A Finish - Quilts for Pulse

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I finally finished my contribution for the Pulse victims.  It’s an unexpected journey for me.  It started with Spoonflower– the “print your own designs on fabric” website and a challenge by our local quilt museum about political quilts which I was going to try to make a quilt to enter.  The creative mind is an odd thing, though.  I stewed on an idea for the politically-themed quilt.  I even had some fabric printed to go into that politically-themed quilt.  Here it is – words of peace and harmony.  

 

The fabric I designed, originally for a politically-themed quilt...

While my brain came up with an idea, my creative mind just didn’t feel energized enough to actually start the quilt.  So, my idea lay dormant, and the fabric I’d printed up specifically for the politically-themed quilt went into the “stash”, to hang out with the other misfit toys. 

Maybe it’s my disdain for the political system these days that drove me to not want to make a quilt that reflected my political ideas, or maybe, I feel like showing support for those folks who lost loved ones in the Pulse shootings might have a bigger impact in someone’s life than a politically-themed quilt would. 

So, when the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild put out a call for quilts, I felt compelled to respond.  In part, I guess you could say making this quilt is a bit of a political quilt as it expresses my thoughts for the tragic and senseless violence which some folks in our country think is acceptable.  It’s not.  And, I think that kindness, love, and peace can prevail.  And it seems the outpouring of quilts from quilters (I heard there’s about 400+ quilts already) shows that others might think the same.  

 

Some of the words I quilted into the quilt...peace, love, & hope...

And, a lot of this quilt just came so easily – as if I was meant to make it – and someone was meant to receive it.  The pattern for the heart just came to me so quickly that I drafted the pattern in an evening. I quilted them all with modified feathers.

Seven hearts – one for each day of the week to let the recipient know he/she is surrounded by love and caring every day.  And the idea to surround the hearts with a string quilt pattern just seemed to make sense.  And the quilt squared so easily and quickly.  It’s the fastest I’ve ever made a quilt, too. The fact that this quilt came together so quickly leads me to believe there’s something else driving the process.  But, I digress…

 

So, the fabric I created to make a political quilt, still kind of did, but I think the quilt that came out of this will hopefully let one of the victims – or victims' family – know that love can prevail, and that there are good, caring people out there, and that we won’t forget what happened.

Some of the quilting I did in the border.  One side had these flourishes; the other side has words of encouragement.

So, off it goes to Orlando.  I wish it well, and hope the recipient will enjoy it and know that people do care.

 

Linking up with Lorna @ SewFreshQuilts...

Appreciating the Works of Others

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It’s that time of year, and I do enjoy it.  Late July to early August means the Boulder County Fair is going on and they usually have a very interesting and diverse showing of quilts in the open class.  This year, the Longmont Quilt Guild made a concerted effort to get more quilts entered, and so the showing was larger than usual.  I wasn't able to finish any quilts last year to enter, and this year I managed to get two quilts entered and, to my surprise, the quilt my sister and I made jointly placed well. I’ve been showing bits and pieces as I quilted it, and my sister had no idea that I was going to enter the quilt (Surprise!).    Since the quilts are hanging from the rafters, it’s hard to see what honors we took, but it looked like a reserve grand champion and the quilt garnered a “Best of” designation from the Longmont Quilt Guild (one of two awards the Guild bestows).  Pretty good, I thought, especially considering the competition.   

Here's the finished quilt...I managed to get it all finished just before the fair, after my sister pieced the majority of it.  I'm pretty proud of it as it came out really nice.  

  

There were some really amazing quilts entered…

So, I thought I’d share some of the quilts from the exhibits.  There were some interesting ones and ones, that even if you didn’t like the style, you have to appreciate the work that went into them. Guess I’m just that way with quilts.  They are, in fact, art.  And, art is subjective.  But behind every artist there is a reason or an influence which makes us assemble a quilt in the colors, the pattern (or lack of pattern), and ultimately the quilting itself.  I appreciate the different visions various quilters have and I always try to take away what I like and what I can use in a future quilt.  After all, we are a culmination of our assorted experiences, and those experiences culminate in some fantastic quilts. 

I loved this quilt for the colors - that orange and gray is really calming to me.  Plus, I love circular designs.  The smaller rounds are yo-yo's added on.

I love the basic colors used here, and the scrappiness, plus the string method of construction.  Very striking and fun to look at to see if you have any of the same black and white fabrics.

This modern Dresden Plate is colorful and fun.  I just liked the  total random use of color.  I'd like to try this with other patterns.

I'm a sucker for leaves - always love them.  The variety in this quilt is fun and playful and I liked its free-form.  

This quilt took some top prizes.  The whole quilt was made from the 1930's reproduction fabric and the flowers are appliqued.  I think what's impressive about this quilt is the actual quilting...you had to look twice to decide it was quilted by a machine.  The quilting was very complimentary to the quilt design.

This was another scrappy quilt and what I like about it - other than the quilting - was the random pop of bright, large-print fabrics.  And, as with art, some love it and others don't.  A friend I was with didn't care for it, but I thought it was great.

My cropping is bad; the world actually is round.  This was a quilt made of entirely 1 1/2" squares, and it was awesome to look at from far away.  A quilt like this would drive me crazy to put together...but, that being said, I'd like to try making a pixelated quilt.  They are rather fun and interesting.

Hope you enjoyed seeing these.  Linking up with other folks - Myra and Finished or Not Fridays at Busy Hands Quilts, and Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict ...do enjoy everyone's posts.  More on the heart quilt next time as I start the quilting process...yeah! Have fun finding inspiration and making it your own.