I got down to work and have completed the stitching on the EGA challenge piece. I've begun mounting it on foamcore. All I need to do now is add the backing fabric and personal information and I can send it off to Judy Jeroy.
Here it is. The top wheel is a detached stuffed shape. It took me a while to figure out how to stitch and stuff the complex shape. I ended up cutting the top layer from fabric, adding two cut layers of batting to it and then basting the top seam allowances to the back of the batting. Then I cut a backing piece, folded in the seam allowances, and hand stitched it to the prepared top piece. That sounds more organized than it was--there were some tiny seams and clipped curves and I just made it up as I went along. There were so many layers and then the wooden sticks for the rods, that I ended up gluing the top wheel to the piece. I couldn't sew it on invisibly or neatly.
Here are some close ups.
And another cropped view of the whole--without the ragged edges showing.
