Project QUILTING – An Interview with Kelsey Prantis on Season 1

What made you decide to join Project QUILTING? I thought Project Quilting sounded awesome from the first time I discovered it, which was about half way through the competition. I knew I wanted to join in when I could, but my type-A personality knew I could only really afford the time if it overlapped with an item on my list to make for my baby-to-be. When the nursery-rhyme challenge came I knew this was the one. What was your favorite part about Project QUILTING? My favorite part is how it influences the brainstorming process. When one has complete freedom on what to make, I find people don’t seem to put as much thought into coming up with a creative, unique idea as when they have some sort of limitation. I loved both getting to push myself more in this and getting to see what others came up with to meet the challenge. Which Challenge in Season 1 (you can include the 2 pre-season projects) was your favorite? and why… I really enjoyed the Black and White challenge. There’s just something about the contrast with the bright punch of color that just puts a smile on my face. 🙂 Which Challenge in Season 1 (including the 2 per-season challenges) was your least favorite? and why… My least favorite was office supplies. I think this is mostly because I found this challenge a bit too restricting so it couldn’t as easily be combined with making something to be used in real life and ended up more with pieces just for the competition. I like loving my pieces and incorporating them into my home or gifting them, which office supplies didn’t really fit in with – but that has more to do with my personal preferences than anything else. 🙂 Which Challenges did you come up with your idea immediately and which took some marinating? Well, I only participated in one challenge, and I’d say it took a moderate level of marination. I knew I wanted to do something to incorporate into my son’s nursery, which had a theme of monkeys, so I first did some research into nursery rhymes involving monkeys. While I found lots of children’s stories with monkeys, I only really could find the one nursery rhyme, "Five little monkeys". So I then began trying to think what I could do with that, and was initially thinking of a dresser cover depicting a scene from the rhyme, but then when the idea for the rug of a monkey that had fallen off the bed hit me I knew that was what I wanted to do. Just depicting a scene seemed to predictable to me after that. Did you try any new techniques for your projects during these challenges and if so, what were they? Well, I’d never quilted anything before this challenge. 🙂 I had begun work on my first quilt, but was still working on the appliqué and hadn’t progressed to any actual quilting, which I was going to do by hand anyways. Nor have I ever made a rug or worked with any of these fabrics. So basically it was all new to me! How has Project QUILTING made you a better Quilter? Well, in addition to getting me actually quilting something, it helped expose me to a variety of different techniques and styles all at once, from piecing to appliqué, to the shredded scraps in a frame. It was a great intro into the world of quilting for me. What didn’t you like about Project QUILTING? I wish there was a bit more time for each round. Between working full time and my responsibilities at home, it just wasn’t practical for me to participate in the whole competition. Plus, that type-A comes out in me again and wants to have enough time to really create something whose craftsmanship I can be proud of. Did you find the judges comments beneficial, annoying, or inconsequential?  Why? The judge comments as a whole were definitely beneficial. You win whether the judge liked your piece or not – you either got a nice compliment (and who doesn’t like that?), or you got some advice to help make you a better quilter. I do wish, however, that judges were not to take their own specific aesthetic into account – it can lead to some interesting outliers score wise. Do you think the judging format should be more structured, less structured, stay the same?  and why? I think the judging format is in general fine, though I’d love to get even more detailed feedback, and I feel like the judges should try to set aside their personal aesthetic – sometimes this can lead to real outliers in the scores because one judge just doesn’t jive with your idea. What was your favorite piece that you created for the Project QUILTING challenge?

Well, I only participated in one challenge, so it would have to be my monkey rug. 😀 What was your top three favorite pieces that someone else created for the Project QUILTING challenge?

Crooked House by Lovebugstudios

Don’t blow my house down by Karen’s Crafty World

The Juggler by Penny Fabric Art What changes would you make to future Project QUILTING Seasons? As I mentioned above, I’d really like a bit more time for the challenges to be able to more flexibly fit it in with the rest of life in the outside world and to have a chance to focus a bit more on execution instead of just the idea. Is there anything you’d like to add or comments you’d like to share with me and my readers? Project Quilting ROCKS! 🙂     ***SEASON 2 begins in THREE WEEKS!  I’m still in need of SPONSORS and GUEST JUDGES!  Thanks for everyone’s support!***