ProjectQUILTING - PQ 15.2 - Sky Color

Sky Color

Welcome to The Joyful Quilter!!  And... Welcome to the wonderful world of Project QUILTING hosted by Kim Lapacek @ Persimon Dreams!!  This is my 3rd year of participation in the Challenge.  Trish Frankland @ QuiltChicken is the creator of the crazy challenges that participants will face during the next 10 weeks.

Sassy @ Farm Quilter got me started at the beginning of Season 11 by inviting her readers to join in the fun.  I accepted her invitation and the rest is history.  As I have for the past two years, I will be dragging along my friend LeeAnna @ Not Afraid of Color again this season, as she enjoys having a reason to stretch her creative wings.  Would YOU like to join me in this creative journey, too?  

FAIR WARNING:  It's a wild ride, but oh SEW rewarding!

Challenges are given and start to finish you have ONE WEEK to complete your project.  PQ 15.2 can be found at THIS LINK:

Step One...

Read the instructions to see what is required of the second challenge.  Here's what Trish had to say:

PQ 15.2 SKY COLOR

Surprisingly to no one, I have a word-a-day calendar (#ad) on my desk. This week's challenge all began with a fabulous word: cerulean. Defined as "resembling the blue of the sky," it got me pondering a color challenge for PQ.

Many previous years I've asked you to be inspired by Pantone's color of the year - but this year's choice "Fuzzy Peach" didn't fire me up.

She continued with the following:

One of my favorite author/illustrators is Peter H. Reynolds, (#ad) who has written an entire library of books on finding creative inspiration. The fact that they're children's picture books is incidental - if you're an artist and dreamer, you should read these books!

A particular favorite of mine is his 2012 release "Sky Color." (#ad) In it, Marisol is tasked with painting the sky in a mural, but they've run out of blue paint. After some contemplation, an amazing sunset, and a rainstorm, Marisol realizes the sky isn't limited to one color and neither is she.

This week, I want to see your best SKY COLORS - with the exception of cerulean. Your project may include the color blue, but must be less than 10% traditional "sky blue" color.

I am not limiting you to landscape or skyscape depictions this week: you may use your sky colors in abstract, in any kind of project you wish to make. But I'd like to see and hear your connection to the sky's palette in your completion and posts. Those connections are one of my favorite parts of Project Quilting!

Step Two...

Groan.  LESS THAN 10% sky blue?!?!

Why, Joyful???

I was excited until I saw the limiting factor!!  What on Earth am I going to do now??  My very first thought was a sweet seascape.

Step Three...

Freak out a little and ignore the challenge for the rest of the day, but as I scrolled through some sky images after dinner, a glimmer of an idea immerged.  (On a side note, I've got January's TABLE SCRAPS Challenge snowflake entry to worry about this week, too.  It's due on Friday and it's not remotely close to being completed!)

TWO DAYS PASS!!!

Step Four...

Gather supplies:

I reached for my ORANGE Quilted Scrap Basket, but...

I soon pulled out my PINK Quilted Scrap Basket, as well.  I might want to include that in my project:

Tutorial for these baskets can be found HERE.

Neither of those options worked for me, so I dug into the giant bucket of batiks:

Step Five...

Review the rules:

RULE ONE: TAKE INSPIRATION FROM THE COLORS OF THE SKY, BUT EXCLUDE OR USE LESS THAN 10% OF THE USUAL BLUE.

You have one week to meet the challenge. Every challenge piece must be a FINISHED project seen through from INCEPTION to COMPLETION during the challenge timeline – that is, started on or after January 21, 2024, and linked up by noon Central Time January 28, 2024.

Each piece must stand alone as DONE to count toward prizes.

Your project does not need to be a traditional quilt, but must meet at least one of these requirements: include patchwork, include appliqué, have 3 layers stitched together by hand or machine.

Step Six... Any ideas?

Yes.  As I mentioned earlier, I have an inkling of an idea.  I might be able to use PQ15.2 as a chance to play with a different take on my Salt and Sand Blog Hop entry.

Step Seven... PLAY!!!

I began by sorting through my small strips and strings for bits that felt right for what I had in mind for my project, but came across a couple of scrap chunks that paired well.

Here is a bit of my construction process...

(Scroll down to the bottom of the post NOW, if you don't care to see a blow by blow of the making of my quilt.)

Excited by my choices, I quickly got to work on my little quilt.

With 4 full days before the deadline my entry is...

DONE!!!  With ZERO process pictures.

However, I'm SEW pleased to present my completed entry for PQ 15.2:

We were lacking in sunshine when the following photo was taken, but I thought I'd show you the journal entry inspired by my little art quilt.  Machine sewn directly to my page:

I shared my completed project the next night at my Monthly Evening Quilt Bee:

My PQ 15.2 entry has taken up residence on my gallery wire:

There is usually a reason that I participate in these challenges...

... And this time, it was because revisiting a previous idea while using a new set of parameters is SEW much fun!  I have to say that I was surprised at how different my entry was from what I thought I was going to create.  Sometimes quilts have their own plan.

There you have it...

Process, product, and the REAL reason for accepting this Challenge.

Follow THIS LINK to the Season 15 overview.  Check back on the Challenge release days (or sign-up to be notified automatically) and there may be one that YOU just can't resist.

It's a SHORT turnaround time!

Depending on the size and complexity of your project, that doesn't HAVE to be insurmountable.  With a little creativity and a few evenings, you really CAN do this!  My project was begun shortly after the prompt was announce and was finished in record time. I can't believe it was done with 3 full days to spare!  My post SHOULD ready for release with 3 days until the deadline, but that's not what happened.  I didn't complete it and link up until Sunday morning.  With only a 1 hour to spare.  (I do have a thing about releasing my post on Sunday, but it just wasn't ready to join any earlier this time around.)

Until next time...

Challenge accepted!!!

Remember:  If I can do this, YOU can do it, too!

(Plus, there's a spot to post your completed Project QUILTING inspired projects AFTER the deadline for any of the challenges.)

Sharing with Cynthia

for

Oh, Scrap!