A Force of Nature

Last year I read that Janine at Rainbow Hare and Catherine at Knotted Cotton were setting up a new Art Quilt Group, the Endeavourers, and inviting their fellow bloggers to join them. Needless to say I couldn't resist the opportunity, so duly signed up and then worried about what I had let myself in for!

In November we were given the first theme for the group, Nature, with a deadline of February 1st. Well the deadline is well and truly here so I can reveal my "Force of Nature" quilt for the first time.

I live right on the seafront on the West Coast of Scotland, so I regularly witness the power and majesty of nature in its watery and windy pomp. On a trip to the Lake District last Easter, however, I was really taken with the capacity for Nature to overcome man made obstacles that are put in its way, such as the moss covered dry stone wall in the photo below.

I decided to focus on representing the power of Nature and its ability to reclaim spaces that Mankind has abandoned in my quilt for the group.

To find out more about the process and thinking behind my quilt head on over to the Endeavourers Blog, and check out how the rest of the group chose to represent the theme. It is fascinating to see the many different ways in which the same theme has been interpreted. 

At last a BOM finish!

I joined my very first BOM when Jenni at In Color Order launched her HST Block of the Month Quilt a Long in January 2012, and it has taken me almost exactly two years to put the whole quilt together.

I am delighted, however, to finally be able to post that this quilt is finished!

It could have been finished a couple of weeks ago but my husband was using it to keep warm whilst staying up all night to watch the Ashes Test Cricket on TV. I had to sneak it away in between Test Matches to work on it, and only just managed to finish the binding last night before the first day of the Final Test Match :) Sadly, the cricket has not been as heartwarming as the quilt, well not if you are an England supporter that is!

I used the maroon/gold spot fabric in the blocks for the binding, which meant that the only fabrics that I actually bought for this quilt was the marbled brown for the sashing and borders. As I have resolved to try and use up more of my stash in 2014, I am hoping that this will prove to be an auspicious start :)

This quilt has been on nearly all of my Quarter FAL lists for 2013, so I am doubly delighted to have finished it in time for inclusion in the Q4 FAL too. I have another two BOM quilts to complete and will be adding them to my list for the first quarter of 2014 in the hope that it will spur me on to get them all done and dusted. 

I have enjoyed making this quilt and have definitely learnt a lot from the BOM, but I think I will be giving BOM's a rest for a while, once the others are finished. I am not really sure that the sampler style of these quilts is me. In 2014, there will be a wedding, a Diamond Wedding Anniversary, a retirement and a New Baby in our family, so there are plenty of opportunities coming up to try out new patterns and quilt styles.

 

Linking up to  Crazy Mom Quilts