but the time was much needed to recover from a disastrous 2009. I would be lying if I’d say I’d never started designing my challenge quilt – but only in my head… I thought, in the two weeks after January 15 I would have enough time to put all these thoughts in action.

But life happens, even when a deadline is approaching: my cat’s health deteriorated rapidly (see blog post). When he was in hospital, I started printing some of my photos on fabric. I decided to use photos I had taken in the old part of my village where there are still many old stone houses (beautiful structures…). While piecing, I noticed some marks on one of the walls, red marks – so I highlighted them with machine embroidery. And all of a sudden, it was clear how I would quilt and embroider the piece. I finished it today and as I said in my blog post, I will retire now into private life and care for Flori cat until he is ready to cross the Rainbow Bridge. But I look forward to seeing your quilts!