Words Left Unspoken

This is my entry in the 2012 Scraps to Treasure challenge.  We had about 40 participants, each who sent 2 or 3 fabrics to the hostess of the challenge.  These were pre-washed and cut into 6 inch squares - enough for each participant to receive a set of fabrics.  Then, we were allowed to add a few Fat Quarters and a few more 6 inch squares.

As a twist, this year we were asked to name the quilt before we even received the fabrics.  Ha!  As if we needed the bar lifted higher on this challenge!  So my title is Words Left Unspoken.  It seemed open-ended enough that I could go several different directions once I got to play with the fabrics.

It became my prayer .... to my Creator, who with words formed this world and all its creatures, let my response be praise rather than Words Left Unspoken.  And as He's entrusted me to share with others the grace I've received through faith in Jesus, let my response not be characterized as Words Left Unspoken, but may I share His love in my actions and words.

It's a personal prayer and it's a little outside my comfort zone to share it with you.  But  I've already shared it with those who are aware of this annual challenge, so I'll post it here as well.

trees, DNA strand, and the ocean

 There's some thread play in the tree line.   However, most of the quilting is words.  All the words are taken from scripture and relate to the part of creation where they reside.  For instance, the DNA strand says You knit me together in my mother's womb ... I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made...  Your eyes saw my unformed body.  Psalms 139.

scripture, large tree and people ... the dark shaded area is the cliff near the ocean

Here's a portion of the back side.  You can see the words quilted on the muslin backing.

If you're interested in joining the challenge, the sign up time usually starts in March, fabrics are sent and received in April and the deadline to send photos of the finished quilt happen some time in September or October.  I'll post here to let you know more about it.  You can also visit / join the HGTV Forums - Quilting and Needlework.  It's a terrific and encouraging group of quilters who love to share photos and ideas and advice about quilting.  Members of the HGTV forum vote on their favorites in various categories.  We're all encouraged to donate the quilt to charity or, if we keep the quilt, to donate a check instead.

You can view the other entries to this year's challenge Here.

It was an interesting journey this time!  As usual, I felt I was in way over my head.  Also, as usual, once I had a design in mind, I couldn't dream up a second design, then decide which was better.  The first and only design dominates, so even though I have inner arguments - it's technically too difficult, the color values won't work well, ....  I end up being forced to implement it.  And, as usual, I like the finished quilt.

If you are a quilter and you've not joined a challenge before, I encourage you to do so.  It will stretch your creativity and your skills.  The sense of satisfaction when you're finished is well worth the time invested.

Enjoy your day!
- SeeingStars