10.30.2011

Bloggers Quilt Festival: Citrus Sails!!


I am so excited because it's time for the Bloggers Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side. Twice a year she hosts an awesome linky party where bloggers can link up a quilt of their choice. I have seriously been looking forward to this for quite sometime...and not just because I have something to share for the first time - but because there is always a ton of inspiration to be found.

Anyway so I put my thinking cap on and was trying to decide what quilt I wanted to share. I wanted it to be something I was really proud of and that would showcase who I am as a quilter/designer. I had one in mind that was almost finished (dang binding needs to be sewn on!), but due to my recent hand injury that would have to wait. So I decided to show the Citrus Sails Quilt. Yes, I know I recently blogged about it (in hindsight, I could have waited to post that until today but I was too excited to wait) but now you can read about it all over again! =)


 I am seriously am in love with this quilt. I was lucky enough to have some help piecing it from my fellow uber talented members of the Inspire Circle of the do.good.stitches charity sewing bee. I think that this quilt reflects my quilting style - simple, bright, a bit different and incorporates the use of solids. When I first designed this quilt, I knew I wanted to feature triangles and at the time I was enamored with half square triangles and thought it would be a great bee quilt. Having spent many days in a hospital myself, I wanted to create a quilt that could bring some cheerfulness to an otherwise drab hospital room. I immediately thought of bright citrus colors paired with gray. The gals in the circle did an awesome job of helping make my vision into a reality.


As much as I love the front of this quilt, I almost love the back more. Originally I was going to use a solid gray back but since I had 3 leftover squares, I decided to highlight them in each of the colors and sew a strip down the back. I really like this effect. I am a fan of solid on the back because I think it showcases the quilting, which I quilted on my machine in straight lines on a diagonal to bring some dimension to the quilt.



I finished it up with a dark gray binding (kona pepper, I believe) which I think frames it nicely. After I washed it and took it out of the dryer I took it up to the mountains for a photo shoot. And as luck would have it the bright summer colors looked nice against the fall leaves. Yay.


Lest you think that this entire experience was a cakewalk - think again (lining up all those points was a nightmare!) I also chose this quilt to showcase because I learned a very important lesson: Sometimes it is the imperfections that make the quilt perfect. Yup that's right, who cares if the points don't all line up. It still looks great at the end!


Anyway I'm going to sit back with my Starbucks salted carmel hot chocolate (aka the best fall drink ever) and spend some quality time being inspired by the many quilts at the bloggers quilt festival. Join me. But first go get a salted carmel hot chocolate, you'll thank me later - trust me.

51 comments:

Unknown said...

I don't have a local Starbucks to go and try that. :( Drink an extra for me!

Maureen T. said...

I could never tire of seeing this lovely quilt!! The back is just as awesome as the front!

Teje Karjalainen said...

Hi! Your quilt is so beautiful! Those colours are so lovely with dark solid and you have perfect autumn coloured places for your photo shooting!
Have a great week!
xxx Teje

Barbara said...

What a pretty quilt. Love the colors.

Steffi´s Candy Quilts said...

Very beautiful quilt! And your photos are gorgeous, too. Love the two last ones with the lovely autumn landscape.

trish said...

Love your quilt!! :o)

Anonymous said...

fabulous!!

Myra said...

A wonderful quilt, and what a backdrop!! Beautiful! 8-)

The Thompsons said...

Your quilt is adorable- love the back! What year in medical school is your hubbie? We're in the middle of the 2nd year of residency around here. My husband actually went to University of Richmond for undergrad- in your neck of the woods. :)

Candied Fabrics said...

Oh the color combination on this quilt is STUNNING! And that second to last picture, of the back with the mountains in the background? SUPER STUNNING!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Great color choices! You can never really go wrong with HSTs, can you?

Rachaeldaisy said...

What a wonderful quilt!! I love the citrus colours teamed with gray!! All those point look perfect to me. Fabulous photographs!!

Heidi Grohs said...

Back and front are awesome. I love the gray with those amazing and fun colors!

And I have to grab one of those drinks. I think I have only made a dent on the entries!!!

quilthexle said...

What a wonderful quilt! Great colour combination, and I think you are sooo right - some imperfections make a quilt sing ;-))

Robin said...

Mmmm... I'm so on board with the caramel hot chocolate. Yum!

Beautiful quilt! I love those fabulous citrus colors with the grey. Gorgeous! And the quilting works so beautifully. Thanks so much for sharing!

Marci Girl said...

Love the photographs you took of this one, especially the last photo! Beautiful!

Unknown said...

Lovely quilt. I have always said that finished is better than perfect. Most of the time, most of the people won't know the difference anyway. Now I think I must go get me a salted carmel hot chocolate. Sounds yummy.

Marty Mason said...

It's perfect enough for me....I love it - both sides of it!

Jane said...

