One Thing Leads to Another...

It began a year ago, when I was invited to participate in the California Ice Storm exhibit at the 2011 Road to CA. I thought about my submission for months, then finally sat down and put it together during the month of November. This was my icicle:

I absolutely loved working with the shimmering almost imperceptible color changes, and discovered the importance of adding texture. I was hooked. I spent January making "Ice" for the SAQA traveling exhibit "This is a Quilt." I have yet to hear of its travel schedule, I assume it was accepted.

January was followed by February, and I had diamonds on the brain. Remember these?

They were destined for this:

but along the way, the scraps turned into this:

I don't think I'll ever know why Blogger tips some pictures and not others. It seems to prefer tipping my littlest quiltlets.

Our Art Group, Sew Eclectic, has issued a sort of a challenge this year. The official challenge is to make a quilt (or quilts) illustrating a fun phrase, but I don't have the time to spend on something like that. Time is precious. Instead, my last month's unstated personal challenge was to make the 12" ice quilt that I submitted to "This is a quilt." I have a second little Glacier Ice quilt pieced and hanging on my design wall, because I really want one for myself. I will quilt and embellish it later, when I have time to play.

In the meantime, here came February, and I'd been thinking a lot about passion. And red. And the SAQA online reverse auction coming up later this year. Early submissions, received by March 15, will be considered for their Auction advertising. If you don't submit, you for sure won't be chosen, right?

Bronchitis was the perfect excuse to take a "sick day" and finish my submission. I will take it to guild today, to show it off, but by tomorrow, it will be headed to New Mexico.

For a brief moment I thought it would not qualify. They're supposed to be 12" square, which it was until I faced it. But upon re-reading the rules, it may be as small as 10" in any direction. whew! I will be making a second version for myself, because I absolutely LOVE this one.

"Passion"
10.75" x 11.25"
Suzanne Kistler, 2011

The quilt is pieced cotton diamonds, embellished with a variety of ribbons and yarns. It has a hand-appliqued velvet heart, and some scattered beading. My detail pictures didn't come out clearly, but the quilting consists of straight lines on two corners and meandering hearts in the center. Two of the hearts have been filled with red seed beads, to add interest. Perhaps when the sun comes up I will be able to get better pictures.

Now that I've had a serious chunk of time to focus on my personal project/goal/sanity, I feel MUCH better and I will go back to what I should be doing: Best of the Valley, first and foremost. I do hope you've marked your calendar!