Have you heard of the 12 x12 quilters in America?

www.twelveby12.org

They are twelve quilt artists who have embarked on an art challenge together. They are from different places throughout the world and their artistic styles vary hugely, its fascinating to see how different artists interpret one word in so many ways.  The challenge allows them to experiment and grow.

For four years, they each made a 12×12 inch quilted art piece on a designated theme or Colorplay palette. For 2012, they decided to change the format making rectangular pieces, 20×12 inches.  Sweet, their final 2012 challenge were revealed on 12 December 2012 – 12/12/12! The results are showcased on the Quilt Gallery and Artist Gallery pages of the website.

I am really luck to live so close to Midsomer Quilting, a quilters haven on the Mendips.  This was the only venue in Europe this year that the 12 quilters chose to exhibit their work.  The exhibition was held this year in July titled Colourplay.

Having built up a relationship with the International quilters De, Chris and Birgitta decided to hold their own exhibition for shop customers.  The first title in 2011 was Fruit and they had 85 entries.  The entry ‘Cherry tomatoes from California’ by Diane Perin Hock is totally stunning and has made me want to experiment and challenge myself.

I plucked up courage to enter in 2012 when the title was ‘Book’.  The titles are potentially so huge that the major obstacal is narrowing your choice down to one (Chris would always be happy to receive as many as you can make though)!

The images below show my entry and the reason for my choice.  This was a challenge as I wanted to have so many elements in the quilt so that it would tell the story.  This lead to a huge number of pieces considering the size of the quilt. It was all consuming for a few weeks and the family were lucky if they got feed.  I had great fun making it though and despite the lack of motherly care the girls enjoyed being involved too!

I Hope you like it!  Take a look at some of the amazing entries.

Entry into the 2012 12 x 12 Exhibition

The Bedtime routine

The Bedtime routine

What is the most important book? The answer is not a single book but a genre that inspires us from our earliest days: bedtime story books. From early picture books to wonderful imaginative tales and adventures, the bedtime story sparks our imagination. But sadly fewer children than ever share a bedtime story with their parents and instead time is spent watching television. When the TV is switched on conversation fades and we no longer need to use our imagination. It’s all done for us.

I wanted my quilt to tell the bedtime story, that simple routine that delivers our children to bed, ready for their pre-sleep treat. My own children wanted to be involved with the project so I asked them to name all their favourite stories over the years and these make up the background text. My pictures are in sequence starting with the bedtime clock through the bedtime drink, the stairs, the bath and so on with each frame getting slightly darker. Finally, the quilt the book rests on is made from old quilt covers they slept under after listening to their stories. Good night and sleep tight.