It is everything I love about a quilt. It is everything I love about quilting.
Recently, I have been trying to shift my quilting focus towards trying all the hard things. I want to look at patterns and designs and feel empowered instead of scared. I want sewing and quilting to feel like a journey. Personally, I believe that perfecting my craft is part of the fun and that you have to know the rules in order to break them. I am proud to consider myself a quilter within the tradition and I embrace my quilty forebears. Someday, we can sit down with a cup of coffee and I will share my opinion on all the divisions quilting (modern, traditional, art, oh my). For now I will just say, we are all quilters.
When I first saw Jen Kingwell's Steam Punk quilt, I loved it. But then, the little voice inside my head told me that I could not make that. It was too hard. Templates. Curves. Appliqué.
On a whim, I went for it. I ordered the pattern, I ordered some acrylic templates. I opened my scrap bins. I combed through my stash.
Each block was an adventure. I didn't have a plan. I just started making blocks. There was some intense fussy cutting and a large number of cats (honestly because I have a lot of cat fabric in my stash, no particular design plan).
Because rainbows.
Then, all of a sudden, I had all of the blocks.
Over a couple of work trips, I hand appliquéd. It seemed to go fast.
Scraps on the back. I guess we could call this improv?
It is not perfect, I could probably point out all the mistakes. It is mine and I am so proud of it.
Quilt Stats:
Name: Bacon Punk
Size: approximately 71" x 71"
Pattern: Steam Punk by Jen Kingwell
Quilting: Shell free motion quilting with Aurifil white thread
Finished: April 2015
Oh my goodness, I love it! I can see why you feel so strongly about it, it's a beautiful quilt. Your efforts and determination to try something new certainly paid off! Also, the fussy cut centers are too sweet, they make me smile. :)
ReplyDeleteI am so proud of you and I am honored to call you my friend and quilty inspiration!
ReplyDeleteSarah, this is beyond gorgeous. I love it, and this is just the 105th reason you make me want to quilt. <3
ReplyDeleteOh. My. Goodness.
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing. Love the colors and the fussy cutting. Love the whole thing. Gorgeous!
This is a wonderful piece. There's so much depth in your fabric choices. Big applause! Thank you for also making it asymmetrical - just another nice artistic touch.
ReplyDeleteAnd it is soooo amazing!!! You should be proud! What a fantastically beautiful quilt - totally my type of quilt xx. I especially love the light blue sashing - makes a peaceful overall picture despite the colour.
ReplyDeleteRightly proud - it's so colourful and perfectly balanced.
ReplyDeleteThe colours are fresh and pretty, and i agree, quilting should be more about the journey than the destination.
ReplyDeleteThe colours are fresh and pretty, and i agree, quilting should be more about the journey than the destination.
ReplyDeleteHow exciting and well done!! It is a fine quilt!
ReplyDeletelooks awesome sarah
ReplyDeleteLovely. It has such movement, as if they were falling. I'm reminded of the feeling of the game Bejeweled.
ReplyDeleteI really really love this! I'm with you. I feel like I've done the basics and I'm ready to explore what else quilting has to teach me!
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is I love you so much right now! (not that way!!) You are so creative and so smart and I would love to share a cup of coffee with you and discuss all those quilty things! Let's do it next month!!
ReplyDeleteI love it! It's bright, colorful and full of cats! It's all you! Another beauty to add to the collection. Thank you for sharing it with us.
ReplyDeleteYou had me at bacon! Seriously-I look at your beautiful quilt and think the same thing...curves...templates...scary good. I need to take a page from your blog and be brave-what am I afraid of? I've been doing this quilting thing for quite a while, so I need to get out of my comfortable zone! Thanks for the inspiration!
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