Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Bloggers' Quilt Festival Entry

I've said in the past I wanted no part of entering quilts into contests to be judged, but here I am. The judging I had in mind at the time was the kind done at fairs and quilt shows, where technique and quality is critiqued to the N-th degree. No thanks. I enjoy sharing my quilts, however, so I'll most likely change my mind about that. We'll see.

I've been participating in the Amy's Creative Side Bloggers' Quilt Festival as a spectator and voter for a couple years now, and I really enjoy looking at everyone else's quilts and reading their quilt stories, so I decided to finally enter one of my own. My mom's Batik Twister Quilt is my entry for large quilt. It measures 110 x 124 -- the largest quilt I've made in the four years I've been quilting. When I started this quilt in 2011, it was meant to be a bedspread to go on a full-size bed in a room with blue carpet. She specifically wanted a bedspread, and I thought a full-size bedspread was doable. Then Mom got a bigger bed and new carpet, and it stalled for a while. I finally finished it in the fall of 2013.

Beyond the center twister-patterned center, I used no pattern. It didn't take me long to realize that maybe this wasn't the best project for a beginning quilter, but I wasn't about to abandon it.

(Photos taken at Gold Bluffs Beach in Northern California.)




For the back I used all my failed ideas from the front and basically made it reversible.


I enlisted my brother and my nephew to be quilt holders.





I took special care to make sure the top design elements on the front and back lined up with the top of the pillows when the bed was made.


Thanks for visiting my blog and reading my quilt story. I'm looking forward to browsing everyone else's quilts again this year. If you're not familiar with this virtual quilt festival and love to look at quilts, follow the link below and be prepared to be amazed. Voting starts on November 1. There are some beautiful quilts out there! 


AmysCreativeSide.com


3 comments:

  1. Wow! This is a large and BEAUTIFUL quilt. I love the border treatment and the offset centre panel. I wish you good luck with your entry in the Festival!

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  2. Thank you, Karen. I really obsessed about the extra space above the center panel to allow for "pillow tuck," a term I'd never heard before I started investigating bedspreads!

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  3. Wow - all that from a beginner quilter? It is an amazing quilt. I love that you planned in the pillow tuck. So pretty. Your failed ideas look great, too.

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