Perfect combination of colors! And perfect points and seam intersections are so mundane!

Molly said...

The quilt is so bright and cheerful. I love the vibrant colors with the gray background. So striking.

I have to add that this is the most beautiful scenery I've seen in a photo shoot!

Eileen said...

Oh, my the salted caramel chocolate sounds good but probably not what my dr ordered! Love your quilt. And i think the back is great, too...i'd consider it a reversible quilt, i think! Thanks for sharing and have a great day

Angie in SoCal said...

Beautiful quilt! Love the background fabric - makes the triangles pop

Deborah OHare said...

I very much like the combination of the grey with the brights. A lovely quilt. Great shots too!

Karen said...

Your choice of colours is wonderful. Love all the citrus colours and I would not have thought of using such a dark grey, but you have opened my eyes and made me realise how effective it is.
I agree with you that the back is wonderful too. Maybe there's an idea for another quilt!

M-R Charbonneau said...

Awesome quilt! I love those colours paired with that grey. And that back is beautiful! Well done! Hope your hand is feeling better soon!

Unknown said...

I think your quilt is the perfect color combination for a fall festival! It blends so nicely even though your friends helped you with different fabrics. Nice!

Go-Go Kim said...

The POPS of color are AMAZING!!!!!!! LOVE this quilt!!!!!

Briana Arlene said...

Beautiful quilt. I love your color selections! Sorry to hear about your wrist :( Hope you are feeling better and are back to quilting soon!

Erin @ Why Not Sew? Quilts said...

your quilt is gorgeous! i love the back too. your shots with the mountains is beautiful. learning to accept the imperfections in quilts is very liberating. Great job!!!

Hideaway Girl said...

Love the colors in this one. I don't know which is better...the back or the front! Beautiful outdoorsy pictures!

quiltmom anna said...

Dear Lyanna,
I think you have made a lovely bright and cheery quilt. One of the things that I struggle with when I am quilting is half square triangles- I know that they can be challenging and they take me forever to make so I don't often make them. You made such a pretty quilt with them- maybe I would reconsider the design.
Yours is very pretty- I especially like the added blocks on the back.
Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving such a nice comment. I hope that you will visit again.
Warmest regards,
Anna

BunkHouseQuilts said...

Dang, you are making me feel deprived with my cup of regular black coffee!! However, I am enjoying the eye candy here in this super quilt! I love, love the pieced back! A++

Kirsten said...

This is a beautiful quilt!! And I love your photoshoot location too.

Mary said...

What a beautiful quilt - and wow! that backing is faaabulous! It is such a "happy" quilt and the setting for the pictures is beautiful too :)

Teresa Marie said...

Beautiful quilt, and that salted caramel hot chocolate sounds yummy! Now I'm craving one. Hope your hand heals quickly. :)

KendasCrafts said...

I LOVE the colors of this quilt! And I can imagine lining up all those points was a pain. Great job! Love the quilting, and I really love the back. Such a great way to use leftover blocks.

Kriza said...

no wonder you are in love with this quilt, it is really gorgeous! I love the back, it goes very well with the front :-)
and you found a great spot to photograph the quilt, wow!
I hope your hand isw all right now and you can sew the binding on the other quilt.

Kristina
www.priscillacraft.blogspot.com

Cynthia said...

This is such a great quilt! I love the bright colors with the dark gray! Ooh, the back is great too! So cool!

Manda said...

I love this quilt! Those bright colours look great! The back looks fab, those bright borders work really well!

Vicki said...

Thanks for sharing your quilt, the colours are gorgeous and they work so well with your photo shoot in the mountains. I also think I like the back a bit more, the simplicity of the 3 blocks sashed in lime green, yellow and orange has a very striking effect with the gray back.

Katy Cameron said...

I love those bright colours, so cheery, and the back is fab too!

Nana said...

Great colors....I love it. Looks very soft and cuddly, too.

TheAccidentalCrafter said...

I always struggle with taking great quilt photos, yours are beautiful, mind you, the quilt itself is gorgeous. Thanks for sharing.

Andrea said...

I like the design and colors are spectacular. I congratulate

JanetK said...

I am in love with HST quilts lately, and yours is fabulous! Thanks for sharing it!

Mona said...

Love this quilt. Love. love, love the beautiful last picture!!

Little Island Quilting said...

Can't make my mind up which I like best; the quilt or the scenery!

Quilt Genius said...

absolutely beautiful...makes me want a fruit salad. :)

Mary
http://www.quiltgenius.com

Kate said...

Beautiful quilt. The back is gorgeous too. What non-matching points, none visalbe here?

Linda said...

Beautiful quilt, I like how the cirtus colors pop off the grey background

Stephanie Hughes said...

Lyanna, Love this quilt and must makes something like it! Can you tell me the size of the blocks? I want to do this. Steph