I'm in a small group of 9 quilters who call ourselves "Spring Chicks" because the first time we met as an official group, it was the first day of spring. We did a block exchange last year and are now working on 2 projects: a Row Robin and a small art quilt. For the latter, we decide on a word to inspire the project we'll make every other month. This time the word was "Serendipity". We agreed the quilt would be 18" x 18".
As soon as I heard the word I knew exactly what I'd attempt to make. About 5 years ago, I received a lovely birthday card from my good friend Lee, with an image on the front I loved from the minute I saw it as it reminded me of her joyful spirit. In fact, I bought a frame for that card as soon as I received it and it's been in my living room ever since. This friend passed away a couple of years ago and I miss her terribly but that image makes me think so fondly of her and how she was always optimistic and had such a great view of life even though she knew she probably wouldn't be with us long. She passed away of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at the age of 61. I posted about a couple of quilts I finished for here here.
The card's artist is Masha D'yans and I've reproduced her image in fabric, yarn and beads, for my own use and enjoyment which I'm sure won't upset any copywrite laws.
I think of myself as a traditional quilter but I try new things with fabric as often as possible to keep me from getting stale. Sometimes I try something that really works and it makes me feel like I've still 'got it', that you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. Being part of a group that is not intimidated by possible failure is such a growth experience--I highly recommend it! I actually learn and am inspired so much by the blogs I read from Judy's Design Wall Monday. I feel like it's one of my fun quilting groups!