Project Quilting 16.1: Mythical Creatures

Season #16 of Project Quilting, hosted by Kim at Persimon Dreams and Trish at Quilt Chicken has begun! The first challenge was announced on January 5th, and our deadline is noon CST on Sunday, January 12th.

The theme for the first challenge of the year is Mythical Creatures, and I'll admit that I struggled with it. I wasn't inspired to do anything representational like an applique design of some kind of creature. It wasn't until I was paging through Judy Martin's book Scraps, Blocks and Quilts that I discovered a block design named Pygmalion.

In Greek mythology, Pygmalion was a sculptor who carved a sculpture of his ideal woman that he named Galatea. He fell in love with the statue/woman, and the goddess Venus brought his statue to life. Pygmalion is also the title of a play by George Bernard Shaw, which later inspired the musical My Fair Lady.

Pygmalion placemat

I scaled the Judy Martin block pattern down a bit and used the block at the center of a placemat. I've been playing with pink scraps lately for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and I used some of those scraps for this block.

The fabric in the border is also on the back of the placemat. There weren't any pieces big enough for the whole back, and I couldn't figure out a way to match the pattern. That fabric came from a bundle I've had for many year of pieces that had been cut out to make a dress. I don't know where I got the bundle of pieces, probably a costume shop where I worked at some point.

Check out all the different projects inspired by this week's Project Quilting theme at Kim's blog, Persimon Dreams. The next Project Quilting challenge will be posted there at noon CST on Sunday, January 19th. Come join the fun!

Happy quilting!

Julie in GA