This year I volunteered to hang the challenge quilts for the Richmond Quilting Guild at the Quilt Festival in Hampton VA. I received the last quilt at the last minute and I’m so glad the quilter was able to complete her project.

This years work title was “Passport to Quilting”. We were inspired to make quilts that reminded us of our travels.

I’ve been blessed that my husband loves to plan trips for us and have a treasure trove of memories to draw from. However, my artistic abilities are somewhat limited. That being said, I leaned into a couple of commercial patterns and books.

My first piece was Seattle. We visited there in the autumn of 2018 after the passing of my mother. Initially the trip was planned as a post trip to seeing Mama Lou.

Seattle is a hip young city with lots of independent restaurants, a vibrant art scene and so much to see. We especially enjoyed the Chihuly Museum and the Space Needle, and were delighted by our harbor ride. I would highly suggest getting a city pass if you ever get the opportunity to visit.

The pattern I used for my submission was U.S. Skylines by Shannon Brinkley. Visit her website https://shannon-brinkley.com to view her gallery and check out her patterns both paper and pdf.

This was a new technique for me as I seldom (almost never) do applique. To actually piece that applique, was a stretch. I loved the trip and I wanted a keepsake, and I wanted to participate in the Challenge. I had plenty of fabric to work with, so why not try. Let’s give it a go!

My palette was inspired by this photo of my beloved in front of the Museum of Pop Culture.

The directions were clearly written and easy to follow. Take your time, read and re-read and don’t fret.

I found the perfect background and appied the skyline to it and zig zagged with monofiliment. The monofiliment I used was from Aurifil. I was amazed at how easy the monofiliment worked in my machine. I’ve used this type of product decades ago and remember it was not a pleasant experience so there have been some wonderful improvements over the years.

And here it is at the show. I was pretty excited to see it up there.

If you belong to a guild that offers an opportunity to participate in a challenge for any quilt show, I would highly recommend the experience. It’s fun to see your work hanging with the work of your friends and quilt buddies. It is great to see how you have evolved as a quilter, the lessons learned and the changes you’ve gone through.

I’m looking forward to the next challenge!

Until next time…Piece!