QUILTsocial Winter 2015-15 Issue | Page 10

good for the gal... Elaine Theriault Carla threw down the gauntlet to Jennifer (one of the QUILTsocial bloggers) and myself. She issued a challenge called, What’s Good for the Gal is Good for the Guy. In short, the challenge consists of making a quilt using the exact same fabric and notions, that reflects each gender. I’ll be using the Husqvarna Viking Designer Ruby Royale and its clever machine embroidery features, while Jennifer will use the Pfaff Creative 4.5. I’m never one to say ‘no’ to a good challenge, so I said I was in! Jennifer got first pick, and chose the Guy, which left me with the Gal. She is 20 and all about vintage, rustic, abandoned houses, studying architecture and is highly creative! Then panic sets in as I realize that I’ll have to be clever and crafty, just like the Gal! We each received identical fabric bundles. There were a couple of bundles of (10 inch squares) of Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements fabric. We also received a bundle of fat eighths and a couple of fat quarters all from the same line of fabric. We got to choose our backing from Northcott Fabrics – I chose a flannel from the Man About Town Flannel collection. The batting – Soft and Toasty by Fairfield was Ten inch squares from Tim Holtz Eclectic Collection supplied by H.A. Kidd. Carla also supplied us with a denim pocket that came from the jeans that belonged to a beloved aunt. As I work on the design, I love seeing what Jennifer is doing which is so different from what I’m doing. I’ll only give you a couple of pictures to check on my progress. The rest will come in the next issue. We’re working with a limited amount of fabric. Not skimpy, but no room for error. I wanted to keep the pieces fairly large. I played around on my computer quilt design software and decided to keep the design fairly simple, but I’ll be adding a couple of very subtle but very symbolic elements to the quilt. I would like to thank Tish who helped solve my last design dilemma. It’s challenging to work on a quilt design for a highly creative person and they have no input to the design. I’ve shown my daughter who is the same age and she thought it was pretty neat so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the recipient feels the same way. Just to tease you – here are a couple of cuts that I made. Because the design is fairly simple, I can’t reveal too much! I chose a solid grey to add to the Tim Holtz fabric Supplies for What’s Good for the Gal is Good for the Guy challenge 10 QUILTsocial .com ● winter 2014/2015