Silk and sows

This year I decided to take part in one of my guild's president's challenge. Here's what the rules were:

"The theme is “Making a Silk Purse Out of a Sow’s

Ear”. We will provide packages of 8 to 10 charm squares

of less-than-gorgeous material and you are invited to

incorporate them all in a quilted project (e.g. wall

hanging, wearable or other) of no more than 80 inches 
in perimeter. You are challenged to produce something 
lovely from materials that would easily be considered less-than-
lovely. The projects will be presented at the May 2014

Annual General Meeting where we will vote for a “Viewer’s

Choice” winner. So, let your imaginations soar and let’s

see what “silk purses” we can come up with!"

 Originally, I was just going to make the challenge piece a pieced quilt. I got lucky because one of the charm squares I was given had two full cardinals that I could cut out and applique.

 This is the quilt that I ended up making. It turned out much nicer than it started out. The dark green tree trunk and branches just happened to be a scrap of fabric that was sitting on my cutting table when I was laying out the blocks.

The finished piece - The Cardinals, measures 13" X 17," well within the 80" perimeter stated in the rules and it was machine pieced, hand appliqued and hand quilted.

Now, I'm linking up with The Needle and Thread Network and with Esther's WOW (Works in Progress Wednesday). Pop on over to see what other people are up to this week.