PGHMQG Inspiration Challenge - August

This month's PGHMQG Inspiration Challenge is all about August.

Each month, we are to ask ourselves these questions:

• What are some of my favorite things about the current month?
• What is my inspiration point for this month?
• What are the color combinations/design elements that I want to explore this month?
• Do I want to place any restrictions on myself this month?
• What are some techniques I want to explore this month?

Last month, I started with my first strip, this is my second one, un-ironed and un-trimmed, but otherwise finished.

My answers to the challenge questions:

• My favorite things about the month of August, usually our hottest month of the year, doesn't include the heat, so what possessed me to make a symbolic strip of fire? I happen to like all of the things that escaping from the heat entails; swimming, lazing about, sewing indoors where it is air conditioned, my husband taking over the cooking because grilling with fire is a guy thing, just to name a few. As much as I do not like the heat, I do like avoiding it so why not make a blazing hot commemorative strip for the month of August!

• My inspiration point for this month was found in Dorthy Hanisko's Simply Seminole book. Although my fire strip is not exactly a pattern that Dorthy represented in her book, I did use her general Seminole patchwork making techniques to develop my fire pattern.

• The color combinations/design elements that I explored this month were related to fire, so I used a combination of three, yellow based oranges. White and black were also used to represent both day and night as during the month of August, it is usually hot in both the mornings and the evenings. The triangle seemed to me to be a natural shape to use to represent fire.
• The restriction I placed on myself this month, and will for each month to come was to build this quilt entirely from my stash.
• The technique I explored this month was Seminole piecing. I bought Dorthy's book well over ten years ago. I was intrigued by the Seminole concept back then and knew that one day I would explore its possibilities. I have a feeling that I will be referring to this book again while working in this quilt.

I've added my August fire strip to my quilt drawing and will continue to update it each and every month. See you in September!