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Friday, July 26, 2013

Drumroll Please

After months of planning and hard work, I am proud to present "Vintage Blooms" - the Opportunity Quilt made by the members of Pensacola Quilters Guild. 

Below is a picture of the entire quilt.  As is almost always the case, a picture does not do this quilt justice.  The colors are rich and wonderful.
I remember starting out last June when I did this post.
I owned the book "Hop To It" and was very intrigued with Edyta Sitar's method of combining batiks and prints.  I knew I wanted to try this method and decided to base the quilt on her Love Letters fabric line.
I also had fallen in love with Di Ford's version of the Phebe quilt.  This quilt was originally made by Phebe Warner in 1803. 
I found several shops that carried the Love Letters line and started with these fabrics....
and then pulled these from my stash.  The palette was just what I wanted.  After only a few days, I had completely designed the quilt using EQ7.  Little did I know that was the easy part!!

Very slowly the rows came together, and then I stalled.  I just couldn't make decisions as to what colors to use for the sawtooth borders and the inside sashing borders.
Many different scenarios stayed on my design wall for weeks as I kept waiting for inspiration.  Slowly but surely, decisions were made and at last I had the center and a plan.
A wonderfully talented friend of mine (Alice) agreed to applique the center for me in what I called "Baltimore Albumish".  It looked exactly like the picture I'd had in my head.
Each row brought more joy as I watched this quilt emerge from my imagination to something very real.
Block by block...
little by little......
until it was finally ready for the big reveal at our guild meeting.

As you can see, the appliqued vine border was still unfinished.  But many hours and many months later, I am looking at this. 
I wanted this quilt to be a combination of hand quilting and machine quilting.  I wanted it to look like an antique, but by using the batiks, I knew it would have a slightly modern feel.
Fellow guild member, Sheree, did all the machine quilting.  It is beautiful and exactly what I wanted.  I didn't want the quilting to be the "star of the show" but I wanted you to see the design and the fabrics first.  And then I wanted you to notice the quilting.

Alice did all the hand quilting in the center.  I really wanted that to be all "her baby".  The cross hatching is at 1/2".  The flowers almost look 3 dimensional.
Various other members did the hand quilting in the green borders as well as the 1" cross hatching in the vine border.  My friend Lisa Jo did ALL the construction of the quilt top as well as the blocking and binding.


So this part of the journey has come to an end.  I couldn't be more proud of our effort.  This truly is exactly the quilt I set out to create :).  The quilt show is April 11-12, 2014.  In the meantime, this quilt will do some travelling as we promote the show and sell tickets.  Since I'm the Quilt Show Chairman, I know you'll be hearing more about it as the time draws near.
Now that this is off my plate, I can get back to "my" things.
Enjoy the day, we've got sunshine!
Karen

26 comments:

Terry said...

It's absolutely beautiful! :0)

Vivian said...

Stunning, gorgeous, absolutely lovely, Karen. You should be proud to have been in charge of such an impressive finished quilt. Will you ship out of state if the winner's name is drawn and she's from, shall we say, Iowa? I'm serious!
This raffle quilt will raise a lot of money from interested folks, I'm sure. It's very special.

Kristy said...

Oh is this beautiful! I love it all. The borders are so unique and just make the quilt so wonderful. What an amazing group effort! I love the vines and the center. I am trying to design a quilt and this helps me think about some things differently. Thanks for sharing the progress photos too! So glad you finished it and look forward to hearing more about its journey. K-

Angie said...

I know how amazing some of the PQG opportunity quilts have been, but yours really takes the cake. It is just stunning! Congratulations on mothering this quilt to completion! I look forward to seeing it in person at the show - and you can bet I'll buy LOTS of tickets!

Every Stitch said...

Congratulations on a wonderful finish! The quilting complements it beautifully too.
Hilda

Ruth said...

Just gorgeous!! I would love to see it in person.

MamaT said...

It's so pretty. I know you are very proud of it and I'm sure your guild will make a lot of money with it. Congratulations!

Carla said...

Karen, that is just a stunning quilt! I'll buy a ticket!!

QuiltSue said...

Woww, that is amazing. Many hours of work went into that, and it really shows in the finished quilt.

antique quilter said...

the quilt is amazing, love the fabric choices and the quilting is just as amazing. I hope who ever wins this quilt appreciates it and will treasure it.
Kathie
maybe I need to buy a ticket!

Kathryn D. Duke said...

Karen, what an amazing quilt!! Pictures never do justice BUT this quilt may be the exception...

I will share this with some of our Guild members on facebook...

Great job to your Guild and the tickets will sell easily!!

Lovely work all!!!

Jann Brown said...

Beautiful! Is there a way to buy tickets online?

Maxine said...

Congratulations on a beautiful quilt. Love the hand quilting of the center.

FlourishingPalms said...

What a marvelous quilt, Karen! You led your quilter-friends to a glorious finish! Everything looks so technically correct, and you're right about the quilting not stealing from the attraction of the quilt's appliqué and piecing. It's perfection. You'll surely sell lots of tickets. A big congratulations to you, as I'm joining you in the "whew!" of relief that it's done. And with lots of publicity time to spare too. Excellent work!

Anonymous said...

OMG! I wish to put my name in for some tickets! Please email me.

audrey said...

Wow! Beautiful quilt! I absolutely love the story too. Wonderful finish.:)

Janet said...

What a gorgeous quilt. I love it and also reading about the process.

Becky said...

WOW!!! That is a beautiful quilt. Quite a team effort with you at the helm. Great job, Karen.

Unknown said...

What a beautiful quilt, congratulations to all involved on such a wonderful result. I am sure you will sell out all your tickets easily.

Kim said...

How divine! Congratulations, all your hard work has produced a real work of art.

Happy Sewing

Janan Doster said...

This quilt is quite stunning. All of the efforts of each persons work came together beautifully. I realy like the blend of fabrics and touch of batiks. I too am exploring Edyta Sitar's methods. Really nice colors too!
Your Guild can be very proud of this quilt!!

Janan Doster said...

You should send an email to me about how to purchase tickets, and I will pass the info along to the Dothan and Enterprise quilt guilds!

Jane in Cumbria said...

How lovely to have so much help in creating this beauty!

Karen said...

Wow! The opportunity quilt is going to be a popular one. Your creative juices sure flowed on this one.

Sinta Renee said...

I am so impressed! The entire journey was amazing but then to see the photos taken at your guild... was jaw dropping gorgeous. Absolutely stunning Karen. I love your version of the 1803 quilt. It is breathtaking~

Janan Doster said...

The quilt is fabulous! You can be very proud of all the work and each persons attention to detail.
I would love to get some tickets from you for a chance to win, and to support your Guild.