Bloggers Quilt Festival

Hi, have you been over to Amy's Creative Side and seen the amazing display of inspiration and talent by all the wonderful quilters/bloggers?

 

If not be sure and stop by-- you will probably need more than one trip -- as there are hundreds of quilts to see. There are many prizes to win, just by leaving a comment or if you enter and win in your category there are great prizes for that too! Readers will be nominating their favorites in each category, so go and have fun! (after you finish reading my post about my entry of course! :)

I am pleased to be able to finally show you my finished Retro Flowers quilt!

I am so happy with how this turned out! There were times when I wondered if I would ever get all the flowers together! For all of you that were following my progress - Thank you! Your encouragement was so important and helpful in motivating me to continue and finish.

This quilt started with the Retro Flowers QAL earlier this year in April. It was my first Quilt A Long. I loved "meeting" other quilters that were particpating through the Flickr group. And I loved seeing everyones fabric picks and progress. There are some fabulous quilts and quilters in that group!

I love this pattern and look with the crisp white sashing and couldn't wait to start. I took a bit of a "modern" approach, even though the name is Retro Flowers. I chose Art Gallery's Modernology line of fabric  which included some small-medium prints but also some very beautiful large prints. I was a bit concerned how the larger prints would work with this pattern as each petal of each flower is made up of 3 curved pieces and one square. So there would not be much of a chance to match those large prints up at the seams. I instead used them to balance out the flower by making sure they were scattered in each petal equally so the eye would move around the whole flower.

 

I also used the Curve Master foot to help with the curves. This special foot helps guide the two pieces of fabric together while sewing the concave and convex curve. This  seems very unnatural when actually sewing them together, but so worth it! Once you get the hang of it, it goes much more quickly and I liked this method as I did not have to pin the seam!

 

For the backing I chose a grey Modernology print that reminded me of  the Retro Flower itself. I love the colors and repetitive simplicity of the pattern.

 

 

The binding I chose is navy blue with an aqua print from the Modernology line. I really like the way the navy contrasts against the white sashing and coordinates with all the navy and aqua in the quilt while contrasting with the corals, pinks, and reds.

The quilt was quilted by Kathy Holman, Fort Wayne, Indiana. She did a wonderful job! I  requested  a "swirling pattern"  and not only did she find it but she was able to enlarge the pattern so that it was proportinate to the quilt/flowers. I love the all over pattern and the way it really shows up on the front. Once washed the quilt sqrunched up so beautifully! You can see this so well in the first and second pic above! This quilt is now ready to be hung in my guest bedroom and is one I will always cherish.

Quilt Stats:

Size 57x58 inches
Special tool: Curve Master foot
Fabric: Art Gallery Modernology and Kona White
Quilted By: Kathy Holman
Best Categories:  Favorite Wall Hanging, Best Professional Quilting, Favorite Throw