Friday, October 29, 2010

Polka Dot Garden

Welcome, everyone! This is my second time participating in the Blogger's Quilt Festival and I am happy and proud to be giving this quilt its debut in such auspicious company.
 I made this quilt for my sister H who celebrated a milestone birthday this year. It spent much of its life referred to as Polka Dot Sampler until my Mom helped me decide on a name for it. As children, we spent a fair bit of time at James Gardens, a beautiful place full of green and flowers and fish ponds, the latter being an important feature in our family's lore because a very young H fell (or jumped, depending who you ask) into one during a particularly memorable visit. Mom said the colours in the quilt reminded her of James Gardens and the name Polka Dot Garden sprang to mind.

 This lovely measures 58"x58". The polka dot fabrics - all from my stash - were collected over time with no particular project in mind. When I finally got around to thinking about what I was going to make with all those polka dots, a sampler sprang to mind. And serendipitously, Amy announced her Simple Sampler Quilt Along very soon after that. The green solid in the sashing and blocks is Kona Chartreuse - a really fabulously "neutral" colour that seems to go with everything.

For me, choosing a quilting design for a sampler is difficult. I'm not proficient enough of a machine quilter to do something fancy and unique in each block, but an all-over design like stippling didn't seem right so I needed a different idea. The quilting is bubble-style in the sashings, and after much deliberation and discussion with my creative consultant (my husband, who has great design sense), I chose to quilt this from the back following the circles on the backing, adding just a few circles in areas that seemed too empty.

Speaking of the backing, it is a thrifted IKEA duvet cover. The binding was a genius find in the stash - it highlights each colour in the quilt and adds some stripey goodness to a very circular design.
 Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the eye candy that abounds in the Blogger's Quilt Festival!!

Amy's Creative Side - Blogger's Quilt Festival

22 comments:

  1. I have been waiting (and waiting...) to see this quilt, and it does not disappoint! The back is really fun and you can't go wrong with a stripey binding. I love the way you quilted it too. (And my sampler is still incomplete... *sigh*)

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  2. Polka Dots! I love 'em. I like how you used a thifted item for the back -a very "green" idea. This is the first sampler I've seen with a green background and it really works. You're right, deciding on the quilting pattern for samplers is a killer, but yours came out just right. Very original.

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  3. I love the quilting! I bright colors and fun polka dots made this quilt so inviting. Your sister is a lucky girl!!

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  4. I think that quilt turned out amazing! Good job!

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  5. Love it! The quilting is genius too!

    Jennifer :)

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  6. fun, fun, fun Felicity! It turned out so well - I'm sure your sister is going to love it. I'll forever think of it as "__ on the dot", though (it was such a great name!).

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  7. Love the green you chose for the background, really sets it all off. And the backing is great!!

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  8. It's great! I love polka dots and you're so right about that green!

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  9. This is a lovely quilt and I like the story behind its name. Your sister is so lucky to be receiving this quilt!
    Gorgeous colours and the sampler idea is displayed to great effect.
    Love the backing too.
    Also love the idea of placing the quilt on the steps for a photo. That works so well.

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  10. It turned out beautifully! Your sister is one lucky lady. Love how you came up with the name for it! (Bad Krista! now I'v got that other name in my head as well!)

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  11. Stashes are wonderful things. Full of fabric you like for quilts for people you like. What could be better.
    Like the thrifted backing. You couldn't have done better Awsume !!!

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  12. Oh, everything is so right about this quilt! I love the green, the polka dots, and your "process" choices. It's a winner. Thanks for sharing your quilt's story :)

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  13. This is a beautiful quilt! Love the KONA solid with those bright fabrics, and your bubble quilting is perfect. Thanks for sharing!

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  14. Cute quilt. It is just so bright and cheerful.

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  15. Great job girl. I especially love your quilting!! I have not been all that adventurous yet, but I think I might have to try because they look so fantastic!!

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  16. what a great gift, and love the story behind the name!

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  17. Great idea to use the backing fabric as the jump off point for the quilting design. I just finished reading a book about that very subject a few days ago.

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  18. Wonderful sampler with the bright colors.

    Angie - www.craftedAngles.com

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  19. Fabulous! I love all the dots, and your quilting is "just right"! So glad to see yours finished up :)

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  20. Can't go wrong with lime green and polka dots. What a cheery fun quilt.
    Hope you can come see my 1890 antique schoolhouse quilt and
    black/white/pink scrappy miniature sampler entries.

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  21. I'm of the opinion that you just can't have enough lime green in your life so your quilt caught my eye right away!!! I want to encourage you to keep on practicing machine quilting - you'll get better I promise!!

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  22. i thought it looked familiar...i also did the quilt along at amy's but in quite a different way. weren't those fun blocks to do? you've done them in such vibrant colors and i just love it. thanks for sharing and have a great day

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