Getting Ready for Minnesota Quilt Show

My challenge quilt for Minnesota Contemporary Quilters is finished.  This quilt gave me some growing pains while I was working on it.  I have been working on improving my quilting for traditional quilts.  So when it came time to do something contemporary, I was a little confused about how to quilt it.  I like how the painting turned out and honestly, I was afraid I would mess it up.  How many times do I let fear hold me back?  I really let this quilt sit there longer than I should have out of fear.

It dawned on me to think of my sewing machine as a paint embellisher.  I just wanted to highlight the painting and add more texture to the finished product.  That's all it took, a little shift in my thought process and it was done.

The challenge this year is "Abode" in whatever form it speaks to you.  My abode is a saquaro cactus and living inside is a family of gila woodpeckers.  My inspiration came from a photo I took while vacationing in Arizona.  The photo is of the cactus with the hole just beckoning a family to move inside.  I found the woodpeckers in a Dover book.

Prickly Abode by Janet Hartje

Have a Creative Day
Janet