8 1/2 X 11

Sheila Rae chose the "prompt" for this challenge. Size was the only constraint. The piece was to be 8.5 by 11 inches - more or less :).

Joan- I had several pieces I marbled a while back and have been waiting for the right project to use them. I chose this small piece and added a few pieces of red silk for interest and then spent the day stitching. It was so relaxing to just focus on stitching with some interesting threads and letting the marbled pattern guide me.

Melanie - Like Joan, I wanted to use some of the fabric I had previously created. I chose a small piece of dyed fabric and "thread sketched" tulips in a glass jar. I then white washed the background with dilute white fabric paint to make the flowers and vase stand out a bit more. Finally, I added some thread work to enhance the colors in the tulips.

Sheila Rae - For this challenge, I started with this quote: "Time is the fire we all burn in. Some quickly, some slowly, some unevenly and some completely."  I love the effect of burned fabric  I asked a smoker to burn some holes in the muslin with his cigarette and I used his lighter to burn the edges. The background is a piece of "found" fabric that I think was someone's surface design experiment that they thought unsuccessful. The buttons represent the moon rising. I placed black organza over the top of the entire piece to enhance the overall smokey look.

Cathey - I was not able to do the specific challenge this month but I did finish my Tsunami piece. It is fabric collage based on techniques taught by Pam Mostek. It is quite a large piece and has great visual impact. The yellow background was my 4th attempt! I actually had 3 other colors sewn on and removed before deciding on the yellow. I used a wide variety of commercial fabrics from cotton, silk and organza as well as pieces I marbled and ice dyed. It also has some Angelina fiber, tyvek and bubbled poly. Really, a bit of everything! This piece along with 2 of my other pieces, has been accepted into the Quilters Gathering show for this November.

Marcia - I finally finished my piece from the last challenge. That challenge was "Inspired by nature" and my piece is a representation of a rare plant, "columnea arguta." 

For this month, I used lots of silk along with some of my hand dyed fabric and a variety of beads to make a landscape inspired piece. The gold strip represents the horizon. 

Hope - I was intrigued by the "rusting" Joan has been doing and wanted to give it a try. I found a rusty bird piece and used that. The impression turned out great and very true to the object. The dots inside the bird are all part of the rusting process - a great effect. I used quilting to enhance the design and found a perfect fabric for the border.