Blogger's Quilt Festival ~ Autumn 2011





Fall is here and its time to take a wonderful blog tour and see the many quilts of Blogger's Quilt Festival.  Thanks to Amy of Amy's Creative Side, twice a year we are able to be inspired by great photos and stories of a wide array of quilterly goodness.   This festival is one of my favorite blogging activities each time it comes around.  I usually spend those weekends tied to the computer, with a mug of coffee or tea in my hand as I jump to so many quilter's blogs.



This fall, I am sharing my Village Green Quilt.  It was designed by Thimbleberries and I love the combination of warm fabrics in the kit. 

Pine Tree Block

Piecing some floral and fence blocks



This was a block of the month club for 2010.   I was pretty happy with my progress each of the months. By December, I was even sewing the sawtooth border. So this quilt went together faster than last year's Three's Company quilt.  I had it quilted by my neighbor on a long arm and I got the binding stitched down very recently. 



The quilt that I chose to make was described as a "generous queen sized throw".  It works perfectly on a double bed as a coverlet and hangs down the side by a few inches.  I love it on the living room sofa as it's quite a lot bigger than the quilt I usually curl up with for TV.  I love how the colors coordinate with other quilts I already made and use in our home.  

Applying the Binding



Quilting by Carol's Corner (my neighbor)

Thimbleberries quilts often have multiple borders and this is no acception.  Some are a bit too much framing, but with the cute sawtooth border on this one, I think it's the perfect finish for the edge!  This has now won a special place in my heart as a favorite quilted finish. 

Pumpkin and Herbs

Happy Fall Everyone.  Be sure to check out the other quilts in the listing over at Amy's Creative Side.  You'll be glad you did.  And if you are on the fence about writing a post about a quilt, you should just jump off and do it!  The more, the merrier!  Just read her suggestions in her post and you'll be well on your way to participation.

Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2010

Welcome to my Gardening and Quilting blog.  Today it is all about quilting, since it is the beginning of Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival.  Amy writes the blog "Amy's Creative Side" and she has been doing a bloggers quilt festival since the spring of 2009. My post for today will tell you more about one of my treasured quilts. 

My entry for this season's Blogger's Quilt Festival is one which I made for Thimbleberries Club.  Once it was finished, it became one of my favorite quilts.  I have not always been drawn to such a traditional and dark color scheme since I usually favor brighter hues.  However, once I saw how nice the throw looked in my living room, I was hooked!  I am on my third quilt now with this same dark palette. 

A little work once a month is an excellent way to make the dozen blocks over the period of the entire year.  Each of the blocks was fun to put together.  However, if the directions suggested using paper piecing I would have skipped that and found a way to make templates or remeasured and cut the small pieces with a rotary cutter.  I never can seem to get the hang of how to paper piece correctly.  It seems I don't know what side of the paper to sew on and which way to place the fabric.  I really have to get better at that technique.



corner view showing quilting close up

DOUBLE THE QUILT... DOUBLE THE FUN


My sewing friend made this quilt too and we had a great time with the photo shoot last week.

When Margaret of Sewing and Quilt Gallery was getting started in her quilting business called Mainely Quilts of Love, my friend and I got in on a special offer as she was building her clients.  We got a very good deal on pantograph quilting.  She even offered to do custom quilting on it, but we both liked the stitch pattern called popcorn, so that is what we asked her to stitch.  We just loved how they looked when we opened the package that came in the mail just a few short weeks later.  If you ever need something quilted by a long arm artist, she's your gal. 

The only thing better than seeing the quilt just out of the mailing box, was when we took it out of the dryer after the first washing.  Unless of course, you count taking a nap with it!

I hope you will be able to enjoy the quilts of the season by visiting the many blogs over the next week or so.  The entire list will be archived by Amy at her blog, enabling you to go back and check them out even after this event ends.  She has a list of great sponsors that are offering many wonderful prizes so check them out too.

Look up quilts of past festivals by clicking on these links:  Spring of 2009, Fall of 2009, Spring 2010.



link for My entry from Fall 2009



link for My entry from Spring 2010











Coming Soon: Blogger's Quilt Festival

Amy will soon be hosting her now famous Festival for Quilt Blogger's.   It will be taking place  about a week from today.   Be sure to join in by visiting as many festival posts as you are able.  Or better yet, jump in by making your own post about a quilt and its story or history.  Be prepared for plenty of visual stimulation as you move from blog to blog.  There are sure to be many spectacular quilts to be admired.

Once again, I am reminded that I really got my start with this whole blogging thing because of how impressed I was as I visited so many postings the very first season that Amy began having Blogger's Quilt Festival.  It was after seeing so many wonderful blogs, I decided that I must have one of my own so that I could participated more fully when the next season's Quilt Blog Fest came around.  Perhaps you'd be interested in taking a look at some of the previous Festival Posts.  The Spring of 2009, Fall of 2009 and the Spring of 2010 are still listed at Amy's blog.  Have a great time exploring and meeting new quilt bloggers.

I have chosen my quilt and am in the process of writing up some details.  This coming weekend I will be doing a photo shoot.  I have something a little different planned.  You see, my sewing buddy has agreed to join me in the fun of making the post for Amy's special event.   I am looking forward to getting together with her to do the writing.  She will be involved in some of the photography as well.

