Hottie Challenge 2013 - My Entry

Have you heard of The Hottie Challenge? Coordinated and promoted by The Open Drawer and Curlypops, the gist of it is that it's an exhibition at The Open Drawer of hot water bottle covers (not necessarily functional). The aim of the exhibition is to raise awareness and funding for the Margaret Pratt Foundation, who support research into heart and lung transplant outcomes.

The hottie challenge was run in 2011, but I didn't have enough time then to join in. And when Cam announced it this year I was worried that I wouldn't be able to join in again, but I was determined to try and squeeze it in.

For my entry I wanted to have a go at making an art quilt, as I always love looking at them when I see them at the show. And as I had a nice selection of blues and greens in my stash of patchwork fabric decided to try making a landscape image.

     

It was lots of fun building up the layers to try and create an image. I want to do it again with a quilt that I will actually be keeping. You know the scariest part though? Cutting out the hot water bottle cover shape from the finished landscape.

 

The back was kept simple with a plain white quilted back, but I took the opportunity to have a go at a free motion quilting design that I've not done before; pebbling. It took a little while to get the hang of it, but overall it was a fun design that makes a really lovely texture. I don't know when I'd do it again as it's very time consuming though.

As both the front and back are like mini-quilts, this made the hottie a fully functional hot water bottle cover.

And you want to know my favourite part of the whole thing? The little embroidered sheep that I added...

Anyway, my hottie, along with all the other incredible hotties will be on display at The Open Drawer from Friday the 5th to Sunday the 28th July, and will also be for sale to raise funds for the Margaret Pratt Foundation. Maybe you'll come along to the exhibition? Or buy one of the hotties? Or make a donation to the Margaret Pratt Foundation?