Saturday 27 October 2012

Bloggers' Quilt Festival - Dappled sunlight

I finished my dappled sunlight quilt just in time (I finished handstitching the binding late last night) for the Bloggers' Quilt Festival.  If you've found your way to my blog from there - welcome!  Please feel free to take a look around.  I have lots of projects on the go at the moment so there is plenty to see.

Along with this quilt, I wanted to share a bit of my quilting story.  I made my first quilt back in summer 2006-2007 (yes, in New Zealand, summer is over the Christmas and New Year period).  Then, I had a long hiatus while I finished university and started my career.  At the beginning of 2011, I decided to take up quilting again to make a wedding present for a very long time friend (you can see a snap here).

Well, I caught the bug.  I took a sampler class at my local quilt shop to learn more techniques, and it was great.  But, I wanted inspiration.  My aesthetic preference was to make quilts with room to breathe - not too busy, or at least plain clear space between the busy bits.  I wanted to use white, and bright clear colours.

Although these preferences came to me naturally, I was sure I wasn't the only one thinking this way.  It took me a while, but eventually I found the modern quilting community online.  I have been lurking and reading blogs for a while, and decided to start my own, to document the quilts I make and to share them with like minded people who are interested.  That said, I think my best readers are my own family, who are not necessarily interested in quilting - thanks guys.

Turns out, blogging really helps me stay motivated to actually finish some of the quilts I start.  So, I wanted to share this quilt because:

  • making this quilt, I realised that I finally got the hang of a consistent quarter inch seam;
  • the whole process from cutting to stitching on the binding took three weeks (and I spent A LOT of time on other projects over that period).  Six months ago, I would never have thought I could complete a quilt in three weeks; and
  • I just like this quilt.  It's nothing revolutionary, but I like the colours, I like the pattern, I like how soft it is with quite minimal quilting, and I even like those crazy horses on the back.
Baby quilt with half square triangles

Baby quilt with half square triangles

Baby quilt with half square triangles

Baby quilt with pink binding
Bloggers' Quilt Festival Stats

Finished quilt measures: 32″x 40″
Fabric: a charm pack of Sunkissed by Sweetwater,
Michael Miller Cotton Couture in Fog, cotton poplin horse print
and a DS Quilts print for the binding
Quilted by: Me, on my domestic machine

Best Category: Baby quilt, home machine quilted quilt


Amy's Creative Side

11 comments:

Lindsey said...

It is beautiful, so crisp and clean. I love the backing, that was a surprise! =)

Anonymous said...

The colors are really lovely! Very fresh and modern.

charlotte said...

Sew beautiful...and I love the fabrics too. One of my all time favorites.

Susan said...

Oh, this is really pretty! I love an off-centred design like this!

Jess @ Scrappy n Happy said...

So Pretty! I love Sunkissed and it goes perfectly with those horses!

CitricSugar said...

Lovely ! I really love seeing Sunkissed paired with grey.

The Cozy Pumpkin said...

This has a just hung out on the line to dry feeling. I can almost smell the sweet breeze in the quilt! LOVE IT!!!! And those horses on the back...YES!

a maidenhair fern said...

SUNKISSED!!! I love anything with sunkissed. You can never go wrong with it. I've got a whole drawer full upstairs. Glad you caught the bug, and found the online modern quilt movement.

Cille said...

It's beautiful :) The colors are so soft and perfectly set of by the grey solid. I can't touch the quilt but it certainly has a 'soft' feeling to it.

Quiltbenaco said...

E' una trapunta che da ispira tenerezza e leggerezza nello stesso tempo
Ciao dall'Italia

Deb@asimplelifequilts said...

I like your quilt very much too. I'm getting used to seeing grey as a neutral and quite like it!