Friday, 23 September 2016

Dublin Daffodils - Mini Quilt at BQF

I've only found out about Bloggers' Quilt Festival when it started, but it looks too great a fun to miss, so I'm taking part! The Festival is hosted by Amy Ellis at Amy's Creative Side and I want to say a huge thank you to her for all the time and effort invested in it! I've looked at the quilts that are already there and I'm amazed. Definitely this even could rival any "off-line"quilt festival)))

My first entry is in the Mini Quilts category. It hasn't been featured here on the blog, because it was made before I started the blog, but not long before))) The incentive for its creation was the Easter challenge at the Eastern branch of IPS on the theme of "Shades of Yellow", and my immediate (and obsessive) idea was - daffodils.

daffodils quilt

Because never before had I seen so many daffodils as here in Dublin - growing in the gardens, parks, on roadsides, apparently of their own accord, untended, trampled by kids and dogs, swept by wind and rain and still lighting up the whole city.

daffodils photo

daffodils photo

I took out my green and yellow scrap baggies and improvised, consulting the photos I had taken. The technique is raw-edge appliqué, which is my first choice for free-hand artistic expression.

daffodils quilt

I start with the "farthest" pieces, stems and leaves in this case, place them on the background, pin or glue with a gluestick and stitch down. Then come the flowers - those that are farther away first, then the nearest. With edges untreated, I stitch about 1.5-2 mm from the edge and I don't mind some of the threads unraveling, I like the casual effect.

daffodils quilt

As I lay out the appliqué on an assembled quilt sandwich, stitching the pieces down is also quilting, that's one of the reasons why I love this technique (especially for last-minute gifts ;))).

I was lucky to have a piece of fabric that in itself fitted the "Shades of Yellow" theme, so I used it for a wide frame/binding. I like how it creates a kind of glow around the picture.

daffodils quilt

Preparing this post, I went though all the pictures of daffodils I took in spring, and I really want to share with you a couple more. These were taken in the Botanical Gardens in Dublin and they show some varieties of daffodils I personally couldn't even imagine existed)))

daffodils photo

daffodils photo

daffodils photo

With that - do visit the Bloggers' Quilt Festival to see all the amazing works there and it's not too late yet to take a part!

Also linking this post to Off the Wall Friday at Creations by Nina-Marie


19 comments:

  1. Very pretty. The yellow frame around it makes it look like a watercolor.

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  2. Everything about this is perfect, including the background fabric - I love it!

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  3. Lovely entry, but your story behind it, and the photos of those glorious daffs makes this so special.

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  4. You've showed us nice varieties of daffodils... many I never saw myself. So beautiful.
    Your quilt is gorgeous and is a beautiful representation of the real ones. And your border is just perfect.
    Like you, I appreciate when stitching the appliqués also double as quilting. :-)
    I'll try to go at the festival during the weekend. Have a good day!

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  5. Olena this is a beautiful quilt and so well fits your original motivation of shades of yellow. You chose fabrics which works perfectly and your artistic eye has executed your vision expertly. I had not seen the last varieties of daffodils you shared either.

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  6. Beautiful daffodils, the border is perfect for this piece.

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  7. Lena, this is so beautiful! Your background and border fabrics work so well for this quilt! And the various shades of yellow you used in the flowers make them come to life! So well done and your photos are lovey as well!

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  8. Lots of time, patience and love went into this quilt. It is absolutely amazing! Quilts that are inspired by nature are the best.

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  9. Wonderful, and a great sense of perspective.

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  10. Beautiful and such clever use of different tones of yellow.

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  11. Beautiful! both the real daffodils, and the quilted ones!!

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  12. So happy you found the Festival Lena. I love your little quilt; daffodils are my favorite flower, in fact my first real quilt was daffodil themed (needle turn applique), made nearly 35 years ago. My daughter who was an infant at the time has the quilt now.

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  13. Lena that is joyful! The nuances of yellow are perfect! I love daffodils and your mini is fantastic. Beautiful photos too.

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  14. Really lovely. Did you paint the background? Your daffodils are beautiful.

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  15. What a beautiful quilt. You've done a great job. It's spring time in New Zealand right now and there are daffodils in the gardens.

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  16. Very pretty quilt! I too love daffodils, and daisies and poppies. Job well-done!

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  17. I'm too late to vote, but would have voted for this - I love it!!!

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