Blogger's Fall Quilt Festival ~ 2015 ~ Illusion

It's all an Illusion!  Warning:  Staring too long at this quilt may make you dizzy!

My second entry in the Blogger's Quilt Festival, will be in the LARGE QUILT CATEGORY. Presenting:  The Optical Illusion Quilt.  

A black & white quilt had always been on my bucket list, along with making an optical illusion quilt. The logical choice was to marry both together!    

This is the second time I made this quilt design.  The first, Black + White = Illusion was quite an adventure!  When I decided to make it again (Illusion Number Two), it became quite the misadventure!  I misplaced my original notes and directions.  When I finally found them...I could barely make heads or tails out of it!  

Not letting that stop me, I eventually figured out what I needed to do!  Lot's of black and white, strip piecing, tiny squares...all pieced to perfection!
  

51" x 75"
Kona Cotton

I machine quilted this one using Aurifil White thread in an organic (very) vortex design.  It turned out much better than I thought or hoped it would.  Perfect for this illusion! 

I love how the white shows up on the back.  Black & white...keeping with the theme!

When it came to laying out the blocks on the design wall, it was harder than it looked!  One wrong block and there goes the illusion!  Which in fact was exactly what I did!  It was an easy fix and all ended well!

I'm sure this design will be revisited again one day.  I might even change it up a bit!  For someone who thrives on color, this was totally the opposite of that!  Which is a good thing!  Change it up, step outside the box and push yourself...that is the wonderful thing about designing and quilting!

Stats:
Kona Black & White Fabric
51" x 75"
Aurifil White Thread
Warm & Natural Batting
Machine Quilted

Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall ~ 2015  

Entered in the LARGE QUILT CATEGORY 

Fall Festival Schedule!

October 23-29, 2015 – Linky’s Open & Nominate for Viewer’s Choice

October 29-November 5, 2015 – Vote for favorites in each of the categories

November 6, 2015 – Winners announced

Blogger's Quilt Festival ~ 2015 ~ Threads

It's that time of year again!  Blogger's Quilt Festival where you can browse, be inspired and fill your head with all kinds of ideas!

My first entry in the MODERN QUILT CATEGORY is 'THREADS'.  

47 1/2" x 62"

When my grey scraps began to over take everything, I decided it was time to do something about it!  Finding inspiration wasn't hard, this quilt by Debbie @ A Quilter's Table was mine. 

Getting inspiration from others and making it your own is always a fun process for me.  So, my added touch was to add color.  Just a little, just enough to satisfy my 'gotta use color' itch!

Improv never let's me down!  I enjoy the process of slicing and dicing.  Sometimes it's scary not knowing where you are going or even if it's going to work out in the end.  My advice is keep going, because you never know!

There was the million dollar question of how to quilt it.  Make it or break it, as they say.  This quilt screamed random, organic, funky and imperfection.  I used a variety of grays in the beginning and then went back and added a lines of color. 

If you would like to read more about this quilt, you can find the details here:   THREADS

This quilt is entered in the MODERN QUILT CATEGORY !  

Fall Festival Schedule!

October 23-29, 2015 – Linky’s Open & Nominate for Viewer’s Choice

October 29-November 5, 2015 – Vote for favorites in each of the categories

November 6, 2015 – Winners announced

Blogger's Quilt Festival ~ Encapsulated

For my second entry in The Blogger's Quilt Festival ~ Spring 2015...

I'm going with my most recent finish, still hot off the machine actually!  I thought it would make for a good entry in the ORIGINAL Design Category.

It has gone through many months of change.  It started as a tiny thought that went through many different phases of design.  Just when I thought I was dead in the water, another idea would pop in to my head!  

ENCAPSULATED
48" x 65"

There were so many twists and turns along the way, but so worth it!  I'm in love with the Art Deco vibe.

The center was a thread nightmare!  There were so many threads to bury in the end.  I wanted to keep the center clean, meaning I used white thread!  

You really get a sense of the quilting detail through the back.  Except for the black thread on black...hard to get a good picture of that!

