A new Art Quilt I am undertaking. The Pigeon Forge Challenge Quilt.

I decide to do the Pigeon Forge Challenge again this year with an Art Quilt.  I never expect to win, but it is fun doing it and if it just gets accepted and permitted to hang with the others, I will be happy.  I let time slip by me and now I must rush to meet the deadline and get it there on time.  If I miss the deadline (Feb 8th), then I will be fine with that too.  The theme they issued to us this year is "The Blue and Grey".  Well, when I hear that, all I think of is the Civil War, which so sadly lost so many lives pitting Brother against Brother.  Thus I will entitle this quilt "Brother Against Brother" So, O.K. this is the beginning.  A blank piece of background fabric ready to put a pattern onto.  I have the pattern in my head and a small picture of it also.  The one I have in my head is pretty, just hope this one will come out as well.  I will not put as many pics on this one as I have before, due to the time needs to go into the quilt instead of my blog.

 Pattern is on my fabric now and I have begun to cut the pieces of fabric to go on my domestic canvas.  As you can see, the farthest most pieces must go on first and some will be very tricky trying to manuver part of it to the back and a portion of it to the front.  If you have never tried Art quilting, you must try it and see how challenging and fun it is to do.

Moving right along this morning,(since about 4AM) I have added more of the pieces this morning.  When I finish this, these brave young men will be holding rifles.  Some of the drawing on the canvas is kinda' not exactly right, but I can correct that when I put my fabric pieces on it.  When I snapped this pic I did not realize that my Tennessee Williams Art Quilt was behind it.  This pic shows part of a court yard on it.  Sorry folks, did not mean for that to happen.  That is another story.   As I progress, I will post more pics.  How about giving me a little comment on it.  Bad or good, I need to be critiqued and know how people feel about it.   It is kinda of like playing rythym guitar.  The song is going through your head while you are playing it, but since you are not playing notes, others don't know what the heck you are playing.  So, I know what my quilt looks like and what I want it to say, but is it saying it.  "Brother Against Brother", such an unnecessary war.      MORE TO COME!!!!
Finished product!


 See below the face of hate and war.

I have decided the only borders that will look best on this quilt is mitered borders.  The first mitered border I made was really hard for me, until I figured out my own technique.  Now, it is so easy except when you are entering into a competition, then; everything seems harder.

I always sew my borders onto my quilt before I miter cut them.  Leaving a long tail on each side is  a must,

This is likely not the correct way, but it works for me.  I fold the quilt from the corner, making sure that the borders are lined up evenly.

I flip it over to make sure the corners match.

and always take a peek underneath the border to insure that all are matching.

I have learned if I put my ruler down the very edge of the fold and if the borders are perfectly straight, I am ready to mark the stitching line.

I then mark the stitching line.

After stitching, I turn it to the front to check it out.

Everything was perfect and ready to trim. I am hoping to have it ready to take a complete picture and post here tomorrow.  Remember, this is just the way I do mitered borders.