AHIQ:Sun Quilt Top and Autumnal Tulips #2

I seem to have fell down a rabbit hole this past little while. So shocking. This quilt top was a result of an AHIQ prompt from July 2022. I was really late getting going with my response and then even later getting it to finished quilt top stage. I was dragging my feet initially because it's just so different for me! Most of the applique pieces have been cut out and ready to go since sometime last fall though, and I've been positively antsy to see the end result.

Is it a sunflower or a daisy?

So yeah, it was time. Might as well take advantage! Working with quilt challenges is such an interesting way to grow in our quilting endeavors. To be quite blunt, a lot of the time my initial feeling is a bit of frustration. Why would I deliberately want to think about adding a 'sun' into one of my quilts? Or work from the point of trying to add in that distinct vibe? Or whatever the challenge happens to be--I'm truly not picking on that particular prompt! 

Sun of My Life a new quilt top!

The thing is, I don't generally love to be told what to do in regards to quilting. Most all of the new challenges take some talking myself into. {Yes, I'm telling on myself.} It certainly helps that the AHIQ challenges have been so open ended, but let's just say that it always seems to take a bit of an attitude adjustment. Gah! To willing embrace making a quilt from somewhere other than what I would consider to be 'organic' inspiration is just hard. Especially when I have an abundance of quilty ideas already bouncing around in my brain. Who has time to make something they have little to no interest in? But hey, wait a minute. How do we nudge ourselves out of our comfort zone if we never seek out a different perspective? 

I've learned to let these odd places of inspiration simmer in the back of my mind for awhile. Give them a lot of space and encourage my subconscious to take plenty of time to explore the many, many different ways that the idea could possibly be applied. Discarding most of them of course! And through the years I've realized the most fun is when the ideas can be manipulated to work in my favor. Like using one of the already marinating fabric stacks sitting around the quilt room or whatever. Or do a little play on interpretation. I try my best to work with {and answer} the prompt and yet, still convey something that resonates strongly as a me look, feel and vibe. That way, I will more likely follow through on the challenge to completion, maybe even enjoy the project and, bonus, sometimes end up with something amazingly better than ever expected. 

Looking across the quilt top is always fun

Sometimes it's a big fat fail, but it's so very beneficial to try! Take this quilt. I couldn't think much past using up yellow fabric, of which I have oodles of. So lots and lots of ideas about using up that. Meh. Not interesting enough on its own. Then I stumbled upon a block idea that seemed vaguely interesting. Yeah, not nearly good enough for the effort required. Everything seemed quite unsatisfactory and blah when thinking about in conjunction to this 'sun' challenge. Scratch it all!

How could the sun look any more
happy to be there?

And so it went. Me drawing up a potential foundation pieced sun block, pouring through antique quilting books, and looking for rising sun etc. blocks. Stretching my thinking even more and then finally, out of desperation, doodling a rough drawing of a large scale floral design with a big 'ol sun hanging out over the top of it. At first it felt kind all kinds of desperate. So obvious and over the top.

Loving the viny, bold flowers

A funny thing happened. Just the act of drawing the oh-so-improbable idea opened up my thinking even more. I remembered the times that I have wanted to deliberately piece backgrounds for applique and got mired in the details. Didn't gain any traction. Huh. Could this be the answer? Seeing the doodle in black and white made me contemplate how this could actually be accomplished with improv. piecing. Which of course I love doing. Would it, could it work? Maybe I could even add some orphaned parts and pieces too.... 

Subtle additions to the larger tulip

Eventually I combined all the good ideas and.... despite my very squirrely feelings of discomfort, made a plan of attack. Who cared if it was ridiculously large and naive in concept? I tried to consciously tweak each and every obvious detail into something that felt authentic, going over the details over and over till it felt right. Then, and only then, I dove into it with lots of nerves and a sort of steely resolve to see it through. No matter what kind of feedback I received, this was happening! And now, at the end of hand stitching the applique to this quilt top, I'm thinking it worked! It actually worked!! Wowsers, do I love this quirky, funky looking quilt already!

