Friday 18 July 2014

I See Fire Quilt

For our local guild exhibition, we set a challenge based around the dresden plate block.  The idea was to make a small (36" square or smaller) quilt using one or more dresden plates, but to put your own twist on the block.

This quilt was my entry.  As you might be able to tell from the name, it was inspired by this Ed Sheeran song.  I wanted to create a fiery lava like background with dark swirling bits.  This quilt was a long time in the making - I started back in April, although I was plotting it for a while before that.

I See Fire Quilt 

The background is made up of 2" finished squares cut from my stash of peach/red/purple fabrics - a combination I've had pulled for more than 2 years.  The dresden pieces are made from a variety of fabrics, but mostly from a bundle of black based fabrics from Distressed Threads.  The added a heap of interest and variety to these little pieces (and yes, all those dresden blades were a huge pain in the neck to make!).

I See Fire Quilt

 I joined all the dresden blades together in groups of five (quarter circles), and then joined them in a slightly random meandering pattern.  I stitched all the dresden blades in place using a straight stitch.  Once the top was finished, I straight line quilted around all the dresdens, and then quilted swirls and pebbles in the background.  I used two layers of batting to make the quilting really stand out, which worked quite well.

I See Fire Quilt

Because the top is quite busy and all that quilting can get a bit lost, I wanted to use something solid on the back.  You definitely get a better look at the quilting, and you can also tell that I used a red and light pink variegated thread.

I was really happy with this finished quilt - it was definitely quite a jump out of my comfort zone and is probably the closest I've come to making an art quilt (although it's definitely still very abstract!).  I'm even more happy now because it won a merit award in its category at the show!  My Garden for Birds 2 quilt won two merit awards as well - one in its category of small bed quilt made by one person, and one as a quilt by a first time entrant.  A pretty good haul of ribbons from my first ever exhibition, I reckon!

Quilt Stats
Pattern: original design
Finished Size: approx 34" square
Fabric: many
Backing: Oakshott shot cotton
Binding: Skull Stripe, from Dem Bones by Sarah Watson for Cloud 9 Fabrics
Pieced and quilted by: me

I'll be linking up with finish it up friday at crazy mom quilts.

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35 comments:

Wendy @ Wendysquiltsandmore said...

Congratulations Adrianne. This is a great quilt. You are very clever to have come up with concept and executed it so well. It looked fantastic at the show. Congrats on the Garden Birds 2 too - it was lovely also. You clearly have a great future in quilting.

Karen @ Pieces of Contentment said...

I love it Adrianne and the quilting stands out beautifully on the front too. Very clever interpretation of the brief - pleased you were awarded the merits too, well deserved. Did you do all the quilting on your Juki?

Nicole said...

It's beautiful, Adrianne! Congratulations on the awards!

Jessica said...

This is absolutely stunning and so creative! I love that song - whenever I hear it you can be sure I'll think of your quilt. :)

Cassandra said...

Congratulations on your awards, well earned!! This quilt is just fabulous 😆😆😆

Leanne said...

I have a lot of reading to catch up, and I am sure glad I did not miss this beauty. I love the design, the fabrics and the quilting. This is a wonderful piece and I am glad you won a ribbon for it and also for your other quilt.

Unknown said...

Congratulations Adrianne. I saw that one at the show and really liked it, unfortunately it was one of my photographic failures (so blurry you couldn't see the dresdens!).

Your awards were well earned, and I particularly liked your colour placement in your background of this one.

Jehnny said...

Wow, that quilt is beautiful! The colours are spectacular and I love the meandering dresdens. It really does give one a sense of fire and lava. It reminds me of Hawaii and the volcanoes there.

Anita said...

I love this quilt Adrianne! It is amazing and very original. I've never seen anything like it. Way to go!

Ella said...

It's lovely! Reds are my favorite and this one is going to be stuck in my head for a long time!

Dawn said...

Breathtaking! Congrats on a great show!

Afton Warrick said...

Congrats on all your awards. Great work!

Hayley said...

What a lovely quilt! Beautiful and unique

Little Island Quilting said...

Wow. This is fab. I wouldn't have said it was 'you' which makes it all the more interesting. Expect the unexpected!

Charlotte said...

wow! that is seriously beautiful!

Rachel said...

This is a great quilt! Well done.

cauchy09 said...

This is absolutely gorgeous! You should enter it in QuiltCon and other shows.

Mine-rSewFun said...

Very impressive ... congrats on the awards! Well deserved :-)

Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl said...

Lovely and congratulations on your ribbons! I like the ombre gradient background and how my eye blends all the colors together smoothly because I'm so focused on the Dresden applique on top.

Karee said...

So very clever! And gorgeous. Well done and thank you for sharing.

Erica said...

Wow! This is do dynamic and I lovd how you used the dresdens!

Amanda said...

This quilt is stunning. The colourwash background is so beautifully nuanced. It must have taken forever to figure out the placement of every tiny square. Love the movement you were able to accomplish with those dresdens. Simply stunning!

Sarah said...

Wow. I "wow"ed out loud at work.

Hettie's Mum said...

Stunning! Your creativity is inspiring. Congratulations on your awards

Hettie's Mum said...

Ps I'd been really looking forward to seeing this quilt after you showed us the top with the pieced squares- lovely on its own. I never imagined the finished result to be this.. The colour the quilting the shapes. Vibrant, fiery amazing!

Megan said...

It's a really bold and interesting quilt Adrianne and the quilting gives it lovely texture. Congratulations on your awards!

Unknown said...

Well done Adrianne - i am in awe of how many quilts you produce while working full time.

Havplenty said...

Wonderful quilt. Very striking. Hopefully you will enter this one in some quilt contest.

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christina in san diego said...

Wow! Staggeringly gorgeous. Inventive while staying inviting looking. Nice job!

nicole said...

This is just so striking! I love it. The colour gradient is wonderful and your eye just naturally travels along the dresden path. Wonderful work Adrianne, and congrats on your awards too!

Anonymous said...

What a cool quilt!

Anne said...

That quilt is a beauty!! There's a lot of work that went into that, for sure!!

Congratulations on all those ribbons, that's a great haul, even for a non-first-timer! :D

Leonie said...

Wow Adrienne! it is simply stunning - i actually wowed and oohed out loud when I saw those photo's! well done you - it is a thing of beauty!

Adrienne said...

This is an extraordinary quilt! The colors are so rich and the quilting is fab. Congratulations!

Steph Blair said...

beautiful!