V is for Victory

V is for Victory
49" x 61"

This lovely bright and fun quilt was a challenge from the Austin Modern Quilt Guild.  The challenge was to get a surprise "funky" fabric and make something cool from it.  To compete for a small motivational prize, the quilt has to be completed, which includes quilting, the binding, and the Austin MQG label on the back.  We were also supposed to keep our project a secret, presumably to make the voting fair.  So, our funky fabric arrived in a small brown paper sack, with a secret number, instructions and the little label.

Well, the cat is out of the bag for me.  I am not really motivated by winning a prize.  I like the challenge.  I like making quilts.  And I like that this quilt will be given to a child.  I also think that by sharing our progress along the way, we have an opportunity to inspire others.  Why keep that a secret? ...even for a few months?

So I started with this fabric:

small scale multicolored floral - the challenge fabric cut into 2" squares

It is not particulary funky or ugly, but it isn't anything I would ever buy.  I do like florals, but more so of the Marimekko variety:

tote I made from Marimekko fabric, YES, floral, large scale, very graphic....LOVE!

The challenge fabric has a lot of colors in it, but the main three were red, blue, and yellow.  That is not my normal palette, and as I struggled with what to do with this, I tried several things.
1.  I tried pairing it with reds, yellows, and blues.
2.  I thought if I cut it small enough, like the 2" squares above, I could blend it in with other things.

Ultimately, I decided that the 2" squares were making unnecessary work for myself.  I wanted to work bigger and make a bigger quilt than the required minimum.  So, I went with stripes.  I learned that putting pretty and bold fabrics next to the challenge fabric had the unexpected result of making the challenge fabric a neutral!  Who would of thought?  I think it works because the scale of the floral is so small.  It is the only fabric that I used multiple times in the quilt (about 6 times), you don't see IT when you look at the quilt.  You see mostly the bright bigger scale fabrics.

I also listened to my heart and tossed out the fabrics I paired with this that were causing me distress.  I had some lovely blues and purples that honestly just didn't work regardless of the "thinking" that thought they "should". Just let it go.  I am delighted with the results.  I learned a lot with this project.

The back:

I wanted a back that would go with the quilting lines that I intended to put on the front, and so I opted for giant half square triangles.  I think these are about 17" blocks.  And the fabrics are fun!  I used at least one Malka Dubrawsky (my batik teacher from long ago), a few from my only fabric line (Urban Landscapes) with Clothworks, and a bunch of new fabrics I got from STOF when I made a quilt for them, and a few other prints and batiks that I had in my stash.  A great combination! And functionally, this lovely charity quilt is now two sided!
Here are a few shots of the two sided quilted pillows I made a few months ago from the same STOF fabrics (the circles, and the stripes).  They go great with my green IKEA sofa and pink Owl IKEA pillow!