Morris Meadow Design Contest Winner

Photoshopping me in Janey Morris's hair and clothing from

a Rosetti portrait of her in our Spencer Museum. Sorry, Dante, Janey & Willie.

I was the judge but I roped a mythical William Morris into

the job too. Morris had strong opinions about design so I 

channeled his help with a hard decision. 

44 Entries

Click on the picture to see more details or better yet go to the EQ page:

Morris Meadow – Winner Announced! | The Electric Quilt Blog (doyoueq.com)

 EQ's rules were few: 

The quilt design must be original to the entrant.
The design must be drawn in an EQ product.

Fabric choices were confined to the Fabric of the Month: Morris Meadow Best of Morris.

His Arbutus has a simple repeat yet it appears quite complex.

Two layers of pattern include subtle leaves in the dark background here.

Arbutus is a Mediterranean tree sometimes called a Strawberry Tree.

Their rules left me and Willie with a lot of latitude. I considered his principles:

• Morris espoused tradition.
• He thought the product should be true to the material. 
• He was adamant about design echoing the natural world.
• He was a genius with pattern on a flat surface.
• He was opposed to industrialization (although I'd argue that industrialization gave craftspeople time to create rather than merely laboring daily to provide food and shelter.)

Me: I looked for: 

• Impact
• Clever pattern
• A nod to traditional design with a creative twist

I picked Anita Verstraete's as my winner. It has impact---would look good on a wall or a bed. Nice variety of value and colors. I have a bit of a bias but I like seeing large pieces of the prints as they are so lovely. (Remember, Willie did all that pattern design---I just color them in shades I hope he'd like.)

Anita says: "I purchased EQ8 one week ago and this challenge was a great way for me to learn how to use the quilt program and explore a palette of colours/fabrics that I wouldn’t ordinarily choose. I’m also very inspired by everyone’s designs."

As Susan commented: "I’m impressed you could put together such a beautiful quilt in such a short time to learn the product!"

I agree---I am nowhere as skillful with the capabilities of EQ as you designers are.

In the contest you are limited to the prints in the collection. As Pamela noted: "I do wish, though, there had been a plain orange." In real life you can add an orange to your designs. As blue's color complement it would be a good addition. 

There were 43 Runners Up.

More inspiration tomorrow.