Hi everyone!

I made an original design for my entry into the “Modern Quilt Guild 2015 Fabric Challenge with Riley Blake Designs” contest.

The rules for the challenge are:

• Make something fantastic that is quilted.
• Make something you have never done before.
• Challenge yourself to learn something new.
• Use only Riley Blake “the Cottage Garden” fabrics and coordinating Riley Blake basics and solids.

I used the fabric sampler pack that MQG members could sign up for and receive in the mail. I added just 2 fabrics – a Riley Blake shade (granite) and a Riley Blake solid (off-white).

I’m calling my entry “Sisters in Bloom” because the quilt features the Three Sisters mountains with a nod to all the beautiful, blooming flowers that you can see while strolling through the town of Sisters (particularly during the upcoming Outdoor Quilt Show in July!!). There is a fussy cut bird from the fabric perched on one of the flowers. Look on the right-hand side!

The flying geese are a paper-pieced, spontaneous creation that I made up as I went along!

I used red floss for a punch of color in the flowers, on the bird, and in the quilt name. The quilting is all free-motion on my domestic machine. If you look closely, the sun is radiating out from just behind the mountain on the far left-hand side of the quilt. I used a variegated thread in the bottom portion of the quilt to add color and movement to imitate a flowering alpine meadow.

Sisters in Bloom Quilt Entry for the MQG Challenge

Close-up of embroidery

Little bird close-up!

Spontaneous, paper-pieced flying geese!

If you are an MQG member, you can view other entries into this challenge via the online forums. Anyone can view entries in Instagram using the #mqgfabricchallenge hashtag.

I hope you enjoy my entry!

~Jennifer