Quilter's Blog Festival

Amy over at Amy's Creative Side is hosting the annual Blogger's Quilt Festival.  If you have never visited, you are missing an opportunity to see some great quilts in all kinds categories. It is a great opportunity to enter a favorite quilt and possibly win a prize.  There is a category for everyone.

I have decided to enter Christmas Story this year in the  Applique Category.  Christmas Journey is a very special quilt as I purchased the fabric at different quilt shops during a journey home to see my Husband's parents in December of 2011.  In February of 2012, my father in law passed away and soon after I started the quilt.  When it came to hand quilting it in the winter of 2013, my mind would wander back to that Christmas and the great times we had had over the years.  So I dedicated this quilt to his loving memory.

Current and Coxcomb Block

My first attempt at designing my own block

Oak leaves and acorns

Cotton Bolls

Pineapple block

Bird Block

Prairie Flower

Center Medallion

Close up of Pineapple with trapunto feathers.

So, I hope you will hop over and enter a quilt and take some time to vote for your favorite in each category.

Christmas Journey

Christmas Journey  is finally  complete. I just love traditional quilts and am so glad to have this one complete to enjoy this holiday! It is a bit of a gloomy day here for good pictures but here it is.

Current and Coxcomb block

Self designed block

Oak leaf block

Cotton Boll

Pineapple block

Birds Block

Prairie Flower

Medallion Block

Closeup of Pineapple

 I collected the fabrics for this quilt while traveling to visit family, Christmas 2011, our last Christmas with my father in law so I am dedicating this quilt to his memory. 

Naming Quilts!

I have been quilting for about ten years, seriously for the last five.  Being self taught,  I have spent a lot of time, learning how to piece, applique by machine and by hand , and hand quilt. When I started out, my intention was to make some quilts to use around the house, so I decided machine quilting would be the way to go.

But as I was learning, it occurred to me that the hand work was what I enjoyed most.  I find that running that needle thru the fabric is so much more than that. It gives me time to think, clear my head, and express my creative side.

Christmas 2011 we decided to take a Christmas Journey to visit my sister and family in Illinois and my inlaws in Tennessee.   When we had visited my inlaws earlier in October we realized that my fil was really not doing so well.   So as Christmas approached we decided to visit him and also stopped in Illinois to see my sister and her family.  I had purchased the book Traditional Red and Green Quilts by Jeana Kimball, and decided that I would visit a couple of quilt shops along the way and collect some fabrics to make this quilt.

In February of 2012 my father in  law passed away. When we got back from the funeral, I started working on my red and green traditional quilt. I chose blocks out of the book that seemed to relate to my journey thru life.  The flimsie went into the closet waiting it's turn to be quilted. This fall the quilt came out of the closet and was marked and quilted.  As I was quilting it, I often thought about that Christmas journey that we took and realized that this quilt would be very special to me, and decided to name it Christmas Journey.  I finally understand why I love quilts. When I look at antique quilts, I am pulled in to the point that I want to study every stitch.  That trail of thread is someone's life, their journey it reflects their life.  Quilts are art, they are a journal, they are therapy, and oh so wonderful to wrap up in and enjoy and share.   I love putting my heart and soul into them!  A label is a way of letting others know the quilt's story, it is those stories that make them special. So this morning my slow stitches were attaching this label:

 

Even Max knows this quilt is special!  He jumped up on the chair as I hung the quilt over the back of it.  I just had to take a pic of him donning his Christmas attire.