Fun with letters

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that when there is an upcoming deadline, it is important to distract oneself with something totally unrelated to the deadline task. 

Thus, after a conversation with Hilary about the sad lack of contributions of "letters" for the Contemporary Quilt banner, which she will be sewing together, I resolved to make some, and had a happy hour using up scraps already backed with fusible web, making a crazy-patchwork sort of cloth -

out of which some letters were cut (most shapes derived via typefaces available in InDesign, very much enlarged) -

These were put onto black cloth (size could be anything from 3" to 7" in either direction) -

and satin stitched from the selection of delicious colours in my tidied-up thread box -

It was quick and fun, but there's a sad side to the story....

The idea behind the banner, and the simple, quick task of making a letter (your choice of A, C, E, I, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, T, U, Y - the letters in the name of the group) - was that anyone and everyone in the group could easily contribute.  It was a chance for as many members as possible to be included. But there have been contributions from only a tiny proportion of the 700 members. Perhaps like me they forgot about the cut-off date; perhaps the wide-open nature of the project (any technique, the range of possible size) made it daunting - too much choice! Or is the task too simple to bother with - is it not enough of a challenge? Was it that the contributions were anonymous, makers not given credit?

In any case, the poor turnout is a real disappointment - this "group" project doesn't have "group" participation, and is not representative of the membership. Last time letters for a banner were needed, people were given the fabric and a pattern, and supplied enough for four banners - and that design has been used for various CQ websites -

If the letters I'm sending aren't used, no matter. Perhaps after making the needed banner, Hilary will pass the project on to someone else to continue, and there'll be another call - and more response.