ProjectQUILTING - Season 16.4 - Birthstone

BIRTHSTONE

Welcome to The Joyful Quilter!!  And... Welcome to the wonderful world of Project QUILTING hosted by Kim Lapacek @ Persimon Dreams!!  This is my 6th year of participation in the Challenge.  Trish Frankland @ QuiltChicken is the creator of the crazy challenges that participants will face during the next 5 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 16.4 can be found at THIS LINK:

Step One...

Start wondering how I might pair last month's PINK, which happens to be the color of my birthstone, with this month's BLUE for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I like to pair the two when at all possible.

Step Two...

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

PQ 16.4 birthstone

You’ve probably heard us discuss how much I love Pantone,  and I look forward annually to their January announcement of the color of the year. This year, however, they have underwhelmed me with Mocha Mousse. And I usually build one of our challenges around the color of the year – but I’m not asking you to make brown projects. I can’t get behind it.

So I started wondering about ideas for other color challenges. I wanted to mix it up – to make it fun and personal. So this week I’m asking you to look up the gemstone for your birth month, and then use that color in this week’s project. What’s more personal than your birthday?

Here’s some gem info to find your birthstone: https://www.gemsociety.org/article/birthstone-chart/

She went on to say the following:

 

... Your project this week doesn’t have to be about the gemstone or even about your birthday. But you do need to use your birthstone’s color prominently in your completed quilt.

Step Three...

Consider the possibilities by thinking about possible block choices.

What did you come up with, Joyful???

Well, I think I've decided on a plan!  I'm going to zero in on two-color blocks in order to narrow the field.

Step Four...

Head to the studio to gather supplies.  As I mentioned, February's Color of the month is BLUE so that basket got pulled:

As I mentioned, that doesn't allow for my birthstone, so I grabbed the PINK basket, as well for my October birthday.  Depending on  which chart you check, it's either Opal or Rose Zircon to see what shades appealed to me:

Tutorial for these baskets can be found HERE.

Step Five...

Review the rules:

Rule one: use the color of your birthstone as a guide for your project.

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 February 16th, 2025, and linked up by noon Central Time February 23rd, 2025.

Each piece must stand alone as DONE to count.

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.

Incomplete or unfinished does not qualify. Every challenge piece must be a FINISHED project seen through from INCEPTION to COMPLETION during the challenge timeline.

Link up at the bottom of THIS PAGE by Sunday, February 23rd at noon CST (here’s a link to time zone converter to calculate for Central Standard Time: www.thetimezoneconverter.com)

Step Six... PLAY!!!

I began by sorting through the scraps in my baskets hoping to come up with a pleasing selection of prints for the design I have in mind.

Step Seven... Get to work!!!

With just less than 7 full days until the deadline, one of the floral fabrics called to me and I selected a coordinating piece from my scrap stash...

Once those were cut, I chose my birthstone pinks...

And cut the required number of those, as 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.)

Then is was Tuesday, with 5 days before the deadline, when I began sewing units:

Repeat that unit 100 times over...

Before doing a test layout:

Wednesday brought me one day closer to the due date...

Stitching commenced and soon enough, this quilt top appeared:

On Friday, the task of the day was choosing the backing, batting, and binding scraps, I selected two scrap chunks and constructed a backing and dug for just the right piece of leftover batting, but no photo was taken for sharing.

With 2 days until the deadline...

The same thing happened with the layered and ready for quilting entry.  :o((

I didn't manage to get a photo until...

Saturday, AFTER the piece was already quilted:

With little more than 24 hours before the deadline, my entry is...

Quilted and ready for binding:

Finally, my project was done late on Saturday afternoon...

I'm SEW pleased to present my completed entry for PQ 16.4, even though there wasn't enough light for a good photo, here it is:

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

... And this time, it was because I wanted to test out a design for a challenge coming later in the year.  ProjectQUILTING gave me a prompt that worked well for the purpose!  

There you have it...

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

Follow THIS LINK to the Season 16 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 the same day the prompt was announced and was finished with little more that 18 hours to spare!  My post was ready for release shortly thereafter, but wasn't released until Sunday, as is my habit.  It's scheduled release time is Sunday morning and then I join Kim's Link Party.

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.)