miniature Prayer Flags

The October/November issue of Quilting Arts Magazine issued a reader challenge called 'fly your own flag'. Readers were asked to create between 3-5 mini prayer flags using specific size templates.  In this case, small.....very small. The flags had to have a casing that a 1/4" ribbon could fit through.
The flags could represent your hopes and dreams, your deepest concerns and wishes and express ones emotions in ones own artistic style.

Since many of you reading this know that I'm working on a memory art quilt about my parents, you know that my dad used to be a ham radio operator. As a kid, I remember him secluding himself in his workroom, even if just for a few minutes, and turning on his ham radio equipment. His call signal was K4MQB. When I asked if those letters and number had any particular meaning, he said "Kids 4 Married Quite Broke.  So as I read the magazine challenge, I immediately thought of that call signal, and being they were five letters, it would be perfect to depict it on my prayer flags.

I like to take leftovers from art quilt projects and make them into something else. I often make "inchies" by running several decorative stitches and using decorative threads across the leftover quilt sandwich, finishing them with a satin stitch, and cutting them apart to leave about 1" squares to use as embellishments on future art quilts. This challenge lent itself to use that idea to make the flags.

According to the magazine, every challenge submission will be published, either in the April/May 2014 issue or on their website. The flags will then be hung in the Quilting Arts offices as a permanent reminder of the compassion, generosity, and spirit of their readers.