Zebra

This is my second entry in this year's Bloggers Quilt Festival hosted by Amy Ellis of Amy's Creative Side.  It's my Zebra wall quilt, made from a pattern by TartanKiwi (Juliet).

Juliet ran a class for our guild and I started my zebra there.  It's quite tricky foundation paper piecing a design like this, but I was very happy with my finished piece.

I had my Zebra machine quilted by a friend.  I just didn't think hand quilting would suit this design, and my machine quilting isn't up to this standard.

You can read more about how I made this quilt here. 

The finished quilt is just 20" x 20".  The pattern is available for purchase and download here, but Juliet also has other sizes available in her Etsy and Payhip stores.  She even has a book out now called Animal Quilts.

My first entry in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival for 2018 is Home and Away and you can see it here.

Amy Ellis from Amy's Creative Side has been hosting the Bloggers' Quilt Festival for many years.  I've been entering since 2014 because I love joining with other quilters to show what we can make with fabric and thread.

This year is different - you don't need to visit all the categories, and you don't need to vote for winners.  The prizes will distributed randomly across everyone who enters.

I encourage you to pop over to Amy's blog and see all the quilts on display.  Once you visit a quilt there is a check mark that appears on the photo, to help you keep track of where you’ve been. The linky software Amy uses keeps track of your IP address, so if you switch devices you won’t have the same check marks.

Home and Away quilt

It's September so it's time for the Bloggers' Quilt Festival with Amy Ellis of Amy's Creative Side.   My first entry is my Home  and Away quilt.  Wendy Williams from Sydney, Australia designed this pattern and I made it as part of a Block of the Month programme from Material Obsession in Sydney.  It's wool felt applique so I sewed all those felt shapes on by hand, and then joined the sections up.

I had this quilt quilted on a long arm machine because I couldn't imagine hand quilting around all those shapes.  I love how Sue B from Busy Bee Quilt Shop managed to avoid all the felt pieces when she was quilting it for me.

Here it is on the spare bed.  That wall quilt above the bed is designed by Wendy Williams too! I love her bright colourful designs.

You can read more about Home and Away on this post.  If you want to buy the pattern you can get it from Material Obsession here.   A word of warning though, this quilt took me almost two years to make.  There's a huge amount of cutting and stitching, but all the good things in life take time.

My second entry in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival is my Zebra and you can read about it here.

Amy Ellis from Amy's Creative Side has been hosting the Bloggers' Quilt Festival for many years.  I've been entering since 2014 because I love joining with other quilters to show what we can make with fabric and thread.

This year is different - you don't need to visit all the categories, and you don't need to vote for winners.  The prizes will distributed randomly across everyone who enters.

I encourage you to pop over to Amy's blog and see all the quilts on display.  Once you visit a quilt there is a check mark that appears on the photo, to help you keep track of where you’ve been. The linky software Amy uses keeps track of your IP address, so if you switch devices you won’t have the same check marks.

Bloggers' Quilt Festival 2017 - Tussie Mussie

Once again it's time for the Bloggers' Quilt Festival hosted by Amy Ellis of Amy's Creative Side.

I love this quilt festival because the quilters don't need to put hanging sleeves on their quilts or send them away in the post, and the viewers don't even need to get off their sofas to see a wide range of beautiful quilts.  That's a win, win as far as I'm concerned.

I'm entering two quilts this year and the first is my Tussie Mussie that I finished a few months ago.

I made this quilt using a pattern in Kaffe Fasset's Quilts in Italy book.  It was quite simple to make because it's just big half square triangles.  I used some of my stash of gorgeous purple and green Kaffe prints.

I usually like to hand quilt my quilts, but I've got a bit of a backlog developing so I had this one quilted by Sue Burnett of Busy Bee Quilting in Wellington, New Zealand.  I chose a swirly pattern and I'm really pleased with the finished result.

These pretty photos were all taken in my mum's garden in Auckland.  I even used Kaffe Fasset's extra wide backing on the back and I love the smooth silky texture of it.

You can read more about this quilt in my earlier blog post here.  

My second entry in the festival is my Holiday Homies quilt and you read about it here.  

Please pop over to Amy's blog and look at some of the other great quilts in the festival.  The system is a lot simpler this year because there's only one category for all of the quilts.  There won't be voting either - just prizes awarded to contestants on a random basis.
 

