Friday, May 18, 2012

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Spring 2012

Amy's Creative Side

It's that time again.  The spring version of the Bloggers' Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side.  What a great way to see a quilt show and never leave your recliner. 

This is my 4th time to join in the festival.  It gets harder every time to pick just one quilt to showcase,   I've loved the creative process with each project and to date haven't made a quilt where "What was I thinking?" has been the first thought that came to mind when it was completed.  The subject of this post was a long time in the planning stages, but the end result was worth the wait. 

Have you ever come across a piece of fabric that just speaks to you?  You see it and know it's just the perfect focus piece for a project for someone special.  About 5 years ago, I spied just such a special fabric when I was innocently pursuing fabrics on line. 



The rich colors of the Geisha caught my eye.  My brother's daughter loves the Asian culture.  This was just the right piece for a quilt for her.  Once it arrived, the thought processes went into high gear, picking the coordinating fabrics and trying to find just the right quilt pattern to showcase this piece.  The Geisha is about 20 inches tall, so the first thought was to use it as a central panel.  Everything I came up with was way to dark and heavy.  I wanted to use a dark blue and gold in the setting fabrics.  I'd come back to the design board every few months, but still couldn't come up with a setting that worked.  After about 4 years of playing around with the the formal medallion set, the idea to offset the panel and make it more scrappy came to mind.  That was the right path.  So about 5 years after I bought the fabric, the Geisha quilt was finished. 



Trudy Lindemann did the quilting. A beautiful all over fan design,


mainly in dark blue thread.  But spread out over the quilt is an occasional gold fan.  In the Geisha panel the quilting is a combination of outline and ripples that make the blue background look like water. 


I had hoped to give the completed quilt to my niece for Christmas last year, but I only managed to finish the top.  So she got the top with a note that I'd finish it for her after the new year.  Now it's all bound and labeled, just waiting till we make the trip back home so I can give her the completed quilt. 




Thanks for letting me share one of my favorite projects.  Check out all the other gorgeous eye candy posted on the Bloggers' Quilt Festival

22 comments:

MulticoloredPieces said...

Hi, Kate. Came over from Cheryl's blog (So Many Quilts, So Little Time) to visit yours. Your Geisha quilt is very lovely--what a nice aunt! Also liked your idea of 15 minutes a day. You're so right, it helps to stay on track.
best from Tunisia,
nadia

Melinda said...

The Geisha quilt is lovely. I am sure Heather will cherish it. Thanks for sharing.

juliehallfeldhaus said...

Wow that is really beautiful!

Truffle queen said...

such a beautiful quilt! What a lucky niece! It is truly timeless beauty!! Thank you for sharing!

Krista @ Sewwhatscooking.com said...

Really beautiful and unique work! Thank you for sharing!

Marjorie's Busy Corner said...

I agree with Krista...beautiful and unique...great job!

CitricSugar said...

I remember seeing these fabrics when they were just out but couldn't find the right project for them...

You obviously have! So beautiful.

Dee J. said...

I too am drawn to Asian fabrics and themes. This quilt captures some of the serenity of those quilts. It's Loverly.

Barbara said...

This is just beautiful, Kate. The quilting is perfect.

AnnieO said...

Kate, the quilt turned out magnificently! The wonderful quilting just adds to your overall great design. Your niece is gonna squeal :)

Mom said...

lovely!

margaret
www.quiltsoflove.blogspot.com

Carla said...

How beautiful!

Sarcastic Quilter said...

It's so pretty! Love the quilting but love the fabrics and the off set focal point most of all!

Kleep said...

This is fantastic! I love the offset panel instead of making it all symmetrical. It suits it perfectly! The colours are wonderful too. Anyone would be lucky to receive such a gift!

grendelskin said...

Sometimes the layout a particular fabric needs takes time to come to us. You did the right thing by waiting, it's just perfect.

Janet said...

Beautiful quilt! But how can one ever be "innocently pursuing fabrics online"?

Shay said...

I love this quilt Kate. It's so unique and beautiful. You did a wonderful job!

Lynne said...

Off-setting the panel was truly an inspired solution to your dilemma - it is a wonderful quilt and I'm sure Heather will be very glad to see the completed quilt.

Lonci said...

Gorgeous, i love this:))

The Thompsons said...

So pretty! I love it and the quilting is perfect with it.

Eileen said...

that is just fantastically beautiful! love your layout and everything about it. pretty quilting, too. thanks for sharing and have a great day

Jaye said...

Just beautiful....exquisite quilting!