Art Quilt and Hubby Sewing

A lot of you know that I started an Art Quilt class in December.  I took several photos to class as possible projects and the one that Paramjeet (teacher) and I picked was a statute in front of the Grand Palace in Bangkok.  Actually what we decided was that I would try to do the statute from the neck up and that this would probably take me about six months to do the construction and then another six months to do the thread work to complete it.  If at the end of that part I feel motivated I may continue with the rest of the statute.  I know it probably doesn't look like much but this is one month's work and all those different shades in the ear and beginning of the helmet are individual tiny pieces that have to drawn and then cut and attached in exactly the right position.  Andrew has shown a little interest in this project as it appeals to his engineering side with all the angles and shading and he likes to use the exacto knife to cut them out.  If he agrees to help me some then I may be able to move onto the background and let him work on the actual statute part.  I am really hoping that it works out this way as at our last quilt group meeting of the year Paramjeet announced that her husband's contract expired December 30th and they will have to return to India soon.

Andrew has had a few days off work during the holidays and we haven't really left the house much.  Between baking, sewing, french lessons, band practices, and band gigs we just felt like spending the rest of the time chilling at home.  We loaded the floral kaledioscope onto the quilt frame and I needed some side leaders to take up the tension.  I told Andrew what I was thinking about and he took over the project.  He cut the dow rods to size and found an old garment bag that had reinforced binding on the edges and attached that to a piece of canvass to make the leaders nice and strong.  He is sewing it all together here and I have to say he did a great job!

Now, I just need to finish quilting the kaledioscope and get the french braid on the frame in order to finish it in time for the Dubai show!  I could have entered the Kuwait show last year but we were out of the country.  The show isn't until February but I have to deliver the quilt to Dubai by January 20th.  I am really nervous as this will be my first show and the judges are Ricky Tims and Bonnie McCaffrey.
Oh, and behind Andrew you can see my new design wall in the sewing room.  It's huge and I love it!  I have been playing around with a challenge that we have for January which is to create a mini quilt that represents our country or origin.  As there is more then one American I have an idea to incorporate both America and Texas into my quilt.  Now, just need a few more hours in my day.....