Project QUILTING – Be My Valentine Winners – Public and Judges Choice

I’m going to sound like a broken record soon but WOW! Once again so many fantastic entries for this weeks challenge. I am continually awed and amazed by what so many can come up with and accomplish within just one week!

I’m here now to announce the first batch of winners – the Public and Judges Choice winners.

First I will announce the Public Choice winner – taking home 32 of the 199 votes (or 16.08%) is…

Marcia’s Crafty Sewing and Quilting

Marcia will be receiving $10 to SpiceBerryCottage AND a Novelty Square Set from QuiltingDiva

Moving onto the Judges Top 3:

In 3rd place with an average score of 8.99 is…

Besty H!

Judge 1: I think this piece is adorable. I love your color choices and the whimsical look of the guy and the girl.

I am a huge stickler on the rules. I think your piece breaks the rules by using so much traditional red in the valentines in the air. I LOVE THEM; I just think they are a rule breaker. Sorry, I am being picky. Otherwise, I love the piece.

Judge 2: Cute, cute, cute. This is a great design. You should be very proud of it. Love the heart musical notes.

It doesn’t appear to lay flat. That’s especially important when we only have pictures to judge.

More information about your technique And design process would really add to your story. It looks like the appliqué edges were outlined by zigzagging over a cord of some kind?

Judge 3: This is a really great design. I love the way you used the piping for the lines, couching it with the zigzag stitch. The color choices and whimsical fabrics work perfectly together. The red hearts aren’t entirely “outside the box,” but they aren’t the main focal point. It’s also interesting how you quilted the background by following some of the flowers and butterflies.

Judge 4: This is such a fun quilt! I love the improv nature to the sidewalk and their clothing, and those heart-shaped notes are brilliant. I would love to know more about your process as you constructed this top.

Taking 2nd in the Judges eyes, with an average score of 9.4 is…

For Quilts Sake

Judge 1: This piece is what Project Quilting is all about. You took the challenge and put a very unique spin on it. I felt a lot of the pieces this week just looked like different colored ordinary Valentines. Yours isn’t like that. I love it!

The yarn around the outer edges reminds me of moss or ferns. I like the beads holding the pieces together. This was a great use of a fabric that was already printed.

Good job. I am impressed with this piece.

Judge 2: Wow. He is a romantic, isn’t he?

This is a very special piece with special meaning to you. Very well designed and well constructed. Great use of embellishments. I really like the furry edge.

Judge 3: This piece is excellent on all levels. The concept is beautifully personal and your idea for the wall hanging sections is a great way to interpret the lyrics of the poem stanzas. It’s wonderful that you interpreted the poem with relevant embellishments, and created panels that represented the poem without being entirely literal. Your skillful techniques in construction and finishing, with the great beadwork connections, do justice to the excellent inspiration source.

Judge 4: I love all the different techniques and embellishments added to this! The sentiment behind it is beautiful too. The fur is my favorite part I think – gives it a mossy feeling.

Taking home 1st place and the winner of

$10 to FabricsNQuilts AND a Pattern & Notecards from Marcia’s Crafty Sewing & Quilting

with an average score of 9.62 goes to…

Dashasel!

Judge 1: Bingo! You took this challenge and created to absolute perfection for the challenge. You followed the few rules and make something so different and so unique it just makes me smile. Congratulations on a job so well done!!!!

Also, on rereading your story you mentioned you didn’t want the quilting to distract on the back. I think your quilting is just right for your project. I also don’t like the messy back look on something that will be exposed all the time.

Judge 2: You are so creative. This is a wonderful valentine for your baby. I love the way you related each letter to Valentine’s Day.

I think your 2-step method of quilting works great. I often stitch my appliqués down before I add the batting and backing and my logic is similar to yours.

One suggestion. Because a baby is going to use it and love it and (probably) chew on it, I’d make sure every piece is stitched down.

The use of different textures is perfect to stimulate a baby’s senses.

Judge 3: This is one of the most ambitious pieces I’ve seen on Project Quilting. Each section is creative and balanced with the other complementary blocks. I’m impressed with the way you carried design elements of the text block styles and the whimsical illustration styles throughout the blocks. I especially like that not all the blocks looked like a cookie-cutter style, but instead it looked like you expressed yourself differently with each section as it moved you.

Judge 4: Adorable! I’m sure your baby loves his valentine! All the details are well thought and well done, the bright and fun color palette is very appealing too. As for your processes, I think what works best for you is the right way in terms of appliqué and quilting. Well done!

Congratulations to all of the public and judge winners this week! Enjoy your prizes!

I’ll be posting later with the random drawn winner and the Public Comment winner.

Project QUILTING What’s in a Name Challenge – Public and Judges Choice Winners

I’m excited to be announcing the winners of the 2nd challenge of season 2: What’s in a Name. Eighteen amazing quilts were submitted – I’m sure it was hard for both the judges and the public once again!

