Stepping Outside Of My Comfort Zone

In a previous post I have mentioned a quilt swap I'm in with 10 other lovely ladies. Each month we are to decorate a 6"x45" fabric strip in our partners theme and send it off to them with a coordinating fabric print strip. Once we all have sent to the other 10, we will assemble our quilts. I've never done a swap or a quilt like this, but I couldn't resist. The chosen themes were about what you might expect. Spring, Autumn, Christmas, cats. But one swappers theme had me worried from the beginning. And May was the month that I was paired up with her. I knew I would have to do some research and be very creative to pull off a Day of the Dead theme. This was definitely going to be a challenge. But there's nothing wrong with challenging yourself now and then. I was pleased with the outcome and I'd like to share it with you.

Five hand embroidered blocks pieced with bright colored strips to make the full length.


I was glad that I had started sketching these sugar skulls well before May when I was assigned the swap.



In fact, By May 1st I had 3 drawings completed and a fourth was in progress.


I seemed to gain some confidence as I progressed, as the designs got more detailed as I went. The 2 front facing skulls were my first and the center design with the sombrero was the last to get done.



I spent a month embroidering a bit each day to get this done. And as soon as it was done, I missed having an embroidery project to work on. Thank goodness I picked up a package of tea towels at JoAnn Fabrics the last time I was there. Now to choose a design and get to work.