On the Road Again

On the Road Again was created for the Project Quilting Season 7 I Need a Vacation Challenge.

Last week my husband, Frank, needed a getaway, so we called some friends and took off for Paducah for a few days. The National Quilt Museum, Hancocks of Paducah, the Moonshine Company, Paducah Beer Werks, Boos butcher block and cutting board outlet in Effingham, IL. Four fabulous days.

My goal was to complete my Sun Prairie Heritage Quilt show challenge before we left, but I didn't quite get there. I came home on Sunday afternoon (in the snow) and knew it needed to be ready for the hand work by Tuesday when I was helping at the polls. Success. Finished.

Now, time to figure out what to do for the I Need a Vacation challenge.  Yes, I think up these challenges for Kim, but that doesn't mean I have an idea in mind. Sometimes, but not usually.  This time I did not.

Our daughter lived out of state for the last 10 years and Frank and I would drive out to see her, usually 3 times a year. I have taken multiple pictures of him driving with the scenery in the background and looked and looked for them on my computer. No luck. I pieced mountains and continued to look. Still no luck. Finally, I told him I needed a favor. I wanted to take his picture in the truck. What a great guy! He said yes!

So we sat in the truck in the garage and I took his picture.  I played with the size a little and printed it out. I cut out his profile and added the shape of the window.  Done.

So this quilt is a memory of all the road trips we made to Virginia. Our daughter recently moved back to Wisconsin (YEAH!!!), so our trips will be going in other directions going forward.

Created by Diane Lapacek near Poynette, WI
15" x 20"

Worlds to Explore

Created for the Project Quilting Season 7 "All About That Thread" challenge and also for the Lodi Valley Quilters Guild Circles challenge.

I started with 1 yard of my hand-dyed fabric, then found some circular objects and traced them on a piece of freezer paper.  I labeled each section and added marks on all the lines so I could get the pieces back together correctly.  All the circles were set in by machine and they laid flat when I was done!  Victory!

Different quilting in each circle and and simple lines in the background completed the quilting.

To fit the thread theme of the challenge, I got out the jar of rayon threads that sits by my machine.  It holds trimmings, tangled threads and a few spools that were only slightly wet after the water leak in my sewing room a few years back.  I thought they'd be okay, but they seem to break way too much when I try to use them now.  I layered threads between 2 pieces of water soluble stabilizer and quiltied the layers together densely to create "fabric" made of threads.  I cut circles in assorted sizes and stitched them to the quilt.  Done! All requirements satisfied for 2 challenges.

I struggled with a name for this quilt.  My first set of pictures was taken last night and they were terrible.  I took another set this morning in my sunroom and looking at the pictures on my screen, it came to me.  Worlds to Explore.  It relates not only to the image I was seeing, but to the techniques used and those yet to come in my quilting world.


24" x 32"
Created by Diane Lapacek near Poynette, WI.

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