Now that voting and judging has been completed I can share with you all the story of how my challenge piece came together. If you want to look over the rules/guidelines of this particular Project QUILTING challenge her you go: http://kimlapacek.com/2010/07/season-1-challenge-5-stars-over-america.html When I first saw the challenge I immediately knew I wanted to converge some galaxy printed fabric. I already had some in my stash but it wasn’t ‘pattern-y’ enough so I made a quick trip to the local quilt shop – Mill House Quilts. I picked up a few yards of fabric I thought would work and ended up going with the fabric shown in the upper right, a fun, large printed galaxy and the fabric in the lower left – a sparkly fabric that reminds me of twinkling stars (it’s actually a Christmas fabric). Then I went to my stash and picked out two different hand-dyes that I thought would work and went with it. Looking at these four pieces laid out like this I sort of second guessed myself. Then I figured I can always do another one with different fabrics if it didn’t turn out how my mind thought it would. I followed the method clearly shown in the book Ricky Tims’ Convergence Quilts: Mysterious, Magical, Easy, and Fun. The first step was to do due the strips in one direction and then mix them up before sewing them together like shown above. *Side Note* Ricky Tims’ instructions were clear and easy to follow. I stepped outside my square by actually following them! I rarely follow directions and just sort of use them as a general guideline – but this time I actually followed them and I couldn’t be happier with the results. I then flipped the project over and converged my fabrics the other way per the instructions. Here is the main portion converged! At this point I thought I was going to make this into a circle and make it look like a person was looking through a telescope at the night sky. After thinking about it further though I just couldn’t bear to cut off my tiny, tiny squares in the corner – I never sew things that small there was no way it was going to be cut and tossed…now I needed a new plan. So, I did a thin border in black and then did a convergence-like thicker boarder using the fabrics from the interior convergence. I thought this helped create some fun dimension.The next step I took was cutting out different planets and stars from my galaxy fabric and fusing them onto the rest of the quilt. I think this helped create some fantastic movement in the quilt. Above is the first step I took in this embellishment but I didn’t like how it was sort of symmetrical in all four corners…I didn’t want that… So I added a few more planets and stars toward the lower middle portion of the quilt to unbalance things just a touch. My final steps were to do some quilting – which I did in straight line rays and some free motion swirls. I also added some beautiful Angelina Fibers to the lower left corner to create a shooting star or comet look. I honestly could not be happier with how this turned out! Project QUILTING has allowed me to be more creative with my quilts. I have stopped thinking so commercially with what I’m making and it’s just felt fantastic. Also, there are certain things I’ve been wanting to do – log cabins, converge a commercial print – that I just hadn’t gotten to. These challenges are making that happen. Winners for the Public, Judges, and Randomly Drawn Contest will be posted tomorrow and a new challenge goes up at NOON on Sunday, July 18th. Stay tuned!
kimbuktu says
Love the quilt, and your comment that by following the instructions, you were stepping outside your box, Lol.
Pamela says
Very cool quilt! It makes me want to try one myself – but it would have to take just the right fabric – your choices were wonderful. I enjoyed your description of how you decided to do what you did on this one!
The Hillbilly Wife says
I think I am going to get that Ricky Tims book and try this technique. I am like you…because my craft became my business, I lost my creativity. I'm trying to find it again. I LOVE this quilt.
Raige Creations says
The creativity you used is inspiring! I love how you really conveyedd the convergence.
Pam Geisel - For Quilts Sake says
I really like how the outer border uses the same fabric as the convergence but that the pieces don't line up with the convergence pieces…and the quilting really works on this also.
SandyQuilts says
fabulous