The Dec / Jan issue of Quilting Arts Magazine features the Pet Peeves Challenge. The magazine accepted many of the small quilts that were sent in for the challenge and printed photos of the quilts. I am pleased to share this link to the magazine, which shows the table of contents of this issue.
Quilting Arts Dec / Jan Table of Contents
And some photos…

The staff of Quilting Arts Magazine decided to include many of the quilts they received for the “Greatest Pet Peeve” Reader Challenge” in the Dec/Jan 2011 issue. So, I am happily mailing my quilt off to the magazine. I’ll keep you posted. I’m very excited at the prospect of seeing my work in print. Friskers, the main character of my cat-scape was thrilled as well. She was rewarded with some tuna. She didn’t ask why, she just ate it all…

It’s done! Bound, sewn and delivered. I hope it’s a finalist. It was really fun to do.
I tried to bring out the three-dimensional quality of the scene. I wanted you, the viewer, to understand that you and a cat are looking at a fridge with lots of stuff on the shelves.

The closeup view shows the cat and her long white whiskers peering and sniffing at the contents of the fridge.

I used cotton fabric, cotton thread, some synthetic fabric, some stabilizer and tulle. (The door is meant to be a little fuzzy because of the plastic shelving, which I made with tulle.)
The batting is Warm and Natural, cotton batting. The final size is 8.5″ x 11″.

I mailed my Crab photos today. Maybe The Crab will be selected. Thanks to all who commented for your insight and help. January 21, 2011 the magazine will announce the finalists.

Now, on to the next project…

Cindy

The thread painting is done and the quilting is completed. The binding is bound and… I finished the crab!!!!

I will soon be sending off my photos. I hope my work is considered. We shall see… later in January.

Ok, so the crab is in the shadows and the sun, but who took away the rocks? This time I went for grass and rocks. Here is the current result.

I can show this without the rocks as well. Here goes.

Which one???
I still need to deal with the top, left corner. Looking forward to your thoughts.

It took me quite awhile to figure out what to do with the area surrounding my Crab. I tried large stones, dark stones, light stones and all these pulled the focus away from the Crab. See…

So I got an idea that if the background became muted it would enable the Crab to pop more and would still have a feel of stones and pebbles. Enter, tulle in many colors. I have yet to finish all the thread painting, but I think this it the direction. Let me know what you think.

Every project goes through the same metamorphosis. I find a subject that inspires me. With gusto I go at the project. I choose the perfect fabrics. I do all the tracing and preparation work.  I begin to assemble all the little pieces of fabric, and I look at my project and think, “What was I thinking! This looks like a cartoon!”
Well, this crab project did not fail me. I got to the stage where I looked at the project and thought, this crab looks like ET! I started thinking a duck might work instead…
After a break, I was drawn to my sewing machine and began to add color and texture to the crab. Remarkably, it now actually looks like a crab! So, here is a photo in progress of my crab.The background needs attention, but at least I have something to work with now.

Here is a question: Should the background be lighter? Can you see the crab or is it too camouflaged?

I would like to give credit to Aharon Zuckerman, who photographed this crab somewhere in Israel and then graciously said I could use it as the subject for a quilt. Thanks, Aharon.
This is the original photo.

I am going to enter into a contest. I need to make a 12″ x 12″ quilt of a pet or animal in the wild.

I thought I narrowed it down, but I just don’t know. I am now adding a duck and a crab to the list. The crab is amazing! Maybe that’s the one? I already had a bird, a turtle and a cat in a bowl.

So far I have heard from two people. They say the cat and the bird are good choices. Thanks for responding, Amy and Lynn!

What do you think??? It should be endearing and catch the eye. And, I should still be able to create it in fabric. More comments, anyone?