Public Choice

We had another great turnout for voters – 226 people! The winner of the Public Choice AND taking home $10 to SpiceBerryCottage AND A Set of 8 Art Quilt Postcards from HeatherLairDesigns is

Christine Hampton!taking home 23.45% of the votes (or 53 of the 226). Congratulations Christine – I hope you enjoy all your goodies!

Judges Choice

The Top 3 from the Judges:

In 3rd place with an average score of 9.075 goes to:

Dashasel!

Here’s what the judges had to say about her J’adore Terre Haute Tote:

Judge 1: I just love everything about this bag. I want it! Your story is fantastic and I also love couture magazines. Great job.

Judge 2: Great application of the challenge, playing on the words. The way each element represents a designer is an excellent representation of the theme. Great stenciling – I thought it was an LV fabric remnant. The balance of the curves is well done. I like that you used the two vertical red strips to tie the elements together. Mixing a few different sized flowers instead of one big one gives it more decadence. The open zig-zag in the bottom fabric was a great choice.

Judge 3: Love the story and how you interpreted the Terre Haute name. It captures the spirit of this challenge. Even the fact that it’s a bag fits with your haute couture interpretation. Wonderfully done.

Judge 4: Wow, talk about unexpected! I love the leap that you took from the location name to your very unique interpretation of “haute”. The ways in which you incorporated bits of different designer influence is really quite ingenious. I especially love the small bit of patchwork to represent Gucci. Most importantly, I appreciate that you embraced the challenge and really stretched the limits of your comfort zone. Your statement that “all of the techniques I used for quilting this project were new to me” is what Project Quilting is all about. Great job! Now get out there and carry that sure-to-be-a-conversation-starter proudly.

Second place with an average score of 9.2 goes to:

ForQuiltsSake!

Here’s what the Judges had to say about ‘Sometimes I Dream of Flying’:

Judge 1: The quilting on this quilt is fantastic. I love the background, the river; your eagle is almost real. Great overall piece!

Judge 2: This is a great concept for your place name. You really captured the sense of the rural heartland, and with the ambitious style of the bird and aerial perspective. The way you did the bird with all the fused fabric pieces is wonderful! They seem like brushstrokes. The stitching on the bird adds great definition to the shape of the body and feathers. The shadow is brilliant, especially how the darks look so much like the fields below it. It adds a sense of motion, which combined with the river element gives the piece nice movement within the flat block landscape.. Keeping the quilting as simple echo patterns works very well with the geometric landscape. That was an excellent choice.

Judge 3: What a wonderful piece! I really love the combination of traditional blocks with the art quilt. Sometimes I feel like the traditional gets lost in all of this. The farm fields are gently rolling. The shadow is perfectly done. The bird is a work of art in itself. Dark brown frame is perfect. It hangs flat and straight. Great job.

Judge 4: Wow, I am SO impressed by your quilt! Your combination of traditional quilt elements with the modern techniques of art quilts helped you to create a truly stunning piece. I first noticed the traditional patchwork elements on the top and bottom border, and was fascinated to read that you angled them on purpose to add perspective. That was a particularly effective choice. I also love the patchwork look of the fields. It is clear that a lot of work went into creating the bird, and the feathering effect is very, very cool.

And in First place taking home $10 to FabricsNQuilts AND $15 to FabricFascination with an average score of 9.4375 is:

Quilties!

Here’s what the Judges had to say about ‘Buttonwillow’:

Judge 1: This is a very clever use of the name of your town. Great play on the word, love it.

I love the button border and am glad you opted for the extra color. Your 3D leaves are great.

Judge 2: I really like how you chose to go tall and narrow, and focus on a macro view instead of the entire tree. The tan fabric gives a great sense of place. Keeping the leaves rough-edged gives a natural feel and they are cohesive with the fringed edges of the linen, which is a great texture. I love the layering of the leaves and how they go 3-d at the bottom. The randomness of the button colors, sizes, and placement gives nice pop to the piece.

Judge 3: Great project. The dimension of the willow leaves is wonderful and I love the way they float over the edges of your quilt. The brown linen with the fringed edge gives another dimension. The buttons make a great frame. I’m glad you mixed the colors.

Judge 4: What a beautiful little wall hanging. “Buttonwillow” certainly lends itself to a literal approach to the challenge, and I love the fact that it bridges nature and craftiness! Your technique for creating the willow branches and leaves was spot-on – you achieved a very realistic and yet stylized design. The buttons around the outside add a lot of character to this piece, and I believe your decision to introduce a wider variety of color was the right one. My favorite part of this piece was your choice of the brown linen and the decision to fray the edges. It’s not an “in your face” detail but, once noticed, it adds that special little touch. Great work!

And I will end this with a ‘Bravo’ and ‘Congratulations’ to all our winners and a quick reminder that the next challenge will be posted tomorrow!