Unveiling the "Painted Canvas (AKA 'Name That Challenge') Challenge"

The Fiberexplorations group met earlier this month and everyone brought their quilts for the Painted Canvas Challenge.  Back in February, we got together and painted a large piece of canvas (cotton duck), which was later cut into a grid (4 across and 3 down). That's 12 sections, one for each member.

The challenge was for each of us to create a quilt, 18" x 24", that used at least 48 square inches of the painted canvas. Later, we'll temporarily stitch these 12 smaller quilts into one large 72" x 72" piece that can be entered into shows as a "group" quilt.

For the unveiling, we arranged our individual quilts on the floor, according to the original grid.  (For example, I had the piece of painted canvas from position #9 on the grid, so my quilt was placed in that position on the floor.)  One person missed the meeting, hence the "hole" in position #4.

The Painted Canvas Challenge

I'm always amazed at the wide range of design styles and the individual ways a challenge is interpreted, and this one was no exception!   In some of the quilts, the painted canvas pieces blend so well into the quilt's design that it requires closer inspection to find them.  We wondered if a viewer could figure out what the challenge was (or find the common theme) if we didn't provide that info.  With that in mind, I suggested that we rename this the "Name That Challenge" Challenge quilt.

Standing above these quilts in the fading light, I tried to photograph them, but wasn't very successful.  This shot of Chris' and Maureen's quilts was the only salvageable one:

On left: Chris's piece.  One right:  Maureen's piece.

Look for the "Name That Challenge" Challenge Quilt at this summer's Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show on Sat., July 13.

Blog contest deadline extended; more on Fabric Postcards!

FYI:  The contest announced here on Nov. 29  has been extended until tomorrow (Thurs., Dec. 8) at midnight.  The prize is one of my fabric postcards!  Follow this link to enter.
The first fabric postcard I ever made, and still one of my favorites, this reindeer (a Laurel Burch fabric) was simply freemotion quilted with satin-stitched edges:

Joanna Price's holiday reindeer, 2005.

Blogger is now cooperating, so I can add more info to my previous post about fabric postcards.  Shown below are the 4 layers:  the top (or "base fabric"), cotton batting, Timtex, and the back (several examples shown, stamped with "Postcard").

The 4 layers of a fabric postcard.

Besides the examples above, here are the backs of three different fabric postcards (clockwise, the handwritten example is mine, followed by postcards made by Lisa Encabo and Chris Deibel):

The backs of 3 finished fabric postcards. Always sign and date them!

 Next, the postcards I've received from past holiday exchanges within Fiberexplorations:

Hand-appliqued, hand-beaded by Chris Deibel, 2009.

Always one for a Hawaiian theme, this was from Lisa Encabo in 2010.

Time to start stitching some more!

New Fiberexplorations Challenge

  A R C H I T E C T U R E    C H A L L E N G E

Decorative element on Ladd and Bush Bank building

Our group's latest challenge is something different.  (No, that's not the name or the subject.)  I've been referring to it as the Architecture Challenge.  Proposed by our member Chris, it's based on the ornately-decorative architecture of Salem's Ladd & Bush Bank, a downtown landmark.  Seemingly just for our purpose, the building recently received a new paint job!

A new layer of paint added to many others

Once I started examining the building's architectural details, I was surprised at all I found.  I've driven by this building, walked past it, and have been inside it numerous times, but never really LOOKED or SAW.  (There's a lesson in this that I probably don't need to spell out.)

A nice reflection

Curves, arches, and straight lines

Some architectural terms (such as dentil molding) came back to me, courtesy of a long-ago job with the Del. Dept. of Architecture and Historic Preservation:

Dentil molding at top; detail of arch

As I glimpsed this vignette through a window, I wondered . . . do you have to beat the banker at a game of chess before qualifying for a loan???

Chess set on banker's desk

Lots of possibilities, and that was a pleasant surprise!  My design will be something abstract, probably based on an architectural detail . . . maybe manipulated in PhotoShop, or maybe still identifiable by the viewer.  I'd better record these ideas before they float away!   I can't wait to hear what everyone else has come up with at our meeting next Mon.  The deadline for this challenge is our Nov. 14th meeting.