Tomorrow night is the big reveal -- the meeting where we share the quilts we've made for the Architecture Challenge.  A few members have shared their quilts-in-progress, but the majority have not, so most of the work will be a surprise.  It's always a thrill to see how each individual interprets the same subject, in this case, the architecture of downtown Salem's Ladd & Bush Bank building.
After struggling for weeks to find a way to incorporate the architectural image I created from a hand-carved stamp, I finally set it aside.  I couldn't find a way to make it work (it was really too large for this project), so I stopped worrying about it and started over.  I looked through my own surface-designed fabrics, my five design journals, and the work I did in Rosalie Dace's workshop.

My five design journals

LAYERS!   TEXTURE!   HOW TO CREATE INTEREST?

I already had many pieces from my surface design experiments.  Surprisingly, many of them were in shades of purple.  Why?  I took an online fabric-painting class through Quilt University about five years ago.  We used transparent Setacolor  paints (diluted 50/50 with water).  I laid the piece below on a large plastic gridded surface -- it was just a handy place to hang the fabric (in the sun) to dry.  Then I received one of those serendipitous surprises -- the grid, even from underneath, had been sun-printed onto my painted fabric, and I now had about 2 yards of it!

Sun-printed purple fabric

I wonder if anyone else discovered this new and extremely appropriate fabric from Moda (below)?  It was an exciting find, and I painted some pieces with a light wash of purple:

Architecture fabric!!!! (mine tinted purple)

The only goal for this weekend is to make this challenge quilt.  I really don't like waiting til the last minute, but it seems that deadline pressure motivates me.  But before I get back to work, here are a few shots of the chosen elements for this piece.  To see all of the finished quilts, check back on Tuesday.  

TEXTURE: Two fabrics, densely stitched.

Detail: sun-printed, screenprinted fabric.

The elements, ready to be assembled and stitched.

And big news:  Beginning the first of the new year, these quilts will be exhibited in the building that was the inspiration for this challenge -- the Ladd & Bush branch of US Bank!  They liked our theme and want to work with us to share it with the community.  Thanks to member Deb Sorem for making that happen!