It's been a long journey with lots of hesitation and second guessing. It's wonderful to see the quilt really coming alive this last week with every single piece of applique that got sewn down. I just didn't want to quit, it was so quietly satisfying and yes, exhilarating! After all the larger applique was stitched down, then I had to add a few pieces of smaller things like the skinny leaves. Just for good balance and subtle definition.

And the value changes in the sun....
Looking so sweet to me

As an aside, the second {pink} sun has always felt like a rather silly addition. Why oh why did the quilt demand it? I so wanted to ditch the entire idea and find something else to substitute. Nope. It was the ONLY thing that looked right in that corner. And this week I think the answer made itself known in the new name for the quilt 'Sun of my life'. It sort of speaks for itself when paired with the applique design. In a surprising move, the quilt also decided that it doesn't need any sort of border whatsoever. Okay! I guess that's a wrap for now! Yay for challenges that steer us to good places!

The finished commission quilt top

I also remembered that I hadn't shown the results of the commission quilt that I had agreed to make last fall. If you think this looks like my Autumnal Tulips quilt, you would be correct.

It's a tiny bit darker than the original

A quilty gal had previously contacted me for the pattern, then later on decided not to make it after all. When she sent me the first email inquiring about me making a commission quilt {for her but for her daughter]} I instantly decided that it would be waaay to much work. Right? Then I decided to think things through a little better. Maybe give it a couple minutes to try to figure out what might make it worthwhile.

Autumnal Tulips #2

A bit of back and forth and surprisingly, we came to terms. I tried to be very straightforward about what the whole endeavor would entail--what we could expect out of each other. And Linda was super accommodating. So sweet! 

This is a smaller version of the original, but it does actually have some of the exact same fabrics included. {It was requested to be in very similar colors and fabrics.} I had to comb through the scrap bins looking for some of it, but eventually found all the important pieces! 

Like most of my quilts tend to end up, it's perfectly imperfect. Huge sigh of relief. Nothing like a bit of pressure to feel insecure about our work! And even though it's the 2nd version, it still has a nice, cozy, comfy vibe, very closely resembling the one her daughter fell in love with. You can only imagine how nervous I was to make a copycat quilt when everything I do is so scrappy looking! We only contracted for the quilt top which means I've been anticipating see the true blue completion some day in the future.Will it still look like a Quilty Folk quilt without hand quilting? Hmm... We'll have to see! Thank you Linda for being a gold star customer on my very first quilt commission!  And no, that's not gonna be my new thing. This is something out of the blue and just turned into an interesting experience! 

Okay. This time around, I'll really try better to put the bulk of my quilty efforts towards Bramble Blooms. It's not forgotten, just moving at a snails pace!

 

A Couple Good Finishes To Start the Year Out Right

So I actually finished two quilts in past couple weeks. Crazy days. The first one 'Positive Thinking', just needed the binding sewn on. It's been in that state for a couple months now and finally all the planets lined up or something. 

Bright flowers for the win!

This was an AHIQ challenge from 2020. I took the prompt and ran with it, using part of a biblical verse as inspiration. It had been pinned to my inspiration board forever, just waiting for the right moment to be included in a quilt.

Positive Thinking is a true blue finish!

With this particular challenge, we were encouraged to use some of our own clothing. It's something that I've been having fun with for quite awhile now, slipping a piece of my husbands or sons shirts into most every quilt. In this case, I used a couple of my shirts too. Some old favorites that had started to get a little worn around the collar or maybe too small.

Always a pleasure to look across a freshly
finished quilt

While I don't love sewing letters and words together, I absolutely adore the look in my quilts. A necessary evil I guess you would call them. It's well worth the time and effort to do any and all of the things that make a quilt sing for you!

Still wondering why these flowers didn't
need or seem to want leaves on the stems

I wanted a strong, lively border for this quilt and pondered quite a few different variations of appliqued vines and flowers etc. Then I contemplated a pieced border or two. Eventually, I stumbled upon an idea that was well past its time--a clamshell border. Hmm... I love the look so very much but have been pretty much terrified of the idea. Why? I'm not really sure. I've been pinning clamshell quilts on Pinterest for years. Drooling over most every one. 

