PQ17.4 - Of Another Era

Of Another Era

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 6 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.  I wasn't sure if I would be dragging along my friend LeeAnna @ Not Afraid of Color for this season, as she has had some other things on her mind recently, but she decided she might be up for the challenge after all.  Would YOU like to join me in this creative journey, too?  Jump in at any time.

BEWARE:  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 17.4 can be found at THIS LINK:

Step One...

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

PQ 17.4 OF ANOTHER ERA

Taylor Swift got us all thinking about the "eras" of a life - the cycles of personality, style, and influence that help define a period of time. This week I'd like you to explore a different era, either through color and fabric choices or by style. Will you make a Civil War era piece? Embrace the hippie revolution? Or lean into the wonder of a child's dinosaur era?

Step Two... Hope.

Why?  Because I'm off to a great start.  NOT!!  I was so engrossed in my library book that I didn't remember to check for this week's prompt until 4+ hours after its release.  I'm hoping that inspiration will strike and I will come up with an idea soon.

Step Three... Think.

What era would I like to revisit?  Do I have any time-specific fabric to help me with this prompt?  I know I have some reproduction fabrics, some 30's fabric, and possibly something with a 60's or 70's vibe.  It's time for a trip up to the studio to see what I can unearth.

Step Four...

Review the rules:

Rule One: Explore a different era

Projects need to be created during the week of the challenge (started on or after February 15, finished by February 22).

Your project does not need to be a traditional quilt, but must meet at least one of these three 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 Kim's PQ17.4 by Sunday, February 22 at noon CST.

TWO DAYS LATER...

Step Five... Gather Supplies:

I started with another nod to the February Color of the Month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge by looking for scraps in this GREEN Quilted Scrap Basket:

The tutorial for making a basket of your own can be found HERE on the blog.

Step Six... Rethink that plan!!!

After coming up empty handed, I searched several other scrap categories and found the following selections:

What's the plan, Joyful???

 

That's a really good question.  Once I determined the best fabric options, I worked out a design on Wednesday during Get Messy's Midweek Meetup.  It doesn't look like much yet:

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.)

Step Seven... PLAY:
Finally, the cutting...

And a bit of sewing began, along with a fabric substitution:

On Thursday afternoon, with less than 3 days remaining, things still plodded along...

The remaining block were assembled:

That's when things went a bit haywire...

The block I stitched didn't match the layout I had in mind:

So a date with Jack the (seam) Ripper was required:

You can be sure that I double checked before attaching the two halves this time around:

Next came the search for an appropriately sized scrap of batting and here is the backing...

Friday found me taking on the task of thread selection:

Late Saturday afternoon, I got busy with the minimal quilting...

In WHITE thread, as was traditionally done.  This is what the back of the quilt looks like:

Sometime after dinner, I had to "phone a friend" when it came time for binding selection. Thanks for the design consult, Britt! These were the options in question:

When the verdict came in, it was too late for stitching so that happened on Sunday morning at my Weekly Morning Art Zoom:

Here is my completed entry for the PQ17.4 challenge:

Along with a closer look:

 

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

... And this time, it was because I have always wanted to make a 1930's reproduction quilt, but hadn't accomplished it prior to the release of this challenge prompt.  Thank you ProjectQUILTING, for providing the inspiration needed to finally make it happen!!

There you have it...

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

Follow THIS LINK to the Season 17 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 once again a long haul this week, but was finished with just less than 3 hours until the deadline.  This post was completed with 2 hours to spare.  With editing time, I made the Link Up with little more than an hour to spare.

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.)