Saturday, May 14

Blogger's Quilt festival : Window on the East wallhanging

Almost 2 years ago, my mom came with me to a quilt store and fell in love with a display model. She decided to buy the pattern and a kit of fabric so I could make a wall hanging for her.


The fabrics from the kit were OK. But not a great match. Wrong pink, wrong black, wrong style. Month after month I have been musing and looking for the right fabrics. As I was searching for the right additions, the project just sat in one the the boxes on the top shelf of a fabric cabinet. The left one to be precise. 


The last piece of the puzzle is that gold and pink zinnias fabric I found at a local quilt show early March. This project made me fall totally in love with Kona Bay fabrics. I have since bought quite a few more of their designs. No specific purpose yet, other than petting them until the right project comes along.
Bottom left - the zinnias
I pieced the top during a weekend sewing retreat in Lewes, Delaware at the end of March. 2 days of sewing bliss to put it together along with a few other smaller projects, I love it. But I  have to confess a few no so lady-like words escaped my lips while I was trying to get all those mitered corners to line up properly. Glad my little bug was not around at the time :). Then I had to set it aside for a while as I recovered from surgery.


A couple of weeks ago, I pulled it back out of its box to quilt and bind it. And since I'm a glutton for punishment (and I have enough fabrics left) I'm making another one almost identical, I just shifted the Geisha a little bit to avoid cutting the bridge in the background. I probably won't quilt the second one until the fall but I had to finish this one for my mom since her birthday is coming up soon. The whole family will be traveling to France to visit her for the occasion. 

I kept the quilting very simple since the fabric is a work of art in itself. Just an outline in gold thread of the flowers.

 
After outlining the flowers I just quilted in the ditch to stabilize the design


When came the time bind it, my husband suggested plain black. Awesome idea actually. I pulled black satin from my stash and it really finishes the piece without distracting the eye from the design.


I can't wait to give it to my mom in person in August :)

26 comments:

  1. She is gorgeous. No wonder your mom fell in love. You're right about the zinnia fabric - it is perfect! And I'm really, really digging the black satin binding.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a gorgeous little quilt - love the depth of field and how the rich colors pop.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Caroline..your little quilt is such a feature and will make any wall burst with character!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is just beautiful! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Absolutely stunning! Your mom is going to love it. I had to laugh, though, that you said you kept it simple but outlined those flowers in gold - doesn't look simple to me!

    I, too, got into a pattern that my mom loved...and made two of them as well. It's a challenge, but one completed with love.

    Have a great trip!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Beautiful! Just beautiful.

    I'm here from Relax and Surf and am a new follower. Please stop by soon to return the favor.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your Mom is going to love that quilt. It's absolutely gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The way you framed each of the elements is fantastic.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The geisha is stunning and the hubs hit a home run with that binding choice!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Absolutely gorgeous!! Thanks for linking @'Sew Cute Tuesday'!

    ReplyDelete
  11. So pretty; looks as though you are peaking thru a window at the giesha lady!

    ReplyDelete
  12. It is beautiful! Such a clever design to showcase the Japanese fabric. I have a gorgeous piece that I am reluctant to cute but this idea would be perfect for it. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  13. What an amazing piece of art!!! Your quilt is wonderful:)
    Thanks for sharing:)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wow! What a striking wall hanging. You did a beautiful job~

    ReplyDelete
  15. That is gorgeous! Love the pattern. Visiting from Sugar Bee's Take a Look Tuesday.
    ~Kimberlee
    {Accuquilt Giveaway} 

    ReplyDelete
  16. Absolutely beautiful. Just stunning.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I am so pleased you were able to find the right fabrics. It was definitely worth the wait. It looks great!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Congratulations! Stunning piece!

    ReplyDelete
  19. That is just stunning! Wow!!!

    Aloha,
    Charlie

    ReplyDelete
  20. Your mom is going to love it! This is so beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  21. That is really fun! I love the window effect!

    ReplyDelete
  22. What a stunning work of art! The colors and the detail...perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  23. thanks for sharing, love! you-re project made it to this week's votation round. Votation will start today and will run for a week. good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  24. That is a gorgeous quilt. Love the gold thread around flowers. Just wonderful. Black satin binding is a great touch. Thanks for sharing and have a great day

    ReplyDelete

I would love hearing from you. I read all comments and time permitting will respond to all.

You may also like...