Hourglass challenge update

 I started this quilt in a Sherry Lynn Wood workshop back in November. Since it was a two day workshop, I brought home only the beginnings of something. 

See me pondering what that something was? Let's just say I was not impressed. And things didn't look better when I got home. All I could think was that I had the bare bones of something.

In January I challenged the Cotton Quilters' Guild to bring a difficult unfinished project to the next meeting. At that time we would each present the project and tell the group what our challenge was. 

In March we were to bring the project to show. The beauty of the idea was that everyone got to choose her own piece and decide for herself what she would try to accomplish. 

At some point I combined that challenge with the AHIQ hourglass challenge. It really began morphing at that point, and I decided to try a Chinese Coins setting. AHIQ might save me a second time, right?

And this, dear friends is where we are now. So onto the longarm it goes. Hopefully this week.

Two Good Finishes to Close Out the Summer

Here's the two latest finishes originally resulting from AHIQ prompts. One was deemed,  'Use Your Words' and the other was a later 'Coins' challenge. They were both started in the year 2017 and the quilt tops have been completed for quite some time now. 

Make Beautiful Things

As always, these prompts are open ended which is something that I appreciate very much. Having lots of room for creativity is something my brain seems to thrive on. Somehow I tend to merge most of the challenges with yet another one. The first quilt could also qualify for a response to the 'Two-Block' challenge or even 'Playing with Scale'.

Count Your Blessings

This Coins quilt has the 'Use Your Words' thing going on and also perhaps the 'Two-Block' challenge incorporated as well. Ann and Kaja are clever to take simple ideas and open up a whole new way of looking at them. Invariably, I end up with so many ideas that they predictably spill over into several other quilts! Of course I have written lots and lots more about these late summer finishes of mine if you're interested in reading anything extra....

My AHIQ quilts from 2017

Here goes - this is my run through the quilts I made for the AHIQ challenges in 2017.  It's been a fruitful way of working for me that has combined well with a move towards using more recycled fabrics in my work.  

Chinese Coins

Two Blocks

This next quilt wasn't for a challenge, but was the next one I made and was directly influenced by these first two.  This time I played around with hourglass blocks and HSTs.

Last but not least, The Shipping Forecast, made for the Words on Quilts challenge. 

Kaja

My Name is Julie and I am a Maker

I made this quilt - Words to Live By -

during the AHIQ challenge for "words on quilts"

You can read more about it by clicking HERE

and scrolling back through the posts.

I made this quilt - Metamorphosis -

during the AHIQ challenge for coins quilts.

You can read more about this one by

 clicking HERE and scrolling back through the posts.

This is a photo of another AHIQ quilt -

Dumpster Diving 2.0 aka Good Morning Sunshine -

that happened as a result of the "two block quilt" challenge.

This one has been quilted just this week

and its finished reveal post is still pending.

You can click HERE and scroll back through the posts

to learn more about how this one came to be.

This is my current AHIQ project 

for the "Playing With Scale" challenge.

The Spotted Winkel is currently pin basted

and due to be quilted later this week -

if life cooperates.

You can read about its genesis and evolution

by clicking HERE and scrolling back through the posts.

* * *

I am very happy to be part of the AHIQ

and I love my quilts that have grown 

out of the AHIQ challenges.

I'm delighted with this new format

and look forward to seeing what others share here.

Quiltdivajulie