Bloggers' Quilt Festival

Several years ago, there were whispers going around in the quilting community "Park City Girl is doing an online Festival". Soon we flocked around and it was SO much fun, we hardly could wait till another year had passed...

From those very enjoyable but humble beginnings, Amy, now blogging at Amy's Creative Side, has led and grown this event both to bi-annual and enormous proportions.

Click HERE (on the green button did not seem to work... sorry) to go to her linky site

so you can visit all the beautiful quilts displayed. It's better than a quilt show as not only are there more quilts, you can get to know the quilters through their blog and the stories behind the quilts you are seeing!

I have missed a few since that beginning (yep, I was there!) but I am happy to enter a quilt of mine for this Spring edition.





...and here it is. 'Sweet Mum Quilt'. At the time I was hanging around a lot at the Old Red Barn Flickr site. Dana had done a lovely quiltalong and we, the participants, made so many friends there, that we persuaded Dana to keep going. I was making this quilt for my mum's 90th birthday and it took some doing (not having made many quilts before, nor having done applique at all, ever...or handquilting come to think of it) and my Old Red Barners were constantly asking.. 'how is the quilt for your sweet mum coming along?' Hence the title.




This is her face when she first opened the parcel. Although she knew I was quilting, she did not know I was making anything for her! (and she did know I was terribly busy with other things... in fact, I had sewn on the label at 10 mins past midnight the day before her birthday...(so being after midnight, that WAS her birthday) talking about cutting things fine!:-)

What did I learn? Many things.... first and foremost that even when you cut out all the pieces very accurately as per pattern instructions, it does not mean it always fits....



and that it then takes a lot of trial and error (read muttering under breath and emitting big pearl drops of anxiety sweat) before you (as a beginner) have found the solution!



Of course I have since sworn blind that the square corners were in the pattern, lol! You won't tell anyone won't you?

Also, never having done applique before, the centre rose was very troublesome...


Before I stumbled upon the freezer paper method, I marked out the pattern on the back of the fabric (as I was taught in traditional piecing) and then tried to 'sort of' fold it under till the line (which I could not see...). I do feel so stupid now, but hey, all of you beginners who didn't know either might feel a bit happier you are not the only one who had to start from scratch :-)

After I had finished and quilted the entire quilt, I took off the centre piece and redid it in it's entirety. The advice of many saying 'nobody knows if you don't point it out' did not have any results.. "I" would know and forever regret it. Serves me right for being somewhat of a perfectionist (even though nothing I have made is totally perfect, I try!).



A first was also the handquilting. It took a long time, I shadow quilted most of the applique, but it was good as doing so much of it, taught me a lot and my stitches are now more regular and even than at the beginning of the quilt.

Much more than what I learnt making this quilt, is what I received and that was the happy smile of my mum, who not only appreciated the work that had gone into it, but mostly was bowled over with the time I had taken to make something especially for her and the thought that was behind it. You are welcome mum <3