A big thank you goes out to Amy.  She is amazing for getting the idea together in the first place and continuing to host this virtual quilt show. 

Amy's Creative Side: Blogger's Quilt Festival - Spring 2010

So here I am, sitting back and relaxing while I check out all the beautiful quilts and stories on line at the new Blogger's Quilt Fest. I like to get comfortable and have a snack nearby while I am browsing.

I've visited close to 90 blogs so far this weekend, but the viewing will continue on for a long time. Currently there are over 450 quilts and stories to check out at the Spring Blogger's Quilt Festival. Amy's Creative Side: Blogger's Quilt Festival - Spring 2010

Amy of Park City, Utah has organized such a wonderful showing of quilts. Join up if you have something to share and have fun browsing to so many delightful blogs. I can guess you'll be at it all week. I know I will be tied to the computer for quite some time in the coming days.

If you'd have a quilt and a story to share about it, I hope you will link up. Just follow the directions on Amy's blog. For those readers that have a flickr account, you may also go to the group pool of Blogger's Quilt Festival to preview some of the photos.

Blogger's Quilt Festival ~ Spring 2010

Peacock Sampler Quilt

Some time ago I designed and sewed this sampler quilt for a college course. The purpose was to learn many different techniques in dyeing fabrics and piecing. It was the first time that I had done the quilting in panels and then joined the sections as they were finished. It turned out to be a generous twin sized quilt that is usable on a bed, couch or as a wall hanging. For many years it sat in a box rolled up on a curtain rod over at my Mom's house. That preserved its condition and the colors are as bright and strong as they were when I last displayed it.

It's interesting that I did keep all of my notes and drawings for the planning of my project and I ran across them the other day when I needed to look up notes on doing tie-dye. I'm happy to say we learned about Seminole patchwork, trapunto, applique, batik, and lots of other quilting techniques. It was a wonderful class and so full of information.



To see other quilts in the Blogger's Quilt Festival jump on over to Amy's Creative Side and start clicking on the links. The quilt photos and stories will keep you hooked up to your computer for hours!

Blogger's Quilt Festival

The Crazy Quilt from the Link Family
This quilt was given to me by my father-in-law. We believe it was made by Mabel Link of Columbus Wisconsin. She and her husband had a farm just outside of Madison WI in the 1940's -1960's. After their retirement from the farm they were involved in making ceramics and ran a studio out of their home for that purpose. This quilt is made primarily from wools and dress fabrics. There are several satins, some corduroy, a bit of silk, and a blue bandanna print. Each block is close to 18 inches square and there are a total of 20 blocks. All blocks are held in place to the backing by a strong row of embroidery. I love the back because it is made from the coziest piece of blue flannel with a subtle red and white stripe. Here is a photo showing the soft flannel backing and if you look closely you can see the embroider following a block edge. It is acting as the quilting that holds the layers together. The stitches are tight and strong. Today we would call it the big stitch look. From the front it is mostly the stitch called the herringbone.
My favorite part of the quilt is the floral applique that is made from black velvet. It is attached using a blanket stitch with orange thread. The center of the flower is formed by green and orange french knots. The embroidery stitches that decorate the blocks do not go all the way through the quilt. I notice that the thread color was changed frequently and most of the time it was changed at the bend in a seam.
I enjoy looking at the quilt and have had it hanging for a time in my sewing/computer room. It makes a good cover for the car magazine storage shelf that I pretend isn't a part of the room.


This small patch of yellow is the only damaged section. There are other places on the quilt where this fabric was used, but luckily they are still holding together. Perhaps this lightweight silk was treated with something to make it feel heavy and that has been its demise. I have heard that silks were often treated with lead so that they would hang or drape nicely in garments. Supposedly, they also rustle quietly when you walked. I wouldn't think the silk in this quilt would be of that Victorian time period, but it could have been in great grannie's sewing basket and passed down to Grandma Link.

Here are some other close ups from the quilt top that show the simple style of the flowers that were stitched on some of the solid fabrics.

It is a charming piece of family history from 1951 and my husband and I love having it in our house. I really treasure it! I would like it to hang on a wall someday. It would be nice to live in a house that has a big staircase, because it would look just right on a landing.

Thank you for visiting my blog post for the Fall 2009 Blogger's Quilt Festival. I'll be around to visit other postings during the week. It'll be great fun. In the spring I must have clicked on more than a hundred links and shortly after that I had my own blog.

Preparing for Blogger's Quilt Festival

Oh so many fabrics, too many blocks, all kinds of quilts, what to choose...

With Park City Girl's Bloggers Quilt Festival approaching at the end of the week, I am starting to plan my post. But the challenging part is deciding what quilt to share.

I just recently photographed several quilts for my post on "Show Us your Backsides" with Belinda at Brown Dirt Cottage. So currently, I have several of my own favorites out in the living room and family room. The carpeted floor seems about the best place to lay them out since it has been raining here in Wisconsin for days on end. I suppose it's also good for them to be aired out and refolded anyway. I have some of my antique family treasures out for consideration too.