You can vote too :) A warning though. There is a serious number of fantastic quilts and the final selection will be difficult. If you want to, go take a look at Amy's blog:
http://amyscreativeside.com/2014/05/17/viewers-choice-nominate-vote-here/
Saturday 24 May 2014
Seriously?
I woke up today to find out my 'big bed quilt' has been nominated to Viewers Choice at the Bloggers Quilt festival.... Say what! To say I'm honored is an understatement.
Sunday 18 May 2014
My next quilt maybe pile
My current pile of fabrics that I'm playing with and might use for the next quilt. All fabrics are 1/2 or 1 yard pieces so there'll be plenty to work with :)
Friday 16 May 2014
Quilt festival spring 2014 - the Japanese garden
Yeah! It’s festival time again. A huge thank you to Amy and to all the sponsors for making this fantastic event a reality once again. I am really looking forward to be on this 'quilt cruise' for the next couple of weeks visiting lots of new blogs seeing fantastic creations from all over the world.
This is my submission to the small quilt group (which I just fit into with this quilt at 60x 60 inches.
I never name my quilts but DH said the circular quilting reminded him of a Japanese garden, and the name just seemed very appropriate, so that's what I call it. To be honest 'Japanese garden' also sounds a lot better than the '9 degree needle-turn fan quilt'
The facts:
Fabrics: Lots of Kate Spain fabrics, linen, thick luscious dark blue fleece as backing, 80/20 batting.
Techniques: Dresden 9 degree wedges, needle-turn appliqué, machine quilted at home using QAYG.
Time: I started it in middle of March 2014 and finished on in the beginning of May.
The process:
As usual I had one plan when I started and it ended up very different from what I thought it would be. I sort of winged it though from start to finish without much of a plan.
I originally set out to make a string quilt using scraps, but as you know scraps requires a bit of overview and a clear mind... and unfortunately neither my sewing room or myself had those virtues in March. On the top shelf however I found a decent Kate Spain leftover pile. Love the colors and decided to make a string quilt with that instead of real scraps. I even cut all the strips, and then realized I didn't really feel for the traditional project anyway. So with my pile of strips, I zoomed into fan quilts instead. With a 9 degree ruler I made big wedges, which ended up in 16 quarter fans.
I hand appliqued all the fans on linen and quilted it densely to the batting with QAYG in circles. The quilting is very subtle on the pictures - it's hard to see it but up close it's very visible and it gives the quilt a lovely texture.
Anyway. enough about this quilt. Thank you for stopping by :) Now get on out of here and look at some of the other bloggers quilt festival entries:
This is my submission to the small quilt group (which I just fit into with this quilt at 60x 60 inches.
I never name my quilts but DH said the circular quilting reminded him of a Japanese garden, and the name just seemed very appropriate, so that's what I call it. To be honest 'Japanese garden' also sounds a lot better than the '9 degree needle-turn fan quilt'
The facts:
Fabrics: Lots of Kate Spain fabrics, linen, thick luscious dark blue fleece as backing, 80/20 batting.
Techniques: Dresden 9 degree wedges, needle-turn appliqué, machine quilted at home using QAYG.
Time: I started it in middle of March 2014 and finished on in the beginning of May.
The process:
As usual I had one plan when I started and it ended up very different from what I thought it would be. I sort of winged it though from start to finish without much of a plan.
I originally set out to make a string quilt using scraps, but as you know scraps requires a bit of overview and a clear mind... and unfortunately neither my sewing room or myself had those virtues in March. On the top shelf however I found a decent Kate Spain leftover pile. Love the colors and decided to make a string quilt with that instead of real scraps. I even cut all the strips, and then realized I didn't really feel for the traditional project anyway. So with my pile of strips, I zoomed into fan quilts instead. With a 9 degree ruler I made big wedges, which ended up in 16 quarter fans.
And finally, I leave you with an indoor picture without wind and disorting sunlight
Quilt festival spring 2014 - my bed quilt
It’s festival time! A huge thank you to Amy and to all the sponsors for making this fantastic event a reality once again.
My quilt for the big quilt category is this one - a double bed quilt that I started in the summer of 2012 and finally finished in February 2014.
Fabric: Amy Butler, Joel Dewberry and Kona fabrics. 80/20 batting and cotton background
Techniques: EPP, machine pieced blocks, machine quilted by Diane
Size: 95x95 inches
I have (selfishly) kept the quilt and it is the first thing I see when I open my eyes in the morning. Call me crazy all you want, but looking at the colors in this quilt makes me very, very happy… I also like the combination of traditional and modern blocks that somehow came together in this.
When I started I had no idea what I wanted to make. I was inspired by the Ferris Wheels EPP and had some FQ’s of Lark fabric on the shelf. I thought they would be perfect for the FerrisWheels, because the fabrics are quite different both in design and color and expression.
So I EPP'ed to my hearts delight. By August I had more than 1x1 meter. However, at that point I wasn’t too keen on making more EPP, so I decided to add a border. I choose the Lattice block from the book ‘Modern blocks’. I started making the lattice blocks in October 2012 and Bee Europa chipped in with some of the lattice blocks in the early spring of 2013.
When the lattice border was finally a reality in the summer of 2013 the quilt still didn’t feel finished, so I decided to add yet another border.
After much consideration I finally selected the ‘Pongo Stick’ block, which was funny enough originally the block I considered instead of the lattice block ((also from Modern Blocks)
With the final border on the quilt measured 95x95 inches. The thought of quilting such a large quilt on my old Pfaff and ruin it with my lousy quilting skills didn’t strike me as a terribly good idea, so I decided have it long armed quilted – a new first for me. I brought the quilt to Sweden, where my family lives and the wonderful Diane worked her magic all over it. Not a day goes by where I’m not happy about that decision. The quilting looks fantastic (and wasn’t as expensive as I had feared it would be). In February 2014 I made the last stitches on the binding and was finally able to put the quilt on my bed.