I hope you enjoy visiting some new blogs.  Please try to leave a comment for the bloggers, even if it's just "I love your quilt".   

How exciting is this! I'm the winner!!!

Thank you everyone who voted for my quilts in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival.  Not only did both of my entries win their categories, but I also won Viewers' Choice with my la passacaglia quilt!!

I'm slightly stunned, but very thrilled too.  Thank you to you all for your support and votes, and all the lovely comments left on my blog.

I was hoping that la passacaglia would do well, but I certainly didn't expect to win the Small Quilts section with my Honeycomb Spin. I guess people liked it because it had different design techniques - the hexagons were glued on and then quilted in a spiral pattern. Credit must go to Anna Hicks of Nancy's Stitch Studio who taught me this pattern in a class.

Amy has a fair method of sharing the prizes around, so I will only receive the prize for Viewers' Choice. (I will show you the loot when it arrives.) The good thing about Amy's policy is that my online friend Maryse from Canada will receive the prize in the Hand Quilting category for her beautiful Anna Maria Horner Dresden Plate quilt - click here to see it. 

You can find links to all the winners here on Amy's blog. Again kind friends, thank you so much for voting for my quilts.

Voting is now open in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival

As promised, I'm back to tell you that voting is now open in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival hosted by Amy of Amy's Creative Side.

Each person gets 3 votes in each category.  To cast your vote for a quilt you need to click on the heart in the top right hand corner of the thumbnail like this:

Amy's website isn't very easy to navigate, so here are the links to my quilts if you'd like to vote for them:

My la passacaglia is in the Viewers' Choice section here:

http://www.amyscreativeside.com/2016/09/19/bloggers-quilt-festival-fall-2016-edition/

(Thank you so much if you were one of the people who nominated my quilt for the Viewers' Choice category - I'm honored to know so many people like it and voted for it.)

and also the Hand Quilting section here:

http://www.amyscreativeside.com/2016/09/19/bqfhand-quilted-quilt-category/

My Honeycomb Spin is in the Small Quilts category here:

http://www.amyscreativeside.com/2016/09/19/bqfsmall-quilt-category/

Voting is open until this Friday, 30 September.  You don't need to vote in every category, or even use all 3 votes in each section, so just pop on over and vote for your favourites if you've got time.

PS Cathy Melancon - I'd love to reply to your emails, but you're a no reply blogger and I can't track down your email address.  Can you email me directly so I can see you email address please?  thanks.  wendysquiltsandmore at gmail dot com

Blogger's Quilt Festival - la passacaglia - hand quilted

Hello and welcome.  Here is my second entry in the Blogger's Quilt Festival. It's my la passacaglia quilt, which is in the hand quilted category.

This beautiful pattern was designed by Willyne Hammerstein, and is based on the Penrose star.  The pattern is in Willyne's first Millefiori Quilts book.

I English Paper Pieced (EPP) my quilt, and then hand quilted it with Aurifil 28 wt.  Look at all those gorgeous threads!!

I mainly used threads that matched the fabrics.  I felt there was already so much going on in my quilt, the quilting didn't need to fight for attention too!

It took me 18 months to make my quilt, and I learnt a lot of tips and tricks along the way.  I have a full page dedicated to this quilt on my blog, and you can view it here.

Finished size: approx 65" x 75"
Design: Willyne Hammerstein - Millefiori Quilts

Thank you for visiting my blog and reading about my la passacaglia. I love this quilt, and I've enjoyed sharing it with you.  My other quilt in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival is my Honeycomb Spin and you can read about it here.

Voting isn't open yet, but I really encourage you to go and check out all the other quilts in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival. More and more will be added to the linkup until entries close on 24 September. Then voting will be open from 25 - 30 September. Winners will be announced on 1 October.  It really is a great way to see a huge range of quilts from the comfort of your own home.

Bloggers' Quilt Festival - Honeycomb Spin

Hello and welcome if you're visiting my blog for the first time. Yes, the Blogger's Quilt Festival is back - and this time it's for bloggers.

Back in May 2016 Amy decided to hold the festival on Instagram, but it just didn't have the same feel as the original Blogger's Quilt Festival.  I didn't get to read the stories behind the quilts, nor get to know the quilters in the same way. So I'm pleased it's back on blogs this time because I love finding new quilters online.

