Art Quilts Maine Challenge

Every year Art Quilts Maine (our state wide "creative" guild) has a challenge. This year we voted on the theme "self portrait." The quilts are to be shown at the April meeting, exhibited at the state quilt show in July and then we pick 8 to send to Houston for their guild challenge catagory. I'm stuck.

Ok, maybe I'm not really stuck. I have a sketch I like. Maybe I'll post it here. In fact I really really like it. It's got lots of elements I'm really interested in, though I'm not sure I'll be able to execute what I have in my head. It incorporates pictures of moi printed on fabric. Sticking point #1: I can't find the right number of pictures representing the right points in my life. Ok, so I tried to just let that go and pick some pictures that would do.

Then I tried to print them. Sticking point #2: Apparently my printer is trash or we're having pilot error. I think I can persevere here, but I may have to settle for images that were not quite what I hoped. But, I kind of like the idea of "fixing" them with paint, embroidery or beads.

I began piecing one panel a couple of days ago and I don't like it. Sticking point #3. But, actually I think I've already come up with a solution for that. I was going with lots of colors, novelty fabrics and things that I loved, but had no cohesion. Clearly I need to tighten up my color palatte. So, I'm planning to repiece that section and stick with purple, green, orange and hmmmm.... maybe black and white for resting spots.

Sticking point #4. This one is actually sticking up lots of areas of my life. Jeff is job hunting and we may be moving as soon as this summer. Or maybe not. It's all totally up in the air. So, do I really want to finish a quilt to culminate in events that I might not even be around for? I don't know.

And am I really interested in making this quilt anyway? Is this challenge going to help me develop new skills or ideas or is it an obligation? And do I really want to do a self portrait at all, or is that putting myself out there too much? (Well... at least I wasn't planning to do a nude like some other brave souls I know!)

And if I don't do this quilt, what is the project I do really really want to dive into next?