A very cozy look

And this quilt jumped up and down for the idea and then wouldn't really allow anything else. Okay. Fine! Thankfully I found a tutorial or two that helped me get started. Once again, it wasn't nearly as difficult as my imaginations made it out to be. I didn't get it perfect or even close to perfect, but it works. It does the job. And I love what it does for the quilt.

The words here are so good

This has become one of my very favorite quilts that I've ever completed to date. Just so much to love about it! The hand quilting ended up being straight lines and a basic shadow quilting in the border. Nothing fancy. Nothing pretentious. Just a cozy, lovely handmade vibe throughout. Lots of old, languishing fabrics included in this quilt too! Weird colored blue fabrics that I was unsure if they could ever find a proper home. Isn't it so much fun to find the perfect pairing of inspiration, fabric and heart in one of our makes?

And another finish for 2024

The 'Improv. HST Medallion' quilt is the second quilt to be completed this winter. I have been slowly, slowly plugging along on the hand quilting for the past couple months. The center area of the quilt was a bit intimidating, so I went ahead and did a free hand {repeat} circle pattern. It's a little wobbly in a couple areas, but I think you have to be fairly critical to be bothered by that. I'm definitely not.

It's got the good vibes too

This quilt was started from {an almost expired} stack of marinating fabrics and a rebellious sort of inspiration. Do you ever get the urge to make a looser, wilder version of something you've already made?

Can't imagi8ne this one without the applique

I love when inspiration hits so sure and true for a certain stack of fabric. I mean, seriously, where else could these purple and cheddar fabrics have played so wonderfully well together? Without looking stodgy and staid like the unmarried aunties? This quilt is a perfect example of why I'm often so very reluctant to send oldish, simmering fabric stacks right back to the totes. What if they just haven't reached their prime together yet? What if there is something bright and shiny just waiting to burst into being and we're simply waiting on the key?

The little bit of pink makes it all better

I'm often blown away by the influence of working on older quilts and then starting the new ones. The fact that my skills, mojo, confidence, stubbornness, secret quilt longings and timing seemingly all come together to spark some of the best quilt ideas! It's not coincidence at all.

Winter light makes it look more blue

This quilt is also a recipient of my late crush on working with tulip motifs. Does it ever get old to hand stitch sweet little tulips to a quilt? I have to practically force myself to use alternate flower shapes, but then, unerringly, I come back to the tried and true, beautiful little tulip shape.

So glad for the outside border. This quilt 
definitely needed the last little bit of darker color

Because, why not? And looky, looky what they did for this bold, graphic look quilt? Almost instantaneously turned it into a 'me' quilt. Isn't that cool? Gotta love when our quilting voice comes through load and clear no matter the colors in the quilt. I may lean hard to the more mellow colors in most of my makes, but even the craziest color palettes can end up with this cozy, comfy, cuddle-up-with-me vibe that makes this quilty heart melt....

All the 2023 Quilty Finishes {Finally!} & A Little Bramble Blooms Progress

 A belated look-back at all the 2023 finishes here at Quilty Folk! Once again, life has gotten in the way of my quilty forward progress. What a shock and surprise, right? I must be human.

2023 Finishes--A

It was a very slow year for quilt finishes, coming in at 10 quilt total. Considering all that went on last year though, I feel like it was an amazing feat. 

2023 Finishes--B

Since I'm throwing this up on the blog for my own benefit, it's probably best to keep it brief.

The 2023 Finished Quilt Details:

• 3 Baby Quilts
• 1 Lap sized Quilt
• 6 Bed sized Quilts
• 9 Quilts totally Hand Quilted
• 1 Quilt mixed Hand and Machine Quilted

As a note of interest, I gifted 12 quilts last year, which is more than I finished. Hmm... You'd think the stacks would be smaller by now? But no. That's not how it seems to work. Gifting quilts is really good for the soul and making friends though, so I guess I'm fine with that! Another item of note is that the quilt top drawers are getting easier to shut. By the end of 2023, there was only 20 tops left and 2 of them were donations from my sister a few years ago. Not really something that I'm stressing about ever finishing if you want to know the truth of it. Like I've mentioned before, they will probably end up as quilt backing some day. I'm just not that invested in them!

