Quilted Puzzle Play Mat- America's Best Craft Contest 2022

I need your vote!!

This summer I had the privilege of attending the H+H Americas show in Chicago as a guest of Prime Publishing. This was the first time this show was held in Chicago and was primarily textiles and fiber arts. If you know me at all, I dabble in most things creative but while I know how to sew, I don't do it enough to be proficient at it and as far as knitting or crocheting....lets just say I do "Ok" with arm knitting, but if you give me needles I make really good holes (and not intentional.) 

All this to say when I decided to go I wasn't sure what to expect. I just knew I had not been to a "Live Show" with my creative tribe in 2 years and I was missing them. I was so glad I went as I was blown away! The show was small but well attended. Vendors were not just eager to "sell" but willing to talk with you about ideas and products and projects. 

One highlight of the show for me was the Influencer Networking event hosted by Prime Publishing. There I was able to spend some one on one time with owners, designers, and marketing directors from several companies. Talking about what they were looking for and what I did in the creative world. Naturally there might have been a mention or two of my work with Operation Christmas Child :) 

As part of the event, every attendee at the Prime Networking Event was invited to create a project using at least one of the sponsors' products. This project would be entered into a contest to be named "America's Best Craft". Putting my thinking cap on and pushing myself WAY WAY (did I mention WAY )out of my comfort zone, I decided to design a quilting project for Operation Christmas Child.

Introducing the "Quilted Puzzle Play Mat" 

"Who doesn’t love driving their toy cars through the city? What if you could change that city every time you drove through it?? Created with colorful fabric, fusible interfacing, Velcro©, and some DIY iron-on appliqués, this Quilted Puzzle Play Mat is sure to be ever-changing fun for your little ones. The best part, it folds up to fit in a diaper bag or backpack! Little one doesn’t play with cars? Instead of appliquéing a city….How about a jungle scene with toy animals, a castle scene or alien planet to land on with your spaceship... the only limit is your imagination!"

 

I had so much fun designing this!  Colorful fabric from Clothworks. All the pieces are interchangeable thanks to Velcro© and creating the applique's was easy using Heat and Bond -Lite from Therm-o-Web. The cool part (I mean besides the fact you can design your own city.) this folds up to 5"x5" x4" perfect size for a shoebox!!

 All this to say, I could use your vote. The contest voting is open through September 14 and I would love your support! https://www.favecrafts.com/voting/Americas-Best-Craft . You can vote once per day through the 14th.

A huge thanks to all the company sponsors: H+H Americas, Clothworks, ViviLux, Craftmarker.com, M Creative J, Prym, Universal Yarn, and Prime Publishing!