Friday, May 21, 2010

Blogger's Quilt Festival

I had a hard time deciding on the quilt for this Festival. I've got a couple favourites -- quilts I'm particularly proud of, or that have a special story attached to them.

Starry Evolution

I chose Starry Evolution because it's all mine - pattern, fabrics, quilting. Even though this palette isn't really "me" anymore - this quilt was completed in 2005 - it still makes me happy to look at it. I was inspired by quilts in Alex Anderson's Simply Stars book and decided to make a star sampler using the fabric in the corners as a focus and going from there. The "evolution" in the title refers to the fact that this quilt was pieced over a period of about 4 years, beginning when I was an absolute quilting rookie. My skills developed as the quilt came together and the quality of the piecing reflects that.

The quilt is entirely hand-quilted, and there's a bit of a funny story there. As incentive to get the quilt done, I entered it in my guild's biannual quilt show, and when I registered the quilt, I ambitiously indicated that it would be hand-quilted. As you do when you're the President of the Last Minute Club, I left the quilting quite late and very quickly realized it was going to take a really. long. time. Much longer, in fact, that I had spare time between the Moment of Realization and the submission deadline.

So I did what any self-respecting quilter would do: I used a week of holidays and spent the entire week preceding the deadline hand quilting that sucker. And after all that, the intricate Celtic symbol I chose for the border got completely lost in the fabric. You can barely, barely see it. Aaarrggh. But the quilting is quite good if I do say so myself.

  Lousy closeup of motif in border.


This quilting isn't bad!

I haven't dared hand-quilt anything since, but that still makes me smile when I look at this quilt, which lives on the wall in our living space.

Thanks, Amy, for hosting this Festival. It's my first one and I am so very happy to participate!





35 comments:

  1. Pretty wall hanging!

    margaret
    www.quiltsoflove.blogspot.com

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  2. very cute quilt! I love it! And I do luv a quilt with a good story! Well done!
    (I, too, have a very dog-eared copy of Simply Stars. Not for the patterns, but for cutting measurements and for general reference when putting triangles together. It is a great book.) Happy quilting!

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  3. I love stars! Your quilt is awesome!

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  4. Like your colors and the way you did the borderr. Very pretty.

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  5. I just love star quilts. I've been wanting to try hand quilting, I don't think I'd do one in a week though! Just an amazing quilt.

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  6. Beautiful quilt I loved the color combination.

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  7. Beautiful! I also have Simply Stars and a mixed star quilt is on my to do one day list! Wonderful quilting too!

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  8. Beautiful quilt! Stars are one of my favorites.

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  9. Very pretty! I love the colors. And where do I sign up for the last minute club?

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  10. Good for you! Now you'll always have a hand-quilted treasure. :) I love it!

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  11. Just love Star quilts. I also have that Alex Anderson book, LOL. Glad to hear you perservered getting the hand quilting done!

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  12. Beautiful, i like the colors what you chose:)

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  13. This quilt is beautiful! And hand quilted, wow. I love the colors and stars...

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  14. This is beautiful! I love the muted colours - I always seem to pick brights - and I love that you hand-quilted it. What a daunting task!

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  15. Charming quilt! Love the sense of excitement!

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  16. Love the different star blocks.

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  17. This is gorgeous! I love the browns that you used and your hand quilting is amazing! I am in awe!

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  18. Love stars. It looks great hanging on your wall because its so visually appealling.

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  19. From one Felicity to another... love the pattern!

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  20. Hi Felicity,

    Thanks for sharing Starry Evolution! It's great to see the variety of star blocks you used. I'm impressed with your dedication to hand quilting - I haven't taken vacation time specifically to quilt (yet!).

    Thanks for stopping by my blog!

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  21. Lovely collection of blocks, beautiful fabrics and color. Excellent job!

    SewCalGal
    www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

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  22. very, very nice. not my colors, but it's such a great and well-done quilt. nice you can showcase it in your home!!!

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  23. Beautiful! I can see why it makes you happy. Great design.

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  24. Felicity,
    My husband is an amateur astronomer and loves stars- I think your pattern is terrific- and I like the limited palette. It works wonderfully well with your design.
    Thanks for sharing this gorgeous piece..
    Regards from Western Canada,
    Anna
    http://quiltmomsjourney.blogspot.com/

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  25. It never ceases to amaze me how just the change of fabrics and colors can instantly change the whole look of patchwork quilting! GREAT quilt!

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  26. A beautiful quilt. Really stunning colors. Thanks for sharing.

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  27. It is a quilt to treasure! I love the neutral color scheme you chose for the stars.

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  28. Lovely quilt. A shame all that beautiful hand quilting doesn't stand out better.

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  29. great quilt-love the double stars but I thought I was the president of the club. Taking time off to meet a quilt deadline-sounds about right.
    Come see my antique quilt entries
    http://utahquiltappraiser.blogspot.com
    http://starleyquilts.blogspot.com

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  30. Haha! Great story about the handquilting! (I would do the same thing for sure.) Love what you did with the border.

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  31. I just love this quilt! I'm tend to enjoy a more modern look for quilts, but I am in awe of the beautiful work you did here. I particularly love the look of the different sized stars. I can see there is some symmetry but the smaller stars add a look of randomness. Really excellent work. And I hope someday to have the patience to hand quilt, but I'll be sure to schedule myself plenty of time.

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  32. Lovely quilt I like stars too : )

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  33. That is a good looking quilt and the quilting story is classic. :-)

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