Another great way to be more creative in your studio is to participate in a challenge! Being a regional rep for the Canadian Quiter’s Association , I agreed to participate in the annual Trend-Tex Challenge this year. That’s when I realized that a challenge can up your quilting skills!
Now this is very interesting . The Trend-Tex Challenge is an annual event at Quilt Canada. Participants purchase a kit of 5 fat quarters of Trend-Tex fabrics and make a wall size quilt. All finished quilts are displayed at Quilt Canada and are sold by silent auction to raise funds for CQA/ACC programs and projects.
I got the beautiful fabrics with all the rules in the fall of 2017. At first I wanted to toss it away but I realized that this was a great opportunity to try something completely new to me. Of course I felt the pressure. Who wouldn’t? But I decided to simply enjoy this challenge and create something new.
Being in my improv mood, I decided to go with no rulers!
The theme was “Celebration” which made me think of bubbles in champagne, twirling while dancing and swirls thrown in the air. I stacked the fabrics and made some curved cuts and sewed them back together. I wanted to create swirls.
I wasn’t quite satisfied with the look so I stacked them once more and went for another set of cuts. And I loved the way it looked.
My only regret is quilting the project before I received my PFAFF creative icon. But I still enjoyed quilting bubbles and swirls.
I promise to participate once more for the 2019 Challenge! And I will be very fortunate this year as Quilt Canada is close to home in Ottawa!