Weekly update: challenge completed! and something new

I realize I am jumping the gun with this, but I am so chuffed at my progress that I can't wait.  If you're reading this and you're in my quilt guild, don't look any further.  If you do, don't let on. 

"Birth Month" is the theme for our guild's 2021 challenge:  use the flower and the gem for your birth month.  Maximum size 20 x 21 for the year.    The reveal was scheduled for scheduled for August -- I knew I wouldn't make it because I was preoccupied by the wedding quilt.  But when the meeting room was unavailable for that meeting the reveal was moved to September.  I can do this?  I can do this!

My birthday is June, so roses and pearls.   I could picture my idea:  an impressionistic log cabin, a wild whirl of pinks on a green background with a pearl or two in the center.  

Nope.  I didn't even try.  Another piece of needlework was the inspiration. 

I made this needlepoint pillow in 1979 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Alpha Gamma Delta, my college sorority. Alpha Gam's flowers are red and buff roses.  (Buff is frequently interpreted as yellow, and that's what I used for the pillow.)  Our jewel is the pearl.  I intended to donate the pillow to the boutique at the 1979 convention but decided to keep it.  Some time later I un-pillowed it. (I never perfected piping that seemed to be how a needlepoint pillow had to be finished.)   The piece was stored in the attic along with a lot of college and young-career memorabilia.  

The 2020 Alpha Gam convention was cancelled due to the pandemic. A Stay At Home convention group sprang up on Facebook.  Sisters posted photos of their Alpha Gam swag. I went up to the attic to see what I had.  This piece came to light along with scrapbooks, files, and other treasures.  I posted a photo to the group and told the story. Someone admired it tremendously.   I offered it to her in return for a donation to the Alpha Gamma Foundation. Done! 

Red and buff roses came to mind when I thought about the challenge quilt. I remembered the needlepoint and searched for the chart in the needlework archive (I still have a couple of shelves though I don't do needlework any longer).  I found many interesting things, but not the chart I sought  Fortunately I'd taken the photo last summer.  I eyeballed the flowers, leaves, and relative proportions, sketched the flower, and here's how it turned out.   Roses? Check.  Pearls?  Take a look. 

 The background uses the leftovers from the elephant parade placemats that I made in March. Pearls come in a variety of tones and colors, from white to yellow to gray.  

The large flowers called for sturdy, long stems.  Running them off the edge meant I didn't have to fiddle with exact lengths.  I made a faced binding. (I attached the binding as usual but rolled it all the way to the back so that it doesn't show from the front.)

Linking up with  Oh Scrap!   Design Wall Monday   Monday Making

P.S. Here's the new project!  More to come . . .

 P.S. 2  Happy 41st anniversary to us!  (8/23/80).