Saturday, October 25, 2014

Blogger's Quilt Festival: Fall 2014

It's time again for the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy's Creative Side.  This deadline motivated me to finish my MCM Bee quilt....and the fact that my turn to be Queen Bee again is right around the corner!

"Intersections" spiderweb quilt
I asked my bee mates to make a spiderweb block with low value/volume background fabrics and bright scraps following the tutorial by House of A La Mode for piecing spiderweb blocks but requested they leave the wedges unassembled as I wanted to combine the wedges from my bee friends into making the spiderweb block from Jacquie's tutorial.  

spiderweb wedges made using House of A La Mode tutorial
Spiderweb block A
I then designed a layout with alternating spiderweb blocks and "filler" blocks.  These filler blocks only have strings on the outer sections of the wedge.  I love how this layout opens up the quilt giving your eye a place to rest in between the lovely-scrappy-craziness of the webs and actually makes the webs stand out. 
Filler Block B
closeup
This is my first time participating in an online quilting bee, and it's been the best experience!  I love these ladies who encourage and inspire.  I found myself getting quite emotional as each block was quilted, reminding me of this special group.   

blocks coming together
Even though I merged the wedges I received from my friends, I took photos of their block parts as they arrived so I could remember who made what.  I loved recognizing the fabrics and blocks.  Quite a few of these blocks were assembled at my summer quilting retreat, so some scraps were provided from my retreat friends which makes this quilt even more special.

Valori Wells Karavan on the back
The blocks made by me, the backing and binding all came from my stash.  My Valori Wells Karavan yardage is the perfect backing!  I pieced this cool elephant print with the signature blocks and a section of Valori Wells Nest.  The binding is from Connecting Threads. 

quilted with walking foot
The quilting idea was totally stolen from Crazy Mom Quilts!  However, she gave me the Aurifil #2600 in 50wt which was used for the piecing and the quilting.   Aurifil #1148 was used to hand stitch the binding.  That cute little purse came from Stitch Supply Co.

binding supplies
I named this quilt Intersections for a variety of reasons.  Scrap quilts are special because of the history behind those fabric pieces; whether given by friends, leftover from favorite quilt projects, cut from child's clothing or pulled from that prized stash fabric that you finally cut into, each strip of fabric tells a story.  This treasured quilt is a collaboration between friends who share a common passion and whose lives have intersected because of that common bond.  Thank you Anne, Carla, Carla, Cindy, Debbie, Deborah, Elizabeth, Linda, Mary, Mary,  and Susan!  I couldn't be happier with my quilt!!!

Intersections

Spiderweb Bee Quilt

Quilt Stats:  Each block measure 16"; Quilt finishes at 64" by 80" and it's all mine!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!!  I would be thrilled if you leave me a comment letting me know you dropped in.  Don't forget to see more of the festival here.

26 comments:

  1. This is a beautiful quilt, I love how you have the low volume spaces in this scrappy pattern.

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  2. It's just beautiful. Scrap quilts are my favorites.

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  3. Beautifully constructed and also beautifully written! I always feel so privileged to be part of this group when I see the finished quilts that I have been a small part in; even more special because I often feel so remote from you all! It does gladden my heart to read your lovely story!

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  4. So beautiful and so happy to have played a little part.

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  5. It. Is. Gorgeous. Love how you set it. What a treasure ; )

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  6. I like how you added blocks to make it look like there is white space between. Lots of fun prints saved from the trash pile. Waste not - want not.

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  7. So pretty and I love all the fabric memories. The backing fabric is perfect.

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  8. What a great arrangement of the spiderweb blocks! It looks amazing! Love your choice of backing fabric!

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  9. This is such a lovely project and I like a lot both the design and low-volume background (excellent if people use different whites for instance). Well done!

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  10. I LOVE this quilt! I really like scrappy quilts and particularly like the way you spaced out the busy-ness of the scraps.

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  11. I love your quilt! I love the empty space makes so interesting. A spider web was on my list but haven't done it yet but this one makes me want to get started. Beautiful work.

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  12. You gotta love a rainbow of colour This quilt immediately caught my eye in the lineup because of it’s great use of colour. And strings - I love them. You did a great job on this quilt. Good Luck with the voting

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  13. I'm so happy for you to have finished this! It's my kind of quilt with all those scrappy color and low volume prints. And I'm really pleased to know you quilted it yourself. That's what makes it even more yours. Now let's hope for some cool Florida nights so you can actually use it! This post makes me feel guilty for not putting together my two quilts from MCMBees. I'm vowing to finish one of them before the next time I'm queen.

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  14. This really cool. Great way to make a larger quilt without having to make sooo many of those finicky spiderwebs. Love the backing too.

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  15. This is a wonderful quilt! Beautiful photos, too!

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  16. Your setting desgin is just so awesome and creative, Rene'. What a great quilt...love your backing, too!!

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  17. i love your layout! the rest blocks give the quilt so much movement and keep it from being to overwhelming.

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  18. Gorgeous quilt! Love all those beautiful fabrics, and the layout you chose is fantastic! Very interesting to look at.

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  19. This is SO special Rene'! It gave me goose bumps reading about this treasure of yours! Great plan and beautiful execution!

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  20. Such a clever setting! And the backing fabric was MADE for your quilt top!

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  21. Love this quilt

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  22. This turned out SO nice! I'd love to share a photo in my upcoming newsletter feature on string quilts. Let me know - sorry I didn't see your email...

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  23. Rene, can I use a photo from this post in my next newsletter about string quilts??

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