"Northern Lights": CMQG 'Calendar Challenge' and on exhibit!

My guild, the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild, recently put the challenge out to its members to create a quilt inspired by an assigned season.

The quilts will be judged, professionally photographed and the winners will be showcased in a charity calendar to raise funds for our guild. (When the time comes, I'll make sure to post a link if you'd like to see, and maybe even purchase one. If you know me in real life, you'll probably be getting one for Christmas... hee hee)

We, as a guild, have also been fortunate enough to be asked to showcase our 'Challenge' quilts with the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo when it comes to Tinley Park in November. The quilts will then tour the country with the show for the next year!

So on to my part of the Challenge.

I was assigned the season "Winter". Of course, originally being from Vancouver, I had to throw a little bit of Canadiana in the mix.

When I was a kid, we would visit family in the northern prairies during Christmastime. At night, you'd be able to see the most amazing natural light shows you could ever imagine - the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis.

If you've never seen them in real life - look them up - you might be able to see a video on You-Tube. The sky literally dances with the most amazing greens, blues, purples and pinks.

I've borrowed a few images off of Google to give you an idea of what they look like if you've never seen them:

Image courtesy of The Guardian.co.uk

Image courtesy of onebigphoto.com

So I used Aurora borealis as a 'jumping off point' or inspiration for my Winter challenge quilt. I wanted to capture the contrasts of the greens against the blacks of the surrounding landscapes and skies, but not in a flashy way.

Hopefully, I achieved that.

Here's my 2013 CMQG Challenge Quilt: "Northern Lights", 38" x 39":

"Northern Lights", 38"x 39" 2013

I love the contrast of the black against the greens.

I decided to quilt it with a lime green thread, to accentuate the greens; vertical quilting through the 'sky' portion, offset by horizontal of the black landscape and skylines

close up of quilting

and my first ever D.I.Y. quilt label, attached the backside of the quilt.

The Challenge was a lot of fun. I can't wait to see my quilt hanging in the exhibit when the Original Sewing & Quilt Expo comes to Chicago next! It's my first ever contribution to an exhibit and I'm very excited. If you happen to visit the OSQE when it comes to your city, take a pic of yourself next to my quilt and send it to me! ('cause I'm a geek like that).