Before Christmas, the shop where I work decided to do a quilt challenge. The owner chose this Amy Butler fabric which was not selling very well.
All of the women who work there, made tens 6 1/2 inch blocks using this fabric. Then we traded with each other so each of us had a block made by everyone else. Our challenge was to make something out of all of the blocks and have it finished by April 1. Since I don't like the fabric at all, this was a big challenge for me. My first thought was to make a giant scrap quilt and hide the blocks in it. But I didn't have enough time to make something complicated since I have two graduation quilts to make by May. So I decided to put these blocks on the back of a quilt I had already made.
The challenge for me was to make a back that would be attractive to enough to hang in the shop and to have it relate in size and color to one of my finish tops. I chose this batik fish quilt for the top. This is the quilt that convinced me I do not like hand applique. All of the fish and bubbles were sewn on by hand. The quilt is made mostly from scraps given to me by my friend Holly, and I think I finished it about 9 years ago. This quilt is 62"x50".
The back with the challenge blocks was inspired by a Swirly Girls pattern, Viola.
The blank block will be filled in after it is quilted with Cathy's dimensional pinwheel block.
I will applique it into the space after it is longarmed.
Stash Report:
Used this week: 5.5 yards (fish quilt top and back)
Used year to date: 23.625 yards
Added this week: 4.5 yards (batiks to finish quilt)
Added year to date: 36.25 yards
Net Added: 12.625 yards