Friday, November 4, 2011

Blogger's Quilt Fest

I work in a small office in a big park with a woman I've known for more than ten years.  The other day I showed her my quilting blog and she told me that her daughter's brother-in-law is a quilter who blogs.  So I looked him up and "lo and behold" he led me to Amy and the Bloggers' Quilt Fest. Carpe diem!

So here's my festival entry, about the quilt that lives in a drawer,

which I made back in 2007.  
I chose it because it says a lot about me.  I love traditional quilts.  
I was inspired to make this one after seeing the Flying Geese quilt made by Sarah K Headley in 1838  from the International Quilt Study Center's collection.  Sarah made her geese all the same size but I like to be different so I made my birds in a variety of shapes and sizes to represent many migrating species. I used ElectricQuilt to draft the blocks which I machine pieced.
This quilt lives in a drawer because I am a perfectionist and while I think I designed a great quilt, I wasn't able to execute it.  I tend to get in over my head.  So, instead of sticking with the walking foot, I decided to try free motion in order to get the curves.
  
What I got was simply a mess.  But I kept on going because I believe in finishing what I start. I used a stripe for the binding.                                     
                                                                                                 And I pieced a great back.
I even gave it a name - Migration - and then I put it away.  But now that it is exposed it to the world, I think I'll continue to let it see the light of day and hang it on the wall if only to remind me that it is by trying that we learn what we can accomplish.  And besides I'm finally getting serious about learning how to free motion quilt. 





17 comments:

  1. I love the idea of different sizes and shapes - so yours are not only flying geese but flying birds in general.
    It's great you've decide to take it out of the drawer, it's a lovely, clever design.

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  2. It is a lovely quilt and you shouldn't hide it in a drawer! Thank you for sharing!

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  3. Beautiful quilt. Lots of motion and color!

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  4. This is so pretty ! Wonderful colours

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  5. I would not hide this lovely quilt, if I were you, you know! :-)
    Kristina
    www.priscillacraft.blogspot.com

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  6. You should definitely enjoy this quilt every day and not hide it in a drawer. I love the colors.

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  7. Your different geese are so interesting~

    Margaret
    msolomo1@maine.rr.com
    www.quiltsoflove.blogspot.com

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  8. Such a nice quilt. It should be in a drawer. Maybe you can add more quilting and everything will be part of a unique design. Thanks for sharing.

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  9. Meant to say: it should NOT be in a drawer. Spell check got the best of me.

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  10. I love how you always make a pattern your own by putting your 'spin' on it, e.g. the different-sized geese. I look forward to seeing this quilt1

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  11. I like this quilt a lot. You might not be pleased with your execution, but the design is very successful. You should be proud of it. The color selection looks wonderful and I'd really like to see it in person.

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  12. I love all the geese against the sky blue. gorgeous quilt.

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  13. Holy wow! Look at all of thos flying geese...you are a braver woman than I.

    Mary
    http://www.quiltgenius.com

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  14. I love the different kinds of triangles in this quilt! I think machine quilting forces us to get over our perfectionism... I'm glad you shared this with us, and hope it stays out of the drawer from now on!

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  15. this is beautiful! Lots of work.

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  16. Such a great quilt! I really love it. And I like that it isn't perfect. Less intimidating that way.

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