Aurifil Artisan Challenge: December 2019

This month, I'm participating in another [Aurifil](https://www.aurifil.com/) Artisan challenge, which was a challenge for an open ended holiday project. At the same time of thinking about this monthly challenge, I also have been planning my mini quilt for the upcoming [MQG QuiltCon swap](https://www.themodernquiltguild.com/swaps).

My swap partner likes [Jen Kingwell](https://www.jenkingwelldesigns.com/), so I was browsing around her site and came across the [Utah Tempter](https://thediyaddict.com/jen-kingwell-utah-tempter-quilt) pattern. I was inspired by Jen's pattern and wanted to take it one step further, bringing in my recent experience of foundation paper piecing skinny strip curves. Because the Aurifil challenge and the swap were on my radar as upcoming projects, I decided to make a holiday version at the same time as making my swap mini.

I grabbed a few solid red and greens from my stash, plus kona white. Most of my stash is [Robert Kaufman Kona](http://www.robertkaufman.com/fabrics/kona_cotton/) these days, with a few stragglers mixed in. I divided my design into 8 pieces of foundation paper templates (4 mirrored from the other 4), and foundation paper pieced using [Aurifil 50wt](https://www.aurifil.com/products/aurifil-cotton-50wt) for the piecing.

After I finished piecing, I removed the paper and basted for domestic machine quilting using a [Hoffman](https://hoffmancaliforniafabrics.net/) batik on the quilt back. I grabbed Aurifil 40wt in Burgundy (1103) and 50wt in Pine (2892), both of which I believe came from the welcome pack I received back in June. I was able to quilt it on my domestic Juki relatively quickly, and finished with facing (via Audrey's tutorial [here](https://www.cottonandbourbon.com/tutorials/quilt-facing-tutorial)).

The final quilt measures 20"x20" and looks great as holiday decor! I hope you all enjoy your holiday season and happy making!