CHALLENGE ON!
My creative legacy is a rallying
cry—the shout out at the end of a
speech to cheer on your comrades.
Challenge on—challenge yourself
endlessly, never stop learning and
growing in your abilities. My quilting
has been reinvigorated after more than
30 years. I am learning, growing, and
creatively expanding my skills. I’m so
excited I can hardly step away from my
machine to write this piece, but I do want
to share this enthusiasm—and it’s all
because I’m challenging myself to learn.
My quilting adventure has been
long and varied, including delusions
of grandeur, some epic fails, a few
triumphs, many ‘good enoughs’ but,
most importantly, increasingly satisfying
results. My grandmother helped me make
my fi rst quilt at age eight, but I started
quilting in earnest in the late 1980s.
I began with traditional patterns but
never really followed all the instructions
exactly. My incessant questioning and
challenging nature drove me to change
the patterns and ask, ‘what if ...’? So, no
real surprise that I participated in every
guild challenge and in 2010 entered my
fi rst invitational challenge. For a long
time, I thought they were meant for
professionals with art and design degrees
or the blue-ribbon winners. But I quickly
learned they are open to everyone. By
the second one I was hooked! I loved
creating my own designs.
Every challenge I participate in, I
push myself. Quilt challenge projects are
a forcing function. Each challenge comes
with its own new set of rules—usuallysmall in size (therefore less commitment
of time, fabric, and money), a due date,
and a color palette or theme. Hidden
behind those parameters are endless
possibilities to explore new techniques or
ideas as I achieve my desired outcome.
Do I always know what I’m doing? No,
but I’m willing to try. Does the design
concept work the fi rst try? Not usually.
Sometimes I go back to the drawing
board a half dozen times, changing
direction so much the fi nal quilt may
not look anything like my initial idea.
Yes, it can be frustrating, but it is always
rewarding in the end. Having a good
sense of humor and the ability to laugh at
your own failings helps.
I haven’t won any blue ribbons but
I have achieved goals I never dreamed
possible—since 2010, six quilts travelled
in country-wide exhibits; two quilts were
published in books; and one was part
of a Special Exhibit featured at the 2019
International Quilt Festival, Houston! If
I can do this, so can you. Whatever yourthe last word.
BY DIANE L. MURTHAHaven’t you been quilting long enough to start thinking about your own creative
legacy? Submit your complete essay (up to 800 words) along with a low-resolution
image to [email protected] with “the last word”
in the subject line.quilting goal or dream, you can achieve
it.
The quilt police haven’t hauled me
away or issued any citations for pushing
artistic quilting limits. This has further
emboldened me. Now, I’m lecturing on
the exhilarating advantages of challenging
yourself through organized or informal
quilt challenge projects. And, heaven
forbid, I’m encouraging others to step
out of the box and try new things, too.
Go for it! Try it! I am, and I’m having so
much fun.
My creative legacy will live on if I
can inspire others, new and experienced
quilters alike. It doesn’t matter if your
quilting genre is traditional, modern,
or art—your quilting can be improved
by trying something new—a quilting
technique, tool, or color combination.
No matter your skill level, your quilting
can be enhanced by challenging yourself.
So, take a class, read an article, go for
that thing you have been hesitant to try.
Challenge on—never stop!“Sassy Pickles” • 42" x 57"Ph
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