Autumn Whimsy - Bloggers Quilt Festival

Today I am posting about my entry into the Bloggers Quilt Festival. Are you familiar with this awesome event? It is hosted by Amy Ellis of Amy's Creative Side and occurs twice a year coinciding with Spring and Fall Quilt Market. Be sure and check out all of the wonderful creations in all different sizes and creations. And be sure and vote for your favorites in each category.

Bloggers Quilt Festival Fall 2013!

 

It is that wonderful time of year where so many wonderful quilts and projects from across the blogging universe are shared!

If you are looking for inspiration just take a peek at all the pretties being entered over at

Amys Creative Side!

 

This year I am entering my Good Luck Star in the Wall Hanging category. This mini quilt wall hanging was made for the SewSewModern 3 swap on Flickr. This group has so much talent! It really challenges my creativity and sewing ability - which I love.

This project is scrappy and paper pieced. I used darker, more saturated colors for the star along with a lighter shade of the same color to off set the swirl and give the star movement.

 

I then used a variety of grey based low volume prints to frame the star. Many of these were charms from swaps and a few were from yardage, but the combination is unique and allows the saturated colors of the star to stand out against the background. Again I tried to place darker and lighter greys so that your eye moves in a circle around the star.

I then used the lighter shades to make an inside border - if you read my earlier post on this quilt here - you know that this ended up being the most difficult part of the process. I wanted a border with color but something that allowed the star to shine and be the center of attention!

The back showing the great Cloud Nine fabric (available at JoAnn's) and the quilting done with my favorite Aurifil #50 pearl grey thread.

 

Here is the completed quilt just before sending it off to my swap partner! I just love the Architextures binding - it was the perfect finish for this quilt.

 

 

 

I loved everything about this quilt, it challenged me and turned out just like my vision - and my partner loved it which is just the icing on the cake! Win! Win!

Name: Good Luck Star

 

Size: 19in x 19in

 

Pattern: Good Luck Star by Banner Creek Designs available on Craftsy

 

Technique: Paper Piecing

 

Fabrics: working from Stash - including Architextures, Half Moon Modern, Tsuru, Silent Ciniema, Squared Elements, and a variety of Low volume prints

 

Quilting: In the Ditch/Straight line/Stenciled Chain by me and my Janome Horizon

 

Thread: Aurifil #50 Pearl Grey

 

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure and check out all the amazingness over at the festival and vote for all your favorites.  

Happy Stitching!

Ginny

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

Running crazy with hair on fire!!

Ok, that is an exaggeration but I am sure you have all been there! 

October has just flown by--since vacation and now next week is Halloween!  Let's see, work, birthdays, work, family obligations, work, fundraisers, work....uh, yea, you get the picture. And it has all been good, just not enough time in the day. I have sewn a bit and have stashed alot-- pics coming Sunday!  And yes, I had cake yesterday as it was my birthday! Another year of wisdom gained (at least I like to think so, lol!)
Well maybe, I was stopped for speeding yesterday---my birthday! --- seems I need to lose a couple pounds from my foot or ALWAYS use cruise control! The cute young police office was very nice--a warning was given along with a sincere "I hope you have a Happy Birthday"  Uh...yea...I need to learn to slow down!

So two things today: There is a huge color wheel swap going on and there are still 15 spots left if you are interested!  Great way to build your stash for all those winter sewing projects coming up! Check it out!

Color Wheel Charm Swap

Open for 56 Participants, each one will order 5 yards of fabric (1yd per print) in their assigned color group. Each yard will be cut into 56 5"x5" charms and then sent to the swap leader. Once I have received all of them you will be returned 1 charm of each print equaling 280 charms!

www.flickr.com/groups/colorwheelswap/

Also the Fall edition of the Bloggers Quilt Festival over at AmysCreativeSide starts tomorrow!!



Are you ready with your entry? I will be entering for the first time. Check it out here! Entry's will be nominated by readers and prizes will be awarded. Plus it is just so awesome to see so many talented quilters showing their work! Get ready for inspiration and awesomeness!

And don't forget the U R Priceless Blog Hop coming up! My day is Nov. 8th. So many cute frame coin purses! These will make awesome Christmas Gifts--I know a few are on my list of gifts to make!

Have a great day!
Ginny