Madly Quilting

Time to come up from air:  I am finished!

Okay, so I'm not exactly finished.  I still need to sew on the labels and sleeve, but they are pinned in place, waiting for me to pick them up and stitch them on. 

What have I been working on?  It's a triple challenge.  First, it's my Best of the Valley Challenge.  Second, it's my Calico Mermaid Iris Challenge.  And third, it's my first installment of our Sew Eclectic Design Board Challenge.  whew!

I began with the Iris Challenge.  That was easy.  I LOVE bearded iris.  Calico Mermaid has issued an iris challenge for the past few years.  I entered last year, and absolutely loved my quilt.  I'm hooked.  As long as they issue the challenge, I'll try to answer the call.

For my Best of the Valley Challenge, I've gone back and forth.  My original "bests" were all much too complicated for the little bit of time I had to spend on the challenge.  When we moved to Tulare, in 1985, I met my first bearded iris.  I was smitten.  Well, you probably know that.  You've seen  a few of my iris photos, haven't you?  The ironic thing is that 10 years in, it dawned on me that two rows of flowers when we first moved into my parents' home (they've been there 49 years) were iris beds.  One was blue, the other yellow.  They never got any attention or water, and did not survive the neglect.  I know.  I didn't think it was possible either, but they died.

This year for Sew Eclectic, we're each working off the same design board at the same time.  The first assignment is my board.  There was a photo on it that has had me excited for a while.  It inspired the background.

Talk, talk, talk.

I started with the vertical green stripes, then moved to this photo:

Sometimes, oft times, iris remind me of velvet.

"Hey, Beautiful!"

Suzanne Kistler 2014

And with that, I should go back, and stitch on those labels.

Hope you enjoyed the show!