Artfully Caroline: Quilting

Showing posts with label Quilting. Show all posts

Sunday, September 28

Quiltspiration 365 - Unlikely color match

Sometime unlikely color pairings are the way to go. A couple of years ago, I made a baby quilt for my niece Chloe. At the time, The Very Hungry Caterpillar was my daughter's favorite bedtime story so I bought the book and a cute panel for my niece. I selected a paler of bold solids to pickup the colors from the panel.

Red, aqua, orange, blue, yellow, purple and green. All were offset by a chocolate brown border. All of these colors are covering most of the spectrum of the color wheel. By all accounts, the result should be terrible ... but

I think it worked really well and make it visually balanced with the colors from the panel. I then used the same colors to piece a very colorful back to match.

But most importantly, the recipient loved it :)

For more Quilt inspiration, visit the Quiltspiration 365 bloggers:

Kitty: http://nightquilter.com

Chelsey: http://www.niniandthesea.blogspot.com

Laura : http://www.niniandthesea.blogspot.com

Jennifer : http://neverjustjennifer.blogspot.com

Brenna : http://www.beknitpicky.com

Cheryl : http://sweetdreamsquilting.blogspot.com

Jessica: http://sweetdreamsquilting.blogspot.com

Cathy : http://www.aquiltingchick.blogspot.com

Sarah : http://www.aquiltingchick.blogspot.com

Sunday, September 14

Quiltspiration 365 - Meditereanean blue

I was born and grew up in the South of France, where the blue of the sky is rivaled by the blue of the Mediterranean sea and complemented by the white of the rugged coastline. I love all the shades of blue, and green and I love mosaics. It just came naturally to combine all shades of blue with the stark contrast of white to make a quilt for my father-in-law.

So after picking all the shades of the Mediterranean blue

And finding just the right layout

This quilt was born

The front

And the back

Sunday, August 31

Quiltspiration 365 - One design, 3 ways

Before I started coming up with my own quilt design, I often used existing patterns, using my own fabric choices and colorways. It is easy to let yourself get boxed in reproducing verbatim something that already exists.

Here is an example on how just changing your color way can completely transform a simple design:

In beige, red and pink

In black, purple, red and yellow

In white, green and purple

All 3 side by side

Be bold, be daring and create!

Sunday, August 17

Quiltspiration 365 - Creative process - wildlife photo

I usually create quilts without using a pattern, or if I use a pattern, I tend to give it my own twist. But sometimes it takes a little help to get to where you need to go. There is a lovely woman in my life , Gram Betty. She's part of my extended family. She and her daughter, Joan, shared their love of quilting with and taught me the basic when I was an absolute beginner. I really wanted to make something special for Gram Betty. Something from the heart. I knew how much she missed her trips to Canada and the loons on the lake she used to vacation at.

Drawing a realistic loon from scratch was not an option so I had to get some help from a photo.

Then the stash shopping started. Mostly Batiks for their organic feel.

I printed the photo a couple of times and clipped the various elements for the birds to use as templates

I glued the pieces with school glue and added a couple of lilypads and aquatic plants

To finish the effect, I used a thread painting method to secure the pieces, add the "fuzzy" effect on the chick and in the water to create the illusion of the reflection

Here is the finished piece. Gram Betty loved it :)

Sunday, August 3

Quiltspiration 365 - Free motion walk in Boston

There are so many aspects to quilting, design, fabric selection, piecing, and of course quilting. The quilting can be as simple as straight lines, a stipple or complex as feathers and other motifs. During our New England vacation, I took many pictures that I will use in future projects, many of them in unlikely places. You can find your inspiration everywhere:

A tin tile in a bakery

A window in Boston's North End

Woodwork in an old whaling ship

Ultra modern building materials on the New England Aquarium

The sidewalk near Fenway Park

or even jellyfish ...

Visit the Quiltspiration 365 bloggers:

Kitty: http://nightquilter.com

Chelsey: http://www.niniandthesea.blogspot.com

Laura : http://www.niniandthesea.blogspot.com

Jennifer : http://neverjustjennifer.blogspot.com

Brenna : http://www.beknitpicky.com

Cheryl : http://sweetdreamsquilting.blogspot.com

Jessica: http://sweetdreamsquilting.blogspot.com

Cathy : http://www.aquiltingchick.blogspot.com

Sarah : http://www.aquiltingchick.blogspot.com

Sunday, July 20

Quiltspiration 365 : A day of wonder and wander

We are on vacation and taking a trip to Boston. We left Maryland Friday and stopped in Poughkeepsie NY overnight. Our firmed up plan only included a visit to the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome for Saturday afternoon. So in the morning, we did a little research and ended up visiting the FDR Springwood Estate and the Vanderbilt "Hyde Park" mansion before heading to the airfield.

The grounds near FDR's house were absolutely stunning. A true color overload.

At the presidential library, a floor mosaic made me smile

And the Vanderbilt estate was full of patterns, geometrical arrangements

interlocked wit more organic patterns

Even the ventilation grates were pretty

Not to mention the amazing carved stone patterns

Beauty is everywhere, in nature as much as in man-made wonders.

Thursday, March 21

Blanket for Ben

A lot of babies arrived in my life lately. I have been busy making blankets !! This one is for Benjamin that is such a sweet boy with gorgeous blue eyes. The pattern is a simple 9-patch with sashing. It is backed with minky to make it extra snuggly and quilted with a blue variegated thread.

And the final touch was to appliqué his initial in the corner and add a blanket stitch over the raw edges

Monday, January 7

Easy Street - Pink Lemonade Edition

Well I did it... finished the top of my iteration of Easy Street. I must say I surprised myself for managing this project that was way out of my comfort zone and I'm glad I did

I learned a LOT: piecing technique, chain piecing, cutting, assembling. The one thing I could not do is 'scrappy'. It goes completely against my OCD tendencies. There are a few different whites, yellows, pinks and greys but no, this quilt is not really scrappy. I still absolutely love it and can't wait to have it finished so I can have it on my bed.

Here are the block all finished before the final assembly