Monday, May 18, 2015

Bloggers' Quilt Festival - Spring 2015 - Entry #2

I am happy to share with you my choice for my second entry into the Blogger's Quilt Festival! Although I have had just a small amount of time to glance through some of the entries, I am just so impressed and inspired by what quilters around the world are doing every minute of every day, 24/7!  It's a feast for the eyes, a massage for the spirit, a flame to ignite creativity...and it's F. R. E. E. !!!  Thank you Amy!
Although the main voting begins May 22, you can now vote for your 3 favourite quilts in the Viewers' Choice.  Go here to vote.  Anyone with an email address can vote for the favourite three within the entire festival.

So without further ado, here is my second entry, my Seashell Runner.  I am entering it into Small Quilts.  It is too big perimeter-wise for the mini quilts category, and I already put a quilt into Art Quilts, and I'm not sure whether this really is an art quilt...maybe they need a runners category, right?!

I bought the pattern several years ago in Florida at a quilt shop.  I wanted something designed by a local, and I'd planned to make it for the condo we owned at that time in Florida.  I picked up several fat quarters of batiks I thought would work.

And there it sat, in a drawer, for several years.

This winter, I took it down to Florida once again (yep, it went down...and back north last winter, not gonna lie) and put it on my Q1 FAL list.

And got it done!  Here is the back:

All the satin-stitching and quilting detail looks pretty cool.

I was so pleasantly surprised that it fits absolutely perfectly on the coffee table in our house we now own in Florida.  Love that.

I brought it back north for show 'n tell at my Kingsville guild meeting, and was even more happy to find that it fits here on our coffee table!  We live on Lake Erie, so the shells theme works here too, maybe not so much the sharks' teeth and starfish, but that's okay.

It's pretty unique as far as quilted runners go; each shell or shark's tooth is made individually and then all the shells, starfish and sharks' teeth are tacked together.  You can read more about the process here and here, and the finish here.

One more detail shot:

You can find this quilt in the Small Quilts category.  Remember that the thumbnails change places each time you visit a page, so you have to hunt through all the tantalizing pics to find the one you want.  Good strategy for more than one reason, wink.

Voting starts May 22, but you can vote now for Viewers' Choice - pick your fave three quilts!  It is so interesting (and a vortex to be sure, but a good vortex) to go and see all the many many entries.  And thank you so very much to Amy at Amy's Creative Side for organizing this twice yearly event--she's been doing this since 2009!!





18 comments:

  1. This runner has always amazed me Sandra - Your craftsmanship from choosing the perfect fabrics, to the sewing, then quilting, and putting the while thing together are second to none! Fabulous! I bet your northern quilting friends just love it too!

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  2. Fascinating runner. At first, I confess, I didn't realize it was a glass table in the photo, and I thought, "wow, that tile floor is so realistic". Whoops. Your shells are so very realistic with the batiks. Really a nice change to have them tacked together instead of on a solid rectangle. Gives it a nice openness perfect for the seaside!

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  3. It is definitely art and certainly could hang on the wall so yep it is perfect!

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  4. It is definitely art and certainly could hang on the wall so yep it is perfect!

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  5. Love this! And how cool that it fits ALL of your tables! You can keep it with you always :) The batiks are perfect for the shells, it really is so realistic looking. Beautifully done! :)

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  6. Wow! This is sooo realistic! At first I thought they were Stitched on to the oval, then I realised they are standing on their own, and subtly stitched together, as if scattered on the table! Beautiful! And beautiful choice of fabrics.

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  7. Like I said the first time you posted it: absolutely stunningly jaw dropping! You got my vote again (obviously)! <3

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  8. What a great idea for a beautiful runner!!! I love your design, beautiful fabrics great quilting :)
    Greetings from Poland
    Kamila

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  9. I love that you are using it in both homes. It's too pretty to use for just a short time.

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  10. Great choice Sandra. This runner is such a unique piece!

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  11. That is such an awesome piece, such detail in all of the shells.

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  12. Great runner but I consider it an art quilt as well. I have seen some seasonal runners with sewn together hearts, snowmen etc but none with the shells. I love it.

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  13. Very cool quilt! I've never seen one like this. You chose excellent fabrics!

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  14. Wow I love the uniqueness and the technique. Well done

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  15. Very nicely done - you really used fabrics well - this is beautiful and unique.

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  16. Wow, that is nifty. At first glance, I thought the photo was was an oval quilt. But then I took a closer look and was even more impressed. Wonderful table runner.

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  17. This is such an interesting piece! The fabrics work so well - and it really looks like seashells!!!

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  18. Fantastic runner!!! I love this!!!

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