Friday Finish: Aviatrix Medallion

Well, here it is - the first finish of 2017! I was hugely motivated to wrap this project up because my church is considering doing an exhibit of my quilts and I had to present some of them to the Visual Arts Committee earlier this week for their review.

My church has a decent-sized exhibit space and puts on revolving exhibits from top-notch local artists. Even though I'm a member of the Visual Arts Committee and know it's a friendly accepting crowd, it's intimidating for me to be lumped in with such talented creators, and it was a little nerve-wracking for me to show them what I do. It requires a certain vulnerability to lay your creative self at the feet of others and ask for their approval, but it sure is fun when you get it!

I loved hearing the ooohs and ahhhs when I pulled this beauty out of my basket. This is such a cool quilt - the colors, the patterns, the way it all fits together so precisely. It's also really big, so it makes quite the impact.

I used an Amy Butler print for the background, just for something fun and different from the solids on the front. The binding is a darker grey cotton, and I finished stitching it down by hand. The quilting is a meandering squares pattern, and it's fairly dense since I've heard that the grey Essex Linen background material does better if it's firmly anchored with quilting.

The committee has given the go-ahead to proceed with an exhibit, but it won't be until 2018-2019 sometime. I'm relieved that I have plenty of time to make more quilts and hone my skills. Maybe by then I'll start considering myself an artist. 😉