And Aurifil put together a beautiful matched thread set just for the Challenge which I also purchased. I love their threads!
When I read that the main Challenge fabric was N4240, the Butterfly prints, I knew I wanted to fussy cut those gorgeous Butterflies!
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| N4240 - Challenge Fabric |
I asked my good friend Karen Miller of Redbird Quilt Company and Karen's Quilts, Crows and Cardinals to quilt it for me! I absolutely love Karen's quilting. I think it really made my little mini shine! I love the echo stitching around the butterflies.
We also had to use the Challenge fabric in more than one location.
(and look at Karen's gorgeous quilted feathers!)
I loved using the prints to fussy cut for the Patchwork of the Crosses blocks! So fun!
Since the prints were rather busy when combined, I wanted to keep the design simple and really focus on the main print. I love butterflies and pink and green is one of my favorite color combinations. I used all Hoffman Challenge fabrics (except for one piece I picked up by accident.)
"A Wing and A Prayer" was such a joy to design and create. It combined my love of Butterflies with my love of English Paper Piecing and fussy cutting!
The 2016 Hoffman Challenge was the first time I have ever entered ANY competition and although "A Wing and A Prayer" did not receive any ribbons, it was chosen to travel with the 2016 Hoffman Trunk Show! So exciting!
I had some Crystalia scraps leftover and wanted to make a table runner for my own personal use.
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I have always wanted a Crazy Quilted Table runner that I could actually use and throw in the wash without worrying about damaging the decorative stitches. I used Aurifil 12, 28 and 40 wt threads and some of the decorative stitches on my sewing machine to create "Crazy for Butterflies". I experimented with a little thread painting on the butterflies. I also added a heat resistant fabric on the inside to help protect my tabletop.
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I was super excited to learn that the deadline for the challenge had been extended so I sent "Crazy for Butterflies" along with "A Wing and A Prayer" into the Challenge.
"Crazy for Butterflies" did not win any ribbons either but it was selected to travel with the 2016 Hoffman Trunk Show !
I learned so much from the Challenge about myself and some new to me quilting techniques!
It is really hard as a quilter/artist/designer to put your work out there to be judged, but I am really glad I did. I do wish that I had taken more photographs to share before mailing my two pieces into the Challenge. Both pieces are backed with the main Butterfly print N4240 in Opal. ( This was during the same time that I found out about my hubby being sick so I wasn't completely focused on my quilting. )
I do absolutely adore Karen's quilting on "A Wing and A Prayer". Thank you so very much Karen for all of your hard work!
You can see all the winners and honorees here: Hoffman Winners 2016
It will be September 2017 before they come back home to me!
If you are interested in having one or more of the 2016 Hoffman Challenge Trunk Shows come to your Guild or shop you can find all the information for the Exhibits here: Hoffman Challenge Travel Exhibits.
Also I want to say THANK YOU for all the good wishes and prayers for my husband and I. They had to reschedule his surgery for later this month as he was not able to go thru the surgery last month. Hopefully he will be strong enough this time around. I really appreciate all the prayers, emails and cards. I know I haven't been around blogland or facebook very much lately. I have been working hard getting things ready around the farm for when the hubby isn't able to be on the farm. And I have been working hard to get ahead in my ETSY shop and with my I Love Lucy Boston International Bee obligations. I do really miss having time to spend with all of you.
Thank you so much for stopping by dear friends! Welcome to all my new friends and followers.
Happy stitching!
xo jan