I blogged regularly about this quilt.  If you are interested in reading more here are all the links:

Captured ~ Encapsulated ~ The Finish, It's About Time!, Revisited With A Plan and A Seed Taking Root  

Quilt Size:  48" x 65"

Fabric:  Kona White, Kona Black, Various Solids

Machine Quilted

Category:  Original Design Quilts

Blogger's Quilt Festival ~ Meet Opal

I cannot believe Bloggers Quilt Festival is here already.  But it is!  Amy at Amy's Creative Side always puts on a good event!  Packed full of fun, prizes and of course lots of gorgeous quilts in all shapes and sizes.  

I figured I may as well enter a quilt of two, just for fun!  Opal is entered in the MODERN Quilt Category.

Opal
50" x 64"

This quilt is named after my Grama Opal.  Which is also a big part of 'Twiggy & Opal' the name of my Etsy Shop and my blog.  She always said to me 'Jayne, your thin as a twig'! And viola!  A name is born including a loving tribute to my Grama! 

This quilt shows the varying colors against a light background...just like the semi-precious Opal stone.

I used a beautiful bundle of Shot Cottons for the blocks.  The colors are amazing!  From the lightest of pink to a dark plum and everything in between.  The background is Kona Shadow ~ the perfect shade and lightness to bring out the delicate colors!

I went CRAZY with the quilting!  After dividing the quilt in 4 sections, I machine quilted super dense organic lines in a Log Cabin type design. There are about six different thread colors in there.

This is the back.  I couldn't let those test blocks go to waste, so I incorporated them in the back using Kona Pewter and Iron

If you would like to read more about this quilt here are a couple links:

Fantastic Finish  and Wonky, Wacky and Wild

Quilt Size:  50" x 64"

Fabrics:  Shot Cottons, Kona Shadow, Kona Iron, Kona Pewter

Machine Quilted

Category:  Modern Quilt Catergory

Blogger's Quilt Festival ~ Modern Quilt Entry

I know how excited I get when I see a beautiful quilt.  For me, I start to drool (figuratively speaking) and then my imagination goes in to overdrive!

Now imagine seeing page after page of beautiful quilts!!!  The best of the best!  It makes my pulse race just thinking about it!  

Which brings me to this incredible event ~  Blogger's Quilt Festival ~ Hosted by Amy from Amy's Creative Side.  It is always a well attended event, no pushing or shoving ~ just good old fun!  This is a wonderful event that gives bloggers a chance to show and share their beautiful designs.  The hardest part is choosing just the right one!

I decided to enter this lovely quilt in the Modern Quilt Category.  One of my favorite half-square triangle quilts.  I blogged about this quilt here: Graphic HST

45" x 62"

This quilt features Hand Dyed and Shot Cottons.  I machine quilted 1" geometric lines throughout and 1/2" lines in the graphic squares.

Back

 

Thank you to Amy for giving bloggers a place to come together and share what we do!

Voting begins November 1st and runs through November 7th.  You can cast your vote for this quilt here:

Modern Quilt Category

October 24-31:  Linky's Open and Viewer's Choice Voting

November 1-7:  Vote for your favorites in all categories

November 8:  Winners will be announced

Blogger's Quilt Festival ~ Original Design Entry

My second entry in the Blogger's Quilt Festival in the Original Design Category, my first ever Bed Runner Quilt.  Making a bed runner had never crossed my mind before!  When I was contacted about a custom request, I was intrigued.  After brainstorming and having a plan of attack, I came up with a three panel theme:

SAND, SEA & SUNSET

22" x 88"

 I machine quilted horizontal organic wave, lots and lots and lots of them!

In it's new home!

In the end, I think making a super sized runner for a bed is a fantastic idea and I was so happy with this one!  Seems to me this is a perfect way to add some color, texture and spice to any bed!  Plus, it will keep those frosty toes warm!

You can read about it in a previous post here: 
It's Good To Be King (bed runner that is) and here: Bed Runner WIP

Voting begins November 1st and runs through November 7th.  You can cast your vote for this quilt here:

Original Design Category

October 24-31:  Linky's Open and Viewer's Choice Voting

November 1-7:  Vote for your favorites in all categories

November 8:  Winners will be announced

Blogger's Quilt Festival Entry #2

And for my second Blogger's Quilt Festival, I'm entering this beauty in the Original Design Category.

