AQC Challenge 2014: Ten

In ten days or so, on 10 April, the tenth Australasian Quilt Convention opens in Melbourne.  To celebrate this anniversary, the theme of the AQC challenge is “ten”.   I am delighted to report that my quilt The X Factor is amongst the 30 AQC 2014 Challenge finalists  and will be on show at AQC and on tour throughout Australia in 2014.In planning my entry, I played around with X motifs on my iPad.  These drawings were made with the Doodle Buddy and Paper 53 apps:
I dyed my fabrics and tried out Bella Moda PFD for the first time.  It has a looser weave than my usual Robert Kaufman Pimatex and is better suited to hand-stitching.  Scaling up the improvisationally-pieced X to fit the 125x125cm (49x49in) size requirement was a challenge.  Here it is on the design wall.

As I was travelling for 3-4 weeks over Christmas, I decided to make this a hand-stitched project.  I have fond memories of hand-stitching Roman numerals XII in the background of my Twelve by Twelve Double Six piece for the “Twelve” challenge but there is a huge difference between stitching a 12x12in (30x30cm) area and a 49×49 (125x125cm) area!


In the end, I did most of my stitching when I got back to Australia.  Here is the final result:

The X Factor:  The X is a classic motif in mark-making, stitching and patchwork.  It also denotes the Roman numeral 10.  My work features an improvisationally-pieced X overlaid with 9 cross-stitched X symbols, making a total of ten.  The background is also cross-stitched with a multitude (X to the power of ten?!) of X stitches.