Shade for My Horse

Created for Project Quilting 17.3 Year of the Horse challenge. 

The year of the horse is being celebrated in the upcoming Chinese New Year. Instructions were to "find your inspiration from the turn of the year, in the animal, in our hopes and desires for the near future". I was not inspired by the horse or the hopes and dreams of the near future.

I clicked on the link provided by Trish and discovered that red is used in almost all Chinese New Year decorations. Red is something I can be inspired by. So I went with that. Since I'm the scrappy strip quilt lady, I opted for string blocks using as many red fabrics as I could find and adding in touches of gold because all the images of the Chinese New Year included pops of gold. I sewed them together in rail fence fashion, then quilted it with gold metallic thread because it seemed appropriate.

I liked it, but thought it needed something. Not a horse because I'm not into horses. Maube a tree. I like textural trees and have added them to several quilts in the past. But did this fit the theme this time? Well, yes. I made a ltree and added it to my quilt. Next summer that tree will provide shade for my horse. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

And I have a quilt that will go on my wall and make me happy.

Created by Diane Lapacek, Poynette, WI.

16" x 20"