Merry Christmas

Blessings to you this Christmas.

Celtic Solstice and Sailboat Quilts

Life …

Paul with “the boys.” “The girls” all went away for Christmas.

Quinten is glad for some meat for their freezer.

… as a Quilter

I have finished step 1 and step 3 of Bonnie Hunter’s Celtic Solstice mystery quilt. I’m afraid the lavender and green don’t contrast enough!

In the mean time I pulled out my Sailboat III that I started earlier HERE and put it on my design wall (Patchwork Times). Perhaps I need to wash it again to get the green trees and green grass to bleed some more. It just seems to have too much going on. Any suggestions?

And now I have started Sailboat IV. My idea here is to use the same fabric in the reflection as I use in the sky, grass, and sailboat. Then I want to lay black toile over the water part which you can hardly see at the dark brown fabric in the picture below. Maybe I should add another layer or two to make the water darker. What do you think? After quilting it, I’ll add the top sailboat.

Life, Tina, and Quilt Inspiration

Life …

Paul got another 10 point buck this morning.

Happy Birthday!

Tina Sue turned two.

Ashton, Tina, Katie Joe, and Lia

… as a Quilter

A fish feed bin with rust is inspiration for some sort of art quilt.

Design Wall Monday and Celtic Solstice Mystery Quilt

Life …

I accompanied Paul driving a bus load of youth to Bay Springs to sing Christmas carols for residents at a nursing home.

… as a Quilter

On my design wall…

… I’ve pinned my continuing “Sailboat” series that needs to be finished.

I’ve started working on clue #3 of Bonnie Hunter’s “Celtic Solstice” mystery quilt even though …

… step #1 is only partially completed and step #2 hasn’t even been started.

And the winner of my Fabric Giveaway is #130, Robin. Congratulations!

“Only a Lily” – New Quilt From an Old Favorite

Each year I like to enter a quilt in The National Quilt Museum’s New Quilts From an Old Favorite contest.

This year the traditional block that our quilt was to represent was the “Carolina Lily.”

I was stunned when I received a call recently that my quilt “Only a Lily” had won 1st place. And then I got all giddy and had to call some family and friends and share my good news.

When my sister, Emily, started making some quilts using Gloria Loughman’s technique from her book “Radiant Landscapes,” I loved the effect.

Blue Bell

So, I bought a book too and studied it and decided to make a ‘lily’ quilt to practice for my entry. 

I was pleased with how “Lily” turned out and decided to use the technique for my entry.

So, I found a piece of fabric that I thought would work good for the background …

… and I cut red and green squares of 2 other pieces of fabric. I traced off a motif of the traditional Carolina Lily pattern onto the squares … 

… and cut them out.

  

When Emily saw my little bits of scraps left over she decided to make another small art quilt using them in the sky of her “Setting Sage” quilt.

I thought it marvelous and decided to change my background to the same yellow that she had chosen. But alas, it didn’t have the same effect that hers did.

  

So I went back to my original choice of background fabric and I loved what I saw.

Here, I have added a black border with slight curves.

Then I cut out ‘lily’ parts and laid them on the background. Deciding which lily I liked best was a hard choice.

When all the fusing was finished I was ready to quilt.

And after the quilting was finished the quilt wanted to wobble, ripple, and pucker up.

But that didn’t cause me too much worry as it all flattened out when I blocked it with lots of water.

And then I added the piping and binding and blocked it again.

Only a Lily

56 1/2” X 56 1/2”

“I am only … a  [humble] lily of the valleys [that grows in deep and difficult places]. … Like the lily among thorns, so are you …” –Song of Solomon 2:1, 2 (Amplified)

Detail

Don’t forget to enter my fabric giveaway HERE.

Finish It Up Friday