We had our first reveal of the year. We choose 9 challenges a year + 1 wildcard challenge.  The 9 challenges are split into 3 for April, 3 for July and 3 for October.  The wildcard can be used for any of the 3 reveals.

12" x 12" - any subject

Willits Meadow 12" x 12"
by Mariah Bath

Machine and hand-stitched, hand quilted.  Inspired by a watercolor by a friend from Center for the Arts in Willits, CA.

White Lily 12" x 12"
by Mary Stori

I enjoy flowers.  This is raw edge applique, embroidered and quilted.

Aubergines & Alliums 12" x 12"
by Stephanie Bennett-Strauss

Sierra Sisters mini-group all made vegetables. A specific green fabric chosen by the group wat to be included in each quilt.  Mine is the green top-knot on the white eggplant.  This was quilted on a domestic Pfaff machine.

Cauliflower 12" x 12"
by Marylee Drake

The inspiration was to choose a vegetable and make it special.  I used a picture of a cauliflower for a realistic image.  I used cotton fabric, thread, puffy fabric, terial magic and fusible.  

A Squash of Many Names 12" x 12"
by Karin Polli

Other names for this squash are chayote (in Mexico and parts of the U.S.) pimpinela, christophine, choko, xuxu (Brazil), muchuachie, iskat, mango squash, mirliton (in Louisiana), chocho, custard mallow, vegetable pear, chuchu (Brazil), Buddhas's hand squash.  This squash is my favorite.  Called quisquil in Guatemala.  I use it in soups and stews.  Can be eaten raw, fried, pickled.  The background was printed using stencils and a gelli plate.  Quilt shows squash growing on the vine, the leaves and the inside.  the vines are durable, but flexible & used to make hats & baskets.

3 Beets per Measure 12" x 12"
by Jan Mitrovich

I used hand dyed/painted cotton, poly batting, backing & organza.  I used terial magic and tyvek for texture/3-d effects. I thread painted the beets.  Beets are one of my favorite vegies to eat.  When I lived in Washington, I learned that beet varieties come in many wonderful colors.

Eggplant & Peach 12" x 12"
by Sharon Rizatto

This is satire.  

Dancing Peppers 12" x 12"
by Carole Rossi

This quilt is part of a 12x12 group challenge for a "Square Foot Garden."  We all picked a vegetable to depict, in any style, using techniques of our choosing.  I picked peppers!  This was my own drawing & stencil or mask outlining the pepper images.  I used mono-printing techniques, with acrylic paints; white background hand painted using Derwent inktense pencils & textile medium; rayon treads (40 weight mettler poly-sheen); fused applique.  This was machine quilted.  Quilter's Dream cotton batting.  I challenged myself to create a piece with fanciful images of peppers, utilizing multiple techniques.  Specifically, I wanted to use mono-printing techniques which I recently learned in a class with artist Ana Buzzalino.  I also wanted to use inktense pencils.  I started with white fabric, and using acrylic paints, a brayer, gelli plate and masks, I crated the print.  Then, I used inktense pencils and Textile Medium to paint the areas around the pepper images.  I also fused a few "mini" peppers onto the designs in the corners of the piece, which are meant to reflect a square garden area!  I wanted a wild and cheerful setting.  

Carotte 12" x 12"
by Michelle Peerson

Several of us decided to make quilts of various vegetables, 12”x12” Category, each using the same focus fabric. I used Indigo dyed cotton background, Acid dyed wool fabric for the carrot, focus fabric for leaves It took three tries to get the color of the carrot right

Is Celeriac Celery Root? 12" x 12"
by Jane Haworth

The inspiration was a magazine article about cooking with celeriac, with an interesting painted illustration.  I painted the celeriac, used commercial fabrics, extra threads for the roots, hand-stitching and hand-quilting. The challenge was putting this together and adding the extra 3-D layers.

Lotus Root - Vietnam 12" x 12"
by Shelli Fried

A group of us decided to do a vegetable garden so we each chose a veggie. I love the interesting pattern of the lotus root and how pretty it is.  I used a modified photo of lotus farm we visited in Vietnam printed on fabric, commercial fabric, fusible, acrylic paint, and fresh lotus root. I used one of the watercolor styles from the photo app befunky to modify the photo then printed it on fabric at home. The photo was taken at a lotus farm outside Saigon where we sat under a gazebo on the boardwalk in the middle of the lotus ponds to have a fabulous lunch.  The lotus pattern was stamped by painting the lotus slices with acrylic paint.  I thought I would be able to make the root stamps stand out by stitching around them. Instead, because of the stiff paint, they stand out on the back!

