the last of the challenge quilts

The quilt to the left #4 was the first design I had in mind-I have this pattern and could not locate it . Now I am glad it did not turn up until after the guild show! I voted for it as one of the choices given - I think it's really well done.
At last the end of the challenge quilts: I had a comment which I answered directly about the rules of this challenge-they were; the diamond shape must be used as an integral part of your design.
the size was-minimum perimeter of 48 inches to a maximum perimeter of 144 inches. A recognizable amount of the challenge fabric must be used and must play an integral part of the design (not just as a border). The fabric may not be altered by over-dying, using the reverse side, marking, or the like. The quilt must have a quilt sleeve on the back. An identification label must be securely fastened to the bottom back corner of the quilt. Include a brief explanation of how your quilt fits the theme of "Diamonds are Forever".
So, based on those rules-you voted on several different aspects-like best use of the challenge fabric, and so on. You will note in the two taken together-one is similar to the one I made-larger and of course a different colorway ...but those diamonds are not stringed pieced-so I remained the only string pieced entry. They are all unique interpretations of the fabric and theme - all quite creative.

Some of the quilts the challenge fabric is not as noticable-in an earlier post(see Feb 15th post) I showed it along with my selection of fabrics for my project. It's the black with gold diamond looking print on it.

I have been stitching away on the jigsaw puzzle blocks-finally figured out the last two rows of fabric colors I wanted to use and now it's just pedal to the metal time. I also did errands and cooked a huge batch of lentil/vegatable soup using chicken stock made by my sweetie-so this also has a lot of chicken in it- the taste test results: quite yummy! The rain today meant no gardening-can't say I was sorry to have a relaxed inside oriented day-other than the errand running, however, one of the errands was visiting Powells
and I managed to enjoy some reading and only bought one book. I plan on sewing into the night a bit and pick it up some more tomorrow. I have a machine class for a few hours in the morning that should be interesting-I managed to lose the manual to this machine and have ordered another one. I hope they cover some of the stuff they skipped in the first class. They tend to focus on the Bernina new owners and being a Janome new owner I get sort of lost in the class. Not that I haven't learned a few new things about the Bernina I have owned for a few years now! It's just not helpful for the machine I brought to class to learn about.

a new challenge

M asked me which quilts I have planned for this year-and I said at least five to ten are on my list to either finish or create during this year. We took yesterday off and had a lovely Valentine's Day together. At some point I found myself in my quilting area reading my quilt guild's challenge rules and studying the fabric that makes it the challenge. Oh my. There were more rules than I thought...and the deadline was not as far off as it used to be! Without giving away my design totally, I am sharing the fabrics I pulled to "go with" the challenge fabric and the start of the blocks I came up with. [by the way, all fabric is pulled from stash...and this also fits Judy's challenge to cut into special fabric you have been saving..most of this fabric I bought years ago for a Hoffman challenge quilt I wanted to do] The show is in April so a photo of the completed wall hanging will be posted on that day.
Yes, it is as shiny gold as it looks...it will be a small wall hanging and probably a gift for someone whom I have been racking my brains to come up with something unique. I have shiny gold quilting thread already and know how I want to quilt it. I have two blocks made. I did some cutting tonight and refolded all the fabric to make this pretty pile to photograph. Because the quilt for this show has been done long ago...I was very casual about starting this challenge-now I have put it on the top of my work on it now list! I am so happy that this is a small project and should go together quickly. Next post I will have another charity quilt by Eloise to share...it is quite stunning...