Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Bloggers Quilt Festival

My friend Pattie told me I should participate in the Amy's Creative Side Blogger Quilt Festival, (formerly known as Park City Girl) and I thought, why not, I'll do it!
I think Amy and Jennie thought this idea up of having a blogger quilt show about a year ago, but I missed that one. I tried to get the little button thingy to post, but I couldn't figure out how to get the code for it. Lame, I know. Jennie figured it out for me!



We both agreed that my Lantern Bloom quilt had to be the one to showcase. It's my current favorite, although I've pretty much loved all of the quilts I've made.

I made this quilt for my most fabulous and wonderful boss's birthday. She makes going to my day job extremely enjoyable and is a very generous and fun person, so I decided she deserved a quilt for her birthday.
lantern festival whole 2
It was love at first site for me with this fabric. I resisted it for quite sometime, but then it was getting scarce, so I bought an eighth yard bundle from Quilt Home. I decided that the Slide Show pattern by Terry Atkinson would showcase the fabric perfectly. Of course by buying the fabric prior to deciding on a pattern, I didn't have a wide enough cut for the big squares, so I decided to border them.
lantern festival branch
My favorite quilt saying is "it's not a mistake, it's a design opportunity" and this was definitely one of those. I L.O.V.E. how it came out, so much so that I may need to make one for me. 
I quilted it with vertical wavy lines to achieve a more organic look. Jennie suggested it to Michelle for her table runner at our retreat and I thought it was a great idea for this quilt as well.
I put Curly Minkee on the back because my boss absolutely adores Minkee. I'll tell you, if you haven't felt Curly Minkee, your life is not complete! People can't help themselves when they see it. Their eyes go all unfocused and their hand starts to reach for it as though they have not control over it. Then they pet the Minkee and say 'oooo....it's soooo soft....' in a dreamy voice.
lantern festival minky back 1
The quilting looks great on Minkee too.
These are a few of my favorite blocks:
lantern festival vase

lantern festival bird
lantern block violet
There are currently over 500 quilts listed in the show and a slew of them are in the group pool on Flickr as well. Check them out for inspiration.
I've noticed several bloggers are doing giveaways and sales at their online stores in conjunction with the festival, so you should check out the festival page as well.

8 comments:

linda said...

lucky boss!

Little Island Quilting said...

Fantastic

Carol said...

Oh I love this quilt. I absolutely have to try making it :)

Mary-Kay said...

I love your quilt.

Leslie said...

this is great, but the best part is the minky

Eileen said...

beautiful!! what a fun layout and the fabrics are wonderful. i agree about the minky--made my sister in law a double sided one when she was undergoing chemo--knew it would keep her warm both physically and emotionally knowing i'd made it just for her. lucky boss, and lucky you to have someone to work for that you like so well

American Quilter's Society said...

Beautiful colors! Look forward to seeing more!

Laurel H. said...

I saw another quilter make a quilt in this pattern; until I saw yours just now, I did not know it was an actual pattern (I thought she just made it up or something). Like hers, yours is beautiful!