IKEA Challenge

Hello,

Late last August I was one of fifty people who received a packet of fabric from the IKEA store in the Twin Cities.  The Project Patchwork Challenge was in conjunction with the Textile Center in St Paul.  The quilts would eventually be sold to benefit the youth program at the Textile Center.  Part of our incentive was the possibility of having your quilt displayed on a poster in the light rail train stations in the Twin Cities.  (Free advertising)   Mine is one of the quilts on the poster.  I was very surprised mine was chosen.  (The poster is at the top of the page, mine is the top right side) Part of the guidelines were we could only use IKEA fabric on the front of the quilt, and it still needed to be recognizable as IKEA fabric when it was complete.  So, no overdyeing to change the color etc.  You could go and buy more IKEA fabric from the store if you weren't inspired by what was in your packet of four, 1 yard fabrics.  I decided to stick with the fabric I was given because I know I often try to second guess myself and most of the time that doesn't work out.  So the challenge was on.  If we finished our quilts by a certain date we would receive a $50 gift certificate to spend at IKEA.  I set that goal for myself.  Since I am fairly new to contemporary quilting, I thought that would be a wonderful prize for me.  I had no idea how difficult my Fall would become when I signed up for this.  Lot's of family emergencies floated to the surface last Fall and that's enough said there. The first week in November I still had no clear plan for my quilt.  I was starting to panic, just a little, because the gift certificate deadline was fast approaching.  But, a wonderful thing happened.  I have been an election judge for a little over ten years now.  The election this past fall was very inspiring.  It was wonderful to see the power of making a mark on paper bring so many people together.  Even if we were there to vote for different people, we were all there for one common goal, to mend our torn nation.  So, the inspiration for my quilt "Fiber of a Voter" came to life.  I used many different techniques when creating my quilt to help illustrate the diversity of the voters who all came together on that day to do their part to elect officials who would stitch together our torn nation.  Some of the techniques I used were shiva paint stick rubbings, handmade beads, needle punch, lot's of quilting, and hand embroidery.  There is also judging involved with this challenge.  One person will be given a $1,000 IKEA makeover, first place is a $500 gift certificate for IKEA,  the juror's award is a $100 gift certificate and the people's choice award will be a $50 gift certificate.  The sale will take place on March 21 at the IKEA store in Bloomington, MN.  Right across the street from the Mall of America.  The party begins at 6:00 p.m. with food and entertainment and the sale of the quilts.  So, if you are in the twin cities area be sure to stop and see and purchase one of 50 unique quilts.  Have a creative day. Janet