This was so much fun to make!  I used hand dyed fabrics (again).  I blogged about this one here:

Make It Or Break It

For each block I used 4 different shades.  Let's see:  blue, pink, purple, yellow, orange and green!

I used a beautiful gray to highlight the hand dyed fabric.  Then machine quilted 1/2" V's in four different section...that in my opinion, made it!  It measures 32" x 43".  

After it was washed it was pure heaven!  I'm a huge 'crinkle' fan!  

Roygbiv- Bloggers Quilt Festival

I have to admit, I had no clue what the acronym ROYGBIV was four months ago!  I sent a picture to my daughter asking if my placement was right.  When I receive a text 'ROYGBIV', I thought she has lost her mind!  After a 'Gee, Mom' (not quite that sappy), she explained it to me!  Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet - well who would of thought!  Isn't it nice to learn something new?  

Now that that is out of the way, lets talk quilts!

I decided to enter this quilt in the Bloggers Quilt Festival.  This is my first year participating and the first time I have ever enter one of my quilts...in anything.  Its a big step for me.  Not to mention exciting!  Exciting to share, exciting to enter and really exciting to see all the beautiful entries and blogs!  

Thinking 'outside the box' is always a goal of mine when designing quilts.  This quilt became just that, along with a huge burst of 'look at me' color!

48" x 68"

I named this quilt 'Outside The Paint Box'.  Which I think fits perfectly in the ROYGBIV category!

I started this quilt months ago with a very loose concept in mind.  I tend to do that a lot.  I fly by the seat of my pants!  This was kind of a three part quilt.  Part one began with a block idea.  Neutral background with 1/4" stripes in varying color tones.  I really love how they turned out.

 
Part two was deciding how to layout and arrange the bright solids.  Once the whole ROYGBIV was figured out, I thought the solid panels needed a little boost of something.  By adding the randomly placed squares, along with staggering the panels this part came together rather easily!

The last part was the left side of the quilt.  I wanted a neutral background, but knew it needed a little extra boost.  Which brought me to the stripe!  Since this was all about 'thnking outside the box', I flipped the yellow panel to create some crazy visual interest!

This is the back.  Rarely do I choose a solid backing and this was no exception!  It called for it even before I finished.

I decided to use two different quilting designs.  One side is an abstract box and the other is a broken-line. 

This one makes me want to do it all over again!  Maybe one day I will too!  Thank you for stopping by! 

Voting starts November 1-7th.  I would love your vote!  If you have a moment, 

click this LINK to cast a vote! 

My quilt just happens to be #18...

Linky Schedule: 

October 25-31:  Nominate for Viewer's Choice

November 1-7:  Vote for favorites in each category

November 8:     Winners announced  

BLOGGERS QUILT FESTIVAL

I am so excited to be entering a quilt in the Bloggers Quilt Festival for the first time ever!  Looking at all the beautiful quilts makes me drool a little and catch my breath.    

I've decided to enter my 'City Sunset' quilt in the Art Quilt category.  I have recently blogged about this beauty here, so let's recap!

This quilt was a labor of love!  Love of improv, love of hand dyed fabrics, love of color and love of quilting!  My daughter, Britt and I hand dyed these fabrics in our basement.  I knew it was time to use some of those beautiful stacks of freshly dyed fabrics and so I did...    

'City Sunset'.  I should explain the name.  I see a sunset in these colors (others see sherbet!). With the tiny bits of gray, I see sidewalks and roads in the city.  Its a stretch I know, but it fits.

This quilt measures 49" x 62".  It sat around for a few weeks until I came up with a quilting plan.  Sometimes that is the hardest part.  I ended up machine quilting a crazy wonky design.  

I'm not sure how to describe my process.  I get an idea and go with it.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't!  For me, this works.  Its fun to let go and be free.  Like the 70's!

I am excited to meet lots of new quilting friends and would love to hear from you!  Thank you for stopping by! 

Voting starts November 1-7th.  I would love your vote!  If you have a moment, 

click this LINK to cast a vote! 

My quilt is #11...

Linky Schedule: 

October 25-31:  Nominate for Viewer's Choice

November 1-7:  Vote for favorites in each category

November 8:     Winners announced