Rhubarb - Fight or Food? 12" x 12"
by Lynn Tubbe

I have always loved the complimentary colors of rhubarb.  The taste, not so much.  In addition to the usual cotton fabrics and thread, I also used Terial Magic, to lock in the wrinkles of the leaves.  The quilting in the background proved to be a challenge.  It took about three tries before I was satisfied.  I was reminded why it is easier to quilt the background BEFORE fusing things down.  

Just Jay 12" x 12"
by Tracy Visher

I like to use this 12x12 format to create a "macro" image of a subject.  I have been feeding unsalted whole peanuts to scrub jay families in my yard for almost a decade.  This is one of the flock.  They raise two babies in our yard every year and the following year, we are visited by the parents and the kids.  I used hand-painted linen, raffia, velour fabric, commercial cotton fabric, batik fabric, inktense pencils, monk's cloth, fine-tip sharpie, embroidery thread, Modge-Podge dimensional magic, white pen, cotton/poly batting.  The biggest challenge was combining the different fabrics to give the feeling of feathers and the bark of the log, from the different patterns and textures of the fabrics selected.  

Modern Blooms 12" x 12"
by Sophia Day

I wanted to do something with curves and to use some fabric I had left over from another challenge.  I used Moda solids against inspirational word fabric.  I had the plan in my head, but trying to piece it all and have it come out close to what I wanted was challenging.  

Surfeit of Sunflowers 12" x 12"
by Carole Rossi

This quilt is part of a 12x12 group challenge, using any subject which reflected images from nature.  I decided to create my own design or sunflowers.  I used various batiks and hand painted fabrics. Derwent inktense pencils& Textile Medium were used for the painting; I used rayon threads (40 weight Mettler Poly-Sheen); fused applique-blanket stitch; machine quilting, quilter's dream cotton batting.  I challenged myself to crate a piece where the images of sunflowers were representational, but not realistic.  In other words, you know you are looking at sunflowers, but they are not like anything you've ever seen.  I also wanted to use inktense pencils to crate bright, eye-catching centers for the flowers.  I wanted them to look a little bit like the sun or perhaps planets.  I wanted the design of the piece to be balanced, cheerful and pleasing to the eye!

What the Bees See 12" x 12"
by Kathryn Madison

Bees and most insects see in ultraviolet light.  Photographers can now photograph flowers in ultraviolet light, showing us what the bees see.  I used PFD cotton, polyester, batting, soldering iron, inktense blocks and pencils, machine embroidery poly thread, cotton thread and monofilament.  I've never created an art quit this small before and this was a challenge.  To find an image that would fit the space and still tell a story was difficult.  Then I further challenged myself to align the mirror images of the star gazer lily on the front and back to accommodate the quilting.  

Women Heros

Yes, I Can! 30" x 29"
by Karle deProsse

I found a book of sketches of fifty famous “bad ass” women. I saw in this all the possibilities for a young woman to grow up to make a positive difference in the world.  I used Cotton fabric, cotton batting, wooden buttons, ribbon.  The free motion quilting of the figures was above my skill level.  I wanted to quit and throw it away more times than there are women depicted. I talked myself down each time with the thought that I needed to stick it out to increase my skill level. Not sure that worked. 

Red Tent
by Sara Lamb

This was inspired by the Covid lockdown and women helping women.  I used handwoven cloth, ink and beads.

Show & Tell

by Ann Sanderson

The poppies are hand printed with thickened dye.  I used hand dyed fabrics as well as commercial fabrics in my composition.

Rear Window 17" x 16"
by Mary Stori

A friend's long recovery from a bad fall generated time spent enjoying the scenic view from his home's rear window - documenting it day and evening.  This piece was crated solely by my own imaginative rear window view.  I used hand-dyed and batik cottons, appliqued raw edge motifs, machine quilting and facing.

 Our March meeting program was a fashion show by We Have Art to Wear, Sew What!, and the Sierra wearable Art Group. We also had a preview of some of the quilts that will be in our traveling exhibit.  Look to see them at the Pine Tree Quilt Guild Show in April, the Reno Show in June and the Foothill Quilters Guild show in September.