I’m so excited to be sharing a new finished quilt with you today!!!
Those of you who have popped in from Amy Ellis’ Blogger’s Quilt Festival, welcome!!! Can you believe how many talented quilters there are out there? What a great gathering of creativity. A huge thank you to Amy and all the great sponsors! What a wonderful way to help build connections within our expanding quilt community.
Anyway, on to the quilt…… after a marathon quilting weekend,(I’ve had a lot of those lately, thanks to my awesome hubby who entertains the kiddos) I finished my latest quilt!!
This quilt, which I’ve entitled “Fact or Fiction” is my first all solids quilt!
I’m really happy with the results.
So what do indian corn, a lovely print fabric and a kona color card have to do with each other, you ask? Put them together and you have the inspiration for this quilt!!
What a gloriously perfect fall day we had when I happened to finish it! (yes that’s a dirty dog paw print you see on the bottom of my brand new quilt-ugh!)
So, back to my story. During my recent and wonderful weekend in Utah at the Sewing Summit, I was gifted this card–Halalujah!!! I had been too cheap to buy one of these for so long and here it was now in my lap!!!! Wow, thank you Sewing Summit and Robert Kaufman Fabrics!! (I really was more excited than I look in this photo) Suddenly the possibilities seemed endless.
Earlier that day my lovely sewing sisters Jennifer and Irelle and I had visited the local quilt shop, all decorated in it’s very sweet fall attire. There I picked up a FQ of that lovely Juicy Blossoms print you see in the earlier photo.
Those things, combined with all the baby pumpkins and indian corn so copiously displayed everywhere I went, equaled much inspiration for me.
Whether I knew it consciously or not, I had the makings of my next quilt. I got right to work putting the colors together on the design wall! It came together pretty fast. I love improv piecing, it’s what I’m most comfortable with and love most about quilting. The hard part for me was the “weaving” and straight cuts that had to match up just so. I was amazed however at how much I’ve learned over the past year that made that part, pretty easy~~ pleasant surprise!!
Even though it’s a mostly improv piece, there was still lots of measuring and figuring the negative space; a challenge I actually enjoy more than I thought I ever would.
For the quilting on this one, I knew I need a clear idea BEFORE I began quilting in order to avoid the fiasco that ensued weeks earlier with a similar design. I wanted to echo the lines of the piecing and make the quilting feel organic with lots of movement and flow.
I kept thinking….. corn fields or wheat fields, gently blowing in the breeze out on some beautiful sunny prairie somewhere in middle America. Since my intention for this all along has been to use it as a large wall hanging, I wanted the lines to be dense, in order to help it lay flat and give it a real presence.
Here we decided to see how it looks turned upside down. I suppose there is no right or wrong way, except to me. My hubby sure wasn’t sure and thought it worked either way.
I think I like it best the way I originally envisioned it….. but it’s nice to know it has options!!
Thanks for sitting with me and my quilt for a bit. I hope you’re enjoying your tour around the BQF. I think you must be a devoted but weary festival goer by now if you’ve gotten to my quilt-Ha! Better late than not at all right?!
~~~karen
I’ve always loved all the fall colors and using Indian corn for the palette is gorgeous. GORGEOUS!
Thank you, I appreciate it a lot!!
oh my. such a wonderfully GORGEOUS quilt! thanks for sharing!
thank you!!
What a beautiful quilt!! I love the colors, the crispness, the white, I love the inspiration behind it. I think your quilting aligns so well with the top. I picked up a Kona card myself this past week at Market in Houston. I’M SO EXCITED ABOUT IT! It was #1 on my want list for Market. Congratulations on a gorgeous quilt.
Thanks a bunch!! Yes, that color card is revolutionary for me!! Glad I’m not alone in loving it so much– seems silly huh? :-))
Just exquisite! As someone who knows nothing about the art of quilting, this looks like it would be so difficult to get all those pieces together so seamlessly. What an accomplishment. What a visual delight! Josef Albers would appreciate your advanced color sense. I love getting your posts. My favorite emails. Keep up your fabulous work!
Thank you so much, I really love getting all your supportive and sweet comments! I’ll definitely keep it up!:-)
love those colors, and the quilting is perfect- so nice and dense. lovely work.
Thank you very much. The quilting left my shoulder sore for two days, but I think it was worth it! 🙂
I still want it! George would love my home. 😉
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the front of your quilt is exquisite. i love hearing the story of your inspiration. and i love the in process photos, too.
but i have to tell you that the back of your quilt has just rocked me to the core. the way you use peeks and slivers of bright colors in a sea of pale neutral is beyond my ability to find an adjective. wow.
Awww, thanks so much!! glad to hear you like the back so much. I wasn’t sure about all that grey. Thanks for commenting!!!
i’m trying to find you on flickr to make you a contact. could you help a girl out? 🙂
I’ve not yet managed to brave improve quilting, but this seems to be a great inspiration for such a project! Congrats on this gorgeous quilt.
I highly recommend trying some little improv piecing- even just a block that you could make a pillow out of. It’s super fun. Good luck and thanks for visiting my blog!
I love your quilt! :o)
Those are the colors that my son wants for
his quilt and I can hardly wait to begin.
I was at the Sewing Summit too. :o)
I wish I had taken the same class.
Have a great day.
Sincerely, Trish
That was my favorite class, and not just because of the great gift!! best of luck with your son’s quilt. Thanks for commenting!
Those colors are the colors in my new sofa. I love fall colors. Great great quilt.
ooh, fun couch– l love fall colors too!! Thanks!
i love this quilt — seriously it is one of my favorite quilts i’ve seen in the festival so far. thank you for sharing…i’m also glad i was able to find your blog – so full of inspiration! =)
Thank you so very much. I’m glad you found my blog too and I do hope you’ll come back to visit.
This quilt is compeltely stunning. Definitely one of my favourites of the Festival. I absolutely love it. Thanks so much for sharing!
It was my pleasure. I’m so glad you like it. Thank you!
Love this quilt! LOVE the colors! I think the quilting is perfect for it too! Awesome!
Thank you so much!!
I’m trying to decide whether I’m predjudice but, with all the positive comments I see, NO I don’t think so. I am so proud of what you do and your ideas and love of color and your creativity with your designs. Amazing and extraordinary. Love ya!
Thanks mom!! love……
Karen, you just posted on Amy’s Blogger’s Quilt Festival and you’ve receives so many lovely compliments already. Love the power of the internet.
I’m so fortunate to be a local friend, one who gets to see your amazing creations up close and personal. Can’t wait to see what you create next!!
Did you see my FB post today about the huge Kona sale at fabric.com right now? Might wanna check that baby out! xo
Thanks again Liz!! Love the tip about the Kona sale too!
I love the way you balance your color selection with all that great negative space. Often “less is more” and your quilts certainly reflect that. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much! I sort of have that as a mantra in my head while I’m creating my quilts. It can be hard to resist the urge to add more color or another print, etc.
wow! this is a gorgeous quilt. the design is wonderful and the quilting perfect for it!
I love the striking colors! And your organic quilting style is the perfect compliment.
Gorgeous! I love this–you have inspired me 🙂
ooh, it’s wonderful. I love all the aspects – the colours, the way you’ve pieced the quilt, all the negative space and the quilting. Just perfect.
LVOE LOVE LVOE.
(so i excited, i may have mistyped.)
Love this, will probably use this design for the back of this quilt I just finished that is full of really bright colors. I want to incorporate them into the back, using a solid grey background.