Saturday 27 October 2012

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Fall 2012

Yes it is that time of year again!

Amy's Creative Side
One of the biggest events of the online quilting community run by the fabulous Amy of Amy's Creative Side.  There are already over 300 quilts linked up and I stayed up way to late last night looking at a fraction of those.

So this time round it was quite easy to choose which quilt to share - the mini I made for round 3 of the Brit Quilt Swap.

One of my goals of 2012 was to join in more and after testing the water with a Rainbow charm Swap I decided to brave the Brit Quilt Swap and actually make something for someone I didn't know! To all you seasoned swappers that might not seem like a big deal but I was anxious, particularly considering some of the amazing quilters in the group.

I was assigned my parter and found that she didn't have a blog and had only a few photos on her Flickr stream so didn't have much to go on.  But she liked rainbow colours, cute embroidery and her mosaic featured a couple of appliqué trees so almost immediately the idea of a rainbow tree with embroidered animals popped into my head.

I had a leftover Layer cake square of a woodgrain print and my rainbow charms from the swap and was pleased by how close to my original idea it turned out.

Brit Quilt Swap 3 - applique finished Then I set to work with the embroidery.  I used Doodle Stitching Motifs by Aimee Ray, although I altered her racoon into a fox as I thought that was more appropriate for the UK.

The fox did cause some issues as initially he rather disappeared

Brit Quilt Swap 3 - disappearing fox But I replaced the white with a pale brown and that sorted that problem. Originally I had planned a pieced rainbow border but I got as far as the piecing before realising it was going to overwhelm everything else. I kicked about some other ideas but in the end decided it didn't need a border. I wanted to keep the quilting simple (mainly as my skills in that department are a work in progress) so I quilted round each leaf and then quilted 'grass' using two shades of green. I bound it in brown solid, although I found I was just short so I added in a scrap of an Ann Kelle print with a brown background.

Once it was bound I loved how that scrap seemed to carry the rainbow leaves out onto the binding - funny how these things work out!

So here is the finished item Brit Quilt Swap 3 - Finished!
I was so pleased with it, completely different from anything else I've done but I would happily have kept it. I loved the whole swap and enjoyed getting involved and trying something new. The only tiny downer was that although I know the mini arrived at its new home, I never got any acknowledgement. But hey, I don't know what was going on in the recipient's life and I had a blast making it so that was enough for me (that and receiving my own fabulous mini!).

So thanks for stopping by.  Be sure to visit some of the other wonderful quilts in the festival.
Sarah

The stats: 
 Size: 12" by 12" 
Special techniques: Raw edge appliqué, Embroidery 
Quilted by: Me 
Best Category: Mini quilt/ROYGBIV quilt

21 comments:

  1. It's such a sweet quilt. I would have been dancing with happiness to receive something so lovely and thoughtfully made.

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  2. Really love this - perfect combination of quilting and embroidery. Beautiful! x

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  3. I think I linked up to the festival right after you - um, there is one person between us! Your quilt is so adorable - I love the little owl in the tree!

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  4. This is adorable, but I'm especially in love with the owl in the tree. What an awesome little detail!

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  5. Oh, this is a happy quilt! I love that tree and all of the little embroideries are awesome! And I think you made the right choice going with no border. :)

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  6. adorable. your embroideries are just such a precious addition to a cute, cute rainbow tree. love it!! sorry you never heard from the recipient--guess it's what i always try to tell myself, "you gave it away with love, now, let it go" not always easy to remember though!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks for sharing and have a great day

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  7. this is really cute. I also really like how the color seems to continue onto (through) the binding.

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  8. I love trees and quilts so every combination of the two makes me happy. Beautiful!

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  9. So sweet! Love the little fox. Your embroidery motifs are adorable!

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  10. I loved watching this quilt evolve and it turned out so well. it makes me smile whenever I see it

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  11. I love the fox, that was an excellent choice! The splash of colour in the binding looks great too :)

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  12. I love the use of colour and the whimsical designs you used. This is a real cutie.

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  13. I'm impressed with embroidery...great job!

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  14. I love it! I'm not generally a huge fan of raw edges - but on your leaves, it works really well, as if they are fluttering in the breeze :-) And your embroidery? fabulous! I really like the mix of machine and hand stitching. I hate that the recipient didn't bother to acknowledge receipt :/

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  15. This is just adorable! Love it! Made me smile from ear to ear!!!

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  16. adorable... love the owl in the tree....

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  17. looks great - love the embroidery!

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  18. I love it - so cute and wonderful details - I've nominated you for fave mini quilt!

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  19. So charming and sweet.
    Fave mini quilt.

    Come see my entry #46 Batik Tulips
    applique, hand quilt, wall hanging

    and #23 antique zigzag quilt

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  20. I love that. The fox is just delightful! Your embroidery is beautiful!

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  21. This mini is gorgeous! Love all the colors!

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