Life @ RuffHaven: The duck the owl and the turtle

My quilting style is eclectic to say the least. I started out as cute and traditional back in the early 80's when my children were young. Kids like bright colors and so that's what I was drawn to. During the 90's to 2005 I was wrapped up in scrapbooking so my sewing machine gathered dust. Lots and lots of dust. I didn't drag that machine out til about 2005 when mixed media took over in the studio and I needed that sewing machine to stitch on my card and scrapbook layouts.   So there I was, full circle, back in love with my sewing machine again.
   This time around, I was drawn to more earthy colors and loved working with batiks. Having used up my stash from the 80's I needed to gather more fabric. I found a great quilt shop, Patches in Mt Airy MD.
I was like a kid in a candy shop there. I couldn't believe the wonderful fabrics. Quilting has come a long way since my days of calico in the 80's. With my arms full of new 1 yard cuts and fat quarters I made my way to the counter. The staff was super friendly and the owner made me feel like I had been shopping there for years. They welcomed me with open arms and I've felt like part of the family ever since.
   On my third or fourth trip to Patches they announced that they were hosting a challenge for Project Linus. I am always up for a challenge so I joined. It would be the first of many, and I didn't realize at the time how much fun it would be.

   The challenge was to create a quilt square for a quilt that would then be donated to Project Linus.
The rules were simple: Use the piece of fabric chosen by the store and at least two other fabrics purchased there to complete the square.
Ok. That sounds easy enough.

Then I was given the fabric

ugh.....

Talk about a step back through time. I asked if it was leftover from the 60s or 70s. Nope. It was current and quite popular. Hhhmmmmmmmmmm..... ok. So this was where the challenge part came in.
How do I work with such an ugly piece of fabric?

I took it home and stared at it for a few days.

Then it hit me. It's for Project Linus. It's for a child. And I didn't have to like it. I sat down and drew some simple animals shapes. It would be easy to make an applique for the square. With that idea in mind I set to work.

At this point I was starting to like this fabric. I used a fusible interfacing to hold the pieces in place and then a blanket stitch to applique it to the background.

The next step was to cut 2 and a half inch squares to make a border.

I chose square eyes to mimic the squares in the, not so ugly now fabric.

After re-arranging the squares to get the best possible balance. I stitched them together and added them to the background.

A little machine embroidery for feathers on his head and he was finished.

cute? no?

This block took me by surprise. I had developed a very artsy fartsy style while playing with mixd media paper and fabric art. Most of my pieces were earthy in nature and not at all cute.

But this was my challenge block, inspired by the fabric and the early 80's and the child who would one day own the quilt it would be a part of. It was ready to go to Patches where it would hang on display and hopefully earn enough votes from other participants to win. I really didn't care to win anything but, it would be nice to have the other customers like my square.

So where's the Owl and the Turtle? You ask

When I got home I realized I had more fabric left. So as a personal challenge I decided to make another square. This time an Owl.