(Picture taken by Diane)
Behind the scenes
It’s a big quilt and very, very difficult to photograph. I thought the bench at the lake would be a good spot to take a picture and literally help to elevate the quilts, so we all went for an evening walk just as the sun was going down. But... even with the boys standing on the bench they couldn't quite lift it off the ground.
When taking the pictures I managed to sneak behind them and got this photo. It makes me smile big. It feels like the boys are growing up so fast, but in reality they still need a little help holding up a quilt this size.
My quilt for the big quilt category is this one - a double bed quilt that I started in the summer of 2012 and finally finished in February 2014.
Fabric: Amy Butler, Joel Dewberry and Kona fabrics. 80/20 batting and cotton background
Techniques: EPP, machine pieced blocks, machine quilted by Diane
Size: 95x95 inches
I have (selfishly) kept the quilt and it is the first thing I see when I open my eyes in the morning. Call me crazy all you want, but looking at the colors in this quilt makes me very, very happy… I also like the combination of traditional and modern blocks that somehow came together in this.
When I started I had no idea what I wanted to make. I was inspired by the Ferris Wheels EPP and had some FQ’s of Lark fabric on the shelf. I thought they would be perfect for the FerrisWheels, because the fabrics are quite different both in design and color and expression.
So I EPP'ed to my hearts delight. By August I had more than 1x1 meter. However, at that point I wasn’t too keen on making more EPP, so I decided to add a border. I choose the Lattice block from the book ‘Modern blocks’. I started making the lattice blocks in October 2012 and Bee Europa chipped in with some of the lattice blocks in the early spring of 2013.
When the lattice border was finally a reality in the summer of 2013 the quilt still didn’t feel finished, so I decided to add yet another border.
After much consideration I finally selected the ‘Pongo Stick’ block, which was funny enough originally the block I considered instead of the lattice block ((also from Modern Blocks)
With the final border on the quilt measured 95x95 inches. The thought of quilting such a large quilt on my old Pfaff and ruin it with my lousy quilting skills didn’t strike me as a terribly good idea, so I decided have it long armed quilted – a new first for me. I brought the quilt to Sweden, where my family lives and the wonderful Diane worked her magic all over it. Not a day goes by where I’m not happy about that decision. The quilting looks fantastic (and wasn’t as expensive as I had feared it would be). In February 2014 I made the last stitches on the binding and was finally able to put the quilt on my bed.
(Picture taken by Diane)
Behind the scenes
It’s a big quilt and very, very difficult to photograph. I thought the bench at the lake would be a good spot to take a picture and literally help to elevate the quilts, so we all went for an evening walk just as the sun was going down. But... even with the boys standing on the bench they couldn't quite lift it off the ground.
When taking the pictures I managed to sneak behind them and got this photo. It makes me smile big. It feels like the boys are growing up so fast, but in reality they still need a little help holding up a quilt this size.
Anyways, enough about this quilt. Thanks for stopping by here. There are so many other wonderful quilts to see and so much inspiration to be found, so be sure to visit lots of the festival blogs too.
Tuesday 6 May 2014
Japanese Garden
Yeah! The Japanese Garden is finished. What was intended to start out as a traditional string quilt and scrap buster turned into something a little different along the way.
I originally set out to make a string quilt using scraps, but as you know making scraps look good requires a bit of overview and a clear mind... and unfortunately neither my sewing room or myself had those virtues in March. On the top shelf however, I found a decent Kate Spain leftover pile.
The colors seemed so right for spring and and decided to make an 'almost' scrappy string quilt. I started cutting all the strips, and then realized I didn't really feel for the traditional project anyway. So with my pile of strips, I zoomed my attention into fan quilts instead. With a 9 degree ruler I made big Dresden wedges, which ended up in 16 quarter fans.
I needle-turned the fans on linen and quilted it densely to the batting with QAYG in circles. The quilting is very subtle on the pictures - it's hard to see it but up close it's quite visible and it gives the quilt a lovely texture.
It's traditional, it's modern, it's fun and full of color all at the same time. The fleece backing makes it very warm and comfortable too. What's not to like?
I finished it on Sunday, my sister's birthday. Maybe that's where this quilt should be heading? A little selfish part of me wants to keep it here though. I know it will look magnificent in her living room and she will treasure it. On the other hand I can't think of anything better than to curl up under it on my couch, where it will also look good. Hmm...what's a girl to do?
I originally set out to make a string quilt using scraps, but as you know making scraps look good requires a bit of overview and a clear mind... and unfortunately neither my sewing room or myself had those virtues in March. On the top shelf however, I found a decent Kate Spain leftover pile.
The colors seemed so right for spring and and decided to make an 'almost' scrappy string quilt. I started cutting all the strips, and then realized I didn't really feel for the traditional project anyway. So with my pile of strips, I zoomed my attention into fan quilts instead. With a 9 degree ruler I made big Dresden wedges, which ended up in 16 quarter fans.
It's traditional, it's modern, it's fun and full of color all at the same time. The fleece backing makes it very warm and comfortable too. What's not to like?
I finished it on Sunday, my sister's birthday. Maybe that's where this quilt should be heading? A little selfish part of me wants to keep it here though. I know it will look magnificent in her living room and she will treasure it. On the other hand I can't think of anything better than to curl up under it on my couch, where it will also look good. Hmm...what's a girl to do?
Right now I'm making only one project at the time. Hence no actual WIP's in this post.. I'm thinking and playing with ideas for the next project.
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