Saturday, May 17, 2014

Dutch Comfort--2014 Spring Bloggers Quilt Festival

Dutch Comfort is my second entry into the Bloggers Quilt Festival. This is a quilt that I finished up earlier in the year although once again, it was one of those quilts that has been patiently waiting its turn in the hoop for a long time. My stack of quilt tops just continues to grow and grow until my poor fingers will never manage to keep up!
Dutch Comfort
Yes, this quilt was hand quilted, but I decided to put it into the scrappy category because of the many different fabrics included in the quilt. When making this quilt top, I dumped out my fabrics totes trying to find every single complementary red/yellow and pink fabric that I thought would work well with my quilt idea. I tried to add in a lot of florals, homespuns and 'pretty' prints, hoping that would add to the feeling I was aiming for with the overall quilt concept of coziness, romance, comfort, and an antique scrappiness that I always seem to be striving for.
Sorry, that's where I fold my quilt
 to lay it on the end of the bed!
I started off with a picture of a Dutch looking quilt as inspiration, changing the colors of blues and browns over to reds and yellows--a combination I'd been wanting to play with {again}. When that seemed too harsh a look, I added in the softer, more mellow looking pinks which definitely gives (I think) a more romantic look. The centerpiece is a block from a Blackbird Design pattern that I love, but didn't really want to make an entire quilt of. The use of monochromatic fabric choices makes for a very strong looking centerpiece in the quilt without taking anything away from the scrappy quality of the rest of the quilt--something very important to me. Does it sound ridiculous to say that I thought it a brilliant combination! lol Thank you to Blackbird Designs for the inspiration!
Dutch Comfort  in different lighting
This quilt was started impulsively on a weekend where I was trying to cheer myself up from the often disappointing and harsh realities of life. It turned out to be a great method of therapy (surprise, surprise!) and honestly, I think it's one of my favorite quilts just because of all the angst and emotion worked into the seams. Funny how life seems a bit sweeter when we are able to immerse ourselves in the beauty of fabric and color for just a little while.
The Blackbird Design block
Although there is nothing about this quilt that I could say is an 'original' design, it definitely feels like a me quilt. I drew out a rough draft, figured the proper measurements, made sure the borders to the centerpiece were mitered correctly and spent all the time playing with my many fabric possibilities to end up with a pleasing combination of lights, darks, mediums and brights. I completely used up lots of little odds and ends of fabric bits to include every potential print I could get my hands on! The pictures definitely do not do this quilt justice as the quilt literally sparkles in the right light. (It's quite possibly the coziest looking quilt I've ever managed to make too.)
Dutch Comfort in the more natural light of
my quilting room....
Oh yeah, for those that always want to know the size, Dutch Comfort came out of the dryer in all its crinkly goodness at approx. 77 1/2" x 93 1/2".

There's always a lot of stiff competition over at the festival, but I don't include my quilts thinking I'm going to win in any particular category. Mostly I just do it for the fun of showing off a couple quilts I'm proud of and hopefully share my love of quilting with other interested quilters. A big thanks to Amy for her genius at setting up such a great on-line quilt show once again!

You can check out my other festival entry here if you like!

27 comments:

  1. Tus colchas son preciosas, para mi ya tienes un premio merecido!!!!
    yo hice una entrada en el festival, con la colcha que hice para mi ahijado Samuel
    saludos

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  2. I love it :) Came over to see if / what you'd entered. It is everything that you described and wanted it to be and more :) Off to check out the other one now :)

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  3. I love the colours in this quilt. It's the sort of quilt that you would see different fabrics everytime you look at it. I agree with you that the festival is about sharing quilts rather than winning prizes.

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  4. I love it! like you too I just enter for fun. Love that quilt

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  5. This is very you ...and is one of my favourites from your collection. Im so inspired by the colours and design of this quilt - it's calming and looks like the kind of quilt you could really snuggle under for a Sunday read .

    You did an amazing job Audrey.

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  6. That quilt looks so snuggly and romantic. You have a hit on your hands.

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  7. Audrey, this quilt is amazing, the texture and the soft comfy look are so appealing. Like you I entered a second hand quilted quilt - and it's in this scrappy category too. Love these Festivals for the chance to see all the amazing work, and I never expect to win anything, just have fun!

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  8. I so love this quilt. The pattern is great but it's the colors that speak to me.

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  9. Very beautiful quilt Audrey XXX

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  10. It is a beautiful quilt and it does look very Dutch, with all the triangles/hourglass blocks. Love those colors too!

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  11. I didn't know that there was a Dutch style ... Amazing what we learn just reading quilting blogs! Ha! Seriously I just love this quilt ... so beautiful!

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  12. pretty quilt! I love the yellow with those reds

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  13. What a beautiful quilt and I love your choice of colors. So pretty.
    Have a nice Sunday

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  15. Another beautiful quilt Audrey, Both of your entries are unique and I enjoyed reading about your design process.

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  16. Beautiful! Love the red and gold tones... and especially love the look after a toss in the washer and a tumble in the dryer!

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  17. I think that quilts started to cheer a person up, end up being my favorites!! I have worked on a gfg between caring for different family members recoveries. It was a UFO from eBay & I didn't choose the main colors--just the path. It started out hard to add colors with her colors, but I learned so much!! I will be hand quilting it now I have decided, after watching your progress on your quilts

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  18. A very lovely quilt!! I love your color choices in this quilt. It looks so soft and warm and inviting. Beautiful!

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  19. It's a beautiful quilt, I love the scrappiness and the center piece that gives a lovely point of focus. I agree with you in seeing quilting as a therapy, it works for me too!

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  20. Beautiful work! Pretty colours and I love scrappy quilts!

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  21. Beautiful color combination! Great quilt, Audrey!

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  22. Oh, I love the scrapiness of this quilt and the fact that you took the time to hand quilt it is the iceing on the cake! I think it really pays-off to dig deep in your scrap basket and add the odd bit of variety to your scrap to give it a real authentic scrappy feeling! Fantastic job! cheers, CW

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  23. I love it! I also love your description of putting angst into a quilt. I totally do that and know just what you mean.

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  24. Hi Audrey, what a beautiful quilt, I love it, and I really love the colours you used. It's funny, I was just thinking last night I would love to do a quilt in these colours! Everything you aimed for in this quilt has worked perfectly, such a gorgeous quillt.

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Thanks for visiting! I love getting comments and always try to respond via email. Please leave an email in the comment to ensure a return reply! {Many of you are popping up as Anonymous for some reason, so I have no idea who it is.} Regardless, I appreciate all the comments and read every single one.