Another interesting thing is that I finished quite a few larger quilts last year. With lots and lots of hand quilting. Even if hardly anything else got done, I still managed some hoop time. That's NOT been the case this year. My hand quilting time has dropped to just a couple evenings a week the last couple months. So many things are getting in the way of my quality hoop time. Just drives me crazy, but what do you do? 

Just for the record and journaling purposes: I started out 2023 sicker than I've even been and of course that took awhile to power through and catch up from. Then we had our youngest sons wedding at the end of April. Our oldest daughter had her first child in August and somewhere in the middle was two wedding weekends for a niece and nephew who we feel quite close to. Lots of family shenanigans to attend to as well.

Unfortunately, the year also ended with my husband being sicker than he's ever been and now, somehow we're already in February of 2024. Whew. I'm still right smack in the middle of caretaking, which is not nearly as fun as quilting. We are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and feel thankful for any improvements as they are all quite hard won. Thank you all once again for your many messages of love and encouragement in this hard time. Priorities definitely ebb and flow throughout our lives don't they?

Moving along

Starting the Bramble Blooms QAL seemed like an exciting adventure back when the momentum was carrying me along with the inspiration and initial drive. Now, it's one of the few quilty things that I can think about without feeling completely overwhelmed and uninspired. Most days. Maybe just a little bit blank around the edges of my brain sometimes? Or panic that I might be letting you down? Uggh. There's so much to appreciate though: Using up the Oldy moldy fabric, an easy-peasy medallion quilt plan of attack, Improv-ish, open-ended, loosey-goosey style? Nothing to fret about or bother getting overly excited about, right? Except for the issue of time.*sigh

So yeah. Time is definitely problematic these days. Both for finding enough time in the day to do the applique work and then the computer time for posting. Wowsers, has that been a tough one! I keep telling myself that I did in fact warn everyone about the slower pace of this QAL. It's either bag the whole project or just keep plugging away at it and find the joy where it comes. You know me. Gonna keep after it until the challenge runs cold.

The picture above is the current state of my BBI. Both the top and bottom borders have been stitched down and all that is left for stitching on the side panels is the leaves. I have them pinned where they will probably stay. Still deliberating whether or not to remove a leaf or two from the top and bottom border and thinking yeah. Might as well leave them alone now. Afterall, it's extra work to take them off! 

Also, I keep making these flaky little mistakes {so surprising considering my state of distraction these days}. Right now the quarter triangle corner blocks are just a wee bit too small for seamlessly sewing onto the centerpiece. I've already cut the coping border down once, but may have to trim a little more off. Or maybe trim a bit of fabric off of the outside of the applique borders? Regardless, this phase of the quilt is very, very close to being done. 

I don't know about you, but I'm really liking the end result thus far! As per usual, I am a little shocked and dumbfounded by how interesting this older fabric can be made to look. It's nothing new to me as I've had this result before. But it always, always amazes me because in the fabric stack, the whole thing just looked pretty dismal if you know what I mean! 

I managed to squeeze in enough time to scroll though all the blogs and instagram accounts that have been linked up to the QAL. Very exciting work! Many lovely, exciting creations to contemplate and be inspired by! Wish I could be more present on the blogs especially but maybe later. I'm very encouraged by the creativity and courage many of you have displayed in branching out with this strange little QAL.  I'm hoping that if you manage to push through with the details in the first quilt, then my thoughts pertaining to inspiration and the connection to series work will start to coalesce in the 2nd and 3rd. It's a bit of a slog at first I know, but we have to get some foundational work in place before we can begin to build on anything personal.

  

I can't promise any hard and fast date, but my plan is to move directly into action with the next border phase of BBI. There is quite a bit of organization involved so please bear with me. Crossing my fingers I'll have all the details together before the end of February at the very least if not the six weeks I was originally hoping for. Don't be afraid to email me if you have a late start and want to be added to the link list!