Saturday, May 7, 2011

A Cinderella Story

Today Rose City Quilters celebrated it's 26th annual Tote & Gloat. Every year we have a quilt challenge for members as well as a block challenge for those who attend. This year I put together the quilt challenge which was a page from a children's ecological (non-fiction) book - we had some books being deleted at work, so I pulled them apart, stamped each page, and put them into envelopes. Members were invited to choose an envelope which was to be their inspiration to making a quilt or something quilt related. We had a new category called Anything Goes so it could be a quilt that was stretched onto canvas, a book, bag - whatever! I think we had 26 entries and boy, did they look lovely (I'll  have the photos on the RCQ blog site in a few days).
My page was about keeping a bird-spotting journal. I decided to have a magpie stitched onto brocade (I thought it did resemble thick sketch pad paper) with some hand stitched notes. After returning from Queenstown all I had to do was the quilting and finishing. Last Sunday it was all ready for blocking, and look I had 4 days to spare before entries closed!
So I blocked and sprayed with water to make sure it was square and flat - BUT oh no! I had forgotten that I used water soluble pen to mark out the words, and the ink ran!
Here you can see the result:
This is a close-up of the detail:

Horrible grey smudges behind my stitching. So last week I tried a mixture of white vinegar, dish-washing liquid and water - well it did get lighter but was still very obvious. Next was a paste of lemon juice and salt, dried and then brushed off. Nope, still not 'clean' enough. By now I have 24 hours left and I'm starting to think of not entering the challenge.
Last, and totally risky thing I could do, was to 'paint' the background. Out with the fabric paints, mixing, mixing and diluting. I used a cotton ball to 'dab' paint in 3 different tones of green.
Here is the final result (passable - just!):

Now, why is this a Cinderella story?
Because I was awarded 1st= in my category!
I was sooo close to throwing in the towel (so to speak). But I always tell people that you NEVER know what the opposition is going to be like and what will appeal to the judge. Take the chance in entering challenges!
I have to admit that I think he is a magnificent Magpie (even if he does still smell faintly of vinegar!)

I also showed my 4 ANZAC quilts from the Remarkable Symposium Challenge. They were all hung together and looked pretty good. I had a lot of people come up to talk to me about them and I have been really touched. Thank you for all the support. Making art quilts is very personal but I am honoured if my work means something or touches a cord, for you.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh Erilyn congratulations! A well deserved award! The green worked out great, it completely camouflaged the bleeding pen and the green makes the magpie pop too. So a happy accident, ending happily ever after.

Ruth said...

The detail is amazing! Well done you so glad you got to go to the ball. Truly your a talented Cinderella.

Lynette (NZ) said...

Was so great to see your quilts in person. And so awesome for your win - congratualations :-)

Erilyn said...

Thanks so much you guys - you rock and make my day!

tizart said...

Congratulations Erilyn.
Now I now what it was you were talking about. Just love the paint work. What would we do without it!!!
Always love to see what you are doing!
Liz

Erilyn said...

Thanks Liz - what you do with your work really helped me think outside the square - 'cause I really wanted to ask for your help with this!