Here's my first entry. It's my Honeycomb Spin and it's in the Small Quilts category.

I made this quilt in a class at Nancy's Stitch Studio in Wellington, New Zealand.  The tutor was Anna Hicks and it was a very enjoyable class. We used the Modern Hexies technique made famous by Nicole from Modern Handcraft, but we finished them differently.

Laying the hexagons out neatly was the hardest part!

Once the hexagons were all glued into place we quilted in a spiral pattern which really gave the quilt texture and interest.

the back

We finished this quilt with facings rather than binding. It was an interest touch, and a new skill for me.

Finished size: 40" x 25"
Design: Anna Hicks

My other quilt in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival is my la passacaglia quilt and you can read about it here.

Voting isn't open just yet, but I really encourage you to go and check out all the other quilts in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival. More and more will be added to the linkups until entries close on 24 September. Then voting will be open from 25 - 30 September. Winners will be announced on 1 October.  It really is a great way to see a huge range of quilts from the comfort of your own home.

Voting is now open

This is just a short post to let you know that voting is now open in the Online Bloggers' Quilt Festival.  Amy's put all the entries into one blog post so it's easier to see what you're voting for now.  You can find them here: Online Bloggers' Quilt Festival voting.

Spinning Stripes - Mini Quilt

You can vote for up to 3 quilts in each category.  To vote just click on the little greyed out heart in the top right hand corner. Clicking turns the heart red, and means you've voted for that quilt.

Radiant Poppies - Hand Quilted

Just a reminder, my Spinning Stripes is in the Mini Quilt section, and my Radiant Poppies is in the hand quilted section.  I'd love it if you voted for them, but only if they are your favourites.  

I've got two recent finishes to share with you, so I'm off to write those blog posts now.

Online Bloggers' Quilt Festival - Radiant Poppies

My second entry in the October Online Bloggers' Quilt Festival is my Radiant Poppies quilt, and I'm entering it into the Hand Quilted section.

I made this quilt for the Pantone Radiant Orchid challenge last year.  I used Elizabeth Hartman's Kitchen Window pattern, but stopped at three rows so it would be a lap quilt. I chose the Joel Dewberry Poppies fabric as my feature fabric, and worked out from there.

I hand quilted around each of the window panes, but then also quilted diagonal lines across the quilt with Perle 8.  I enjoy hand quilting with Perle 8, and I love the finished look that it gives. If you're interested in hand quilting I recommend you join the Celebrate Hand Quilting group on Facebook.  They're a great group of people (men and women), always willing to help other quilters.

This quilt is 52" x 52" and you can read more about it here in my original blog post.

I'll leave you with a view of the back - I just had to use up those beautiful Joel Dewberry poppies.

Thank you for visiting.

Online Bloggers' Quilt Festival - Spinning Stripes

It's time for the Bloggers' Quilt Festival again, and once again I'm entering two quilts.

The first is my Spinning Stripes, which I finished in September.  I'm entering this quilt in the Mini Quilt section.

I learnt to make this quilt in a class run by my friend, Shirley Mooney.  She showed us how to turn this single piece of fabric into a stunning mini quilt.

I machine quilted this mini myself.  I spread the quilting over two weeks because there were so many ends to bury.

I'm really pleased with how this quilt turned out. It's my favourite greens and blues, and it's a very interesting design.  I have another version already cut and ready to piece soon.

This mini quilt measures 22" across.  Thank you for visiting.

Thank you

Thank you to everyone who voted for my Flower Garden table runner in the Online Bloggers' Quilt Festival.  There were many amazing quilts entered, and I'm humbled that mine would be voted the winner in the Applique category.

Thank you to Amy's Creative Side for running this festival twice a year.  It must be a big job to organise everything, including sponsors.

I was quite surprised at how many winners come from outside of USA.  There are quite a few from Poland this year, including the winner of the Viewers' Choice award, Gosia. You can see her quilt here. And you can visit all the winning entries from this page.

You don't have to be an amazing quilter to enter this competition.  You just need to take some photos of your quilts, write a blog post, and link up. The next festival will be in November/December, so I encourage you to start thinking now about which of your two quilts you will enter. They don't need to be new, they could be something you finished 2 years ago. They just need to be new to the competition.

Thanks again, Wendy