Project Quilting- 12.3 Virtual Vacation Challenge

After being so lazy in the 12.2 Fussy Cut Challenge I thought I better step up my game this week.

This weeks challenge is "Virtual Vacation" and we were to create a project that symbolized the vacation we aren't on! 

On Sunday when the challenge came out, I thought about a road to somewhere, and I decided I would think about somewhere I wanted to go and then create from there. 

Monday morning I opened my email and the first email that popped up was an ad with an article titled "There Is No Dream Destination", that stuck in my head for the rest of the day, and I kept thinking, well where can I go then? LOL 

It's interesting after almost a year of hanging out at home, for the most part, I realize there is really no place I want to go. There are days when I would like to get in my car and just start driving, no destination, just drive, so I still wanted to do a road theme. But a road to where? 

I had just ordered a stack of fabric from Quilter's Corner in Faulkton, SD and there is a piece from Moda called Cider Golden Delicious Tart. I am in love with this piece of fabric. It has a nostalgic feel of the 70's to it. Remember the record album covers, old rock band posters, the vintage fashion, it's all there in that one piece of fabric.

 So I decided I was going to create something that had the feel of a vintage poster. They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I had good intentions to get this project finished early, but the week got away from me, suddenly it was Saturday and I had nothing but a sketched idea on a piece of notebook paper. 

It was cold today, I have customer quilts I need to get done, but I had been up late all week hand binding quilts and I decided I was going to just hang out in my sewing mess and get my challenge quilt done.

Of course I still didn't know where I was going to go on my vacation.  As much fun as we had "Back in the Day",  I really wasn't sure I wanted to travel back to the 70's! 

Thinking about my road in the middle of my design I was reminded of Walt Whitman's poem,

Song of the Open Road, and the line in section 8, 

The efflux of the soul is happiness, 

There have been many days this past year I have felt like happiness was pretty elusive. But this line reminds me that happiness is already inside of me, and I don't need to go looking for it any further than myself. 

So there is where my plan was hatched. A 70's vibe piece of fabric, old rock band posters, happiness, the open road, makes sense doesn't it! LOL 

So I created my little quilt and call it, "My Virtual Vacation on the Road to Happiness". 

I really wanted to find a little mirror to put in the place where my sunbeams are, I wanted the mirror to represent the idea that happiness was inside of us. I couldn't find a round mirror, or a silver button, but I liked the way the  bright shiny gold button looked with my fabric choices. It's all made using fabric scraps, except that one section of good stuff, and I added some road signs with good advice for recharging your Happiness along the way. 

My finished quilt is 8 x 10