Leapin' lizards!

Marje Rhine, pattern editor for American Quilter magazine, submitted this information and has graciously shared the original pieced Lizard background block for this quilt on www.AmericanQuilter.com.

"This is my eighth fabric challenge quilt in several years and my fourth entry in the Hoffman challenge. I've won prizes in lesser challenges but to my amazement, this year I won an honorable mention in the mixed techniques category!

When I saw the Hoffman challenge fabric, almost immediately the skin of a lizard came to mind. When I found a great picture of a lizard in a Dover royalty-free book, I knew I had to make him. I assembled the pieced and appliquéd lizard, stump, and foliage before even thinking about the background. I wanted a pieced background that somehow related to the subject matter, but there is no traditional pieced lizard block - so I designed my own. I'm happy to share my pieced block with quilters everywhere. Here's the link: http://www.americanquilter.com/publications/pattern_view.php?id=111

The quilting generally follows and enhances the lines of the subject matter, except for the background where I quilted feathers and swirls. I particularly enjoyed piecing and quilting the stump.The quilt name, Transformed, came from a poem written by Robert Graves: 'Transformed would I be to toad or lizard.' I certainly transformed this fabric!"

The first showing of the winners of the 2009 Hoffman challenge is at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Festival August 22-23rd, 2009 in Loveland, Colorado. To see all the challenge winners and look at the show schedule, visit http://www.hoffmanchallenge.com/