Project Quilting Season 4 challenge 3

3rd Challenge: 
For the 3rd Challenge- Annie's Inspiration. Please go to Annie Young Art to see her inspirational works.  I fell in love with many of the pieces, the colors she used and her love of nature.  One of my favorites is the 'listening fields'.  I really feel we need to stop and really listen to our souls.  
I knew right away that I wanted to emulate my Sew Sunshine theme on my blog by making a big bold piece of sunshine. 

"Sew Sunshine"

I wanted to try my hand at my own paper piece design but after a first attempt I needed a little help and found it in the book by Jean Wells called Intuitive Color and Design.  In the book there is a quilt called Firefly that had just the elements I wanted. I made 4 paper pieced sections piecing 4 colorways with bright yellow and gold backgrounds.  I had a small scrap of a mono-print I had made a while back with some glitter paint. I used some of that in the turquoise sun blades for texture and sparkle. 

I also made some watercolor tissue paper fabric crinkled up to two of the sun rings to add more to the tactile elements as in Annie's works.  Improvisational pieced the rest of the quilt together and quilted the spiral for additional texture. 

I knew somewhere I wanted some more inprov piecing. I had just gone to a quilt meeting Tuesday night where a gal talked about using up some pieces by making other pieces. I had so many scraps from my paper piecing that I made a strip for the back. I love it. 

Measures 21w x 19.75 long

Please check out Annie's blog and you will be inspired too. I plan on stopping in at the 'listening fields' again soon. 

The road leading to a goal does not separate you from the destination; it is essentially a part of it.  ~Charles DeLint

For anyone that I took the fabric dying class with last year...I actually cut into some of my hand dyed fabric...it is almost a miracle!