Saturday, May 17, 2014

Bloggers' Quilt Festival: Broken Windows

AmysCreativeSide.com

So the BQF totally snuck up on me this year. It was only a month or so after the last one that I fell off the internet and while I have been making and sewing, I was feeling like I didn't have anything I wanted to enter. However, there are a few things I haven't shared yet. Like this one...

As a mini with fabrics I would never choose, this piece was a little out of the box for me. And I dealt with it a little in the box, too.  At Saskatoon Modern Quilt Guid, we had a challenge to use a bag of someone else's scraps. I got Erin's and she actually enjoyed handing over the ugliest bag of scraps ever seen in Saskatoon.  She even taunted us as she threw the bag in the mix.  Fabrics? Not modern. Colours? Non-descript.  Size? Larger than your average scrap. Hmmm.... Workable?

I embraced the messy!  I started with the batik. Some folks love 'em, some hate 'em and I'm somewhere in the middle. I use them, sparingly, and not on their own.  But this one had nice little boxes in a regular pattern, like frames.  I freehanded some shapes,  stay-stitched the lines, trimmed the excess and folded the seam allowance back. Then I backed each opening with a little piece of one of the horrid little scraps, and reverse appliquéd it to the batik.

Then I quilted it within a sixteenth of an inch of its life.  I started with a neutral cream colour and decided it needed red!

The binding was made from another one of the scraps. I knew it was going to be difficult and there was no way I'd be able to hand-finish it with the density of quilting on the back - I even debated ways I could get a way with leaving unfinished.  Once it was trimmed, I felt I lost a lot of the rustic, broken quality I was getting so I recaptured it by attaching the binding to the back and stitching it down unevenly along the front.

This is the first quilt I've actually hung on my walls and I'm happy with how it turned out.

Title: Broken Windows
Size: 18x11"
Category:  Small quilts?
Pieced and Quilted by me.

Thanks so much to Amy and the sponsors, everyone who stops by, and everyone who shares their work with the rest of us to make this festival so much fun! Can't wait to see what everyone's been up to!


92 comments:

  1. This is so unique - I like it ALOT! Love the reverse applique and the quilting especially - SO nice!

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  2. You made something beautiful and unique out a bag full of uglies. Very impressed!

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  3. I believe they call this type of thing lemonade. Kicka$$, brilliant lemonade :)

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  4. Love love love love LOVE.

    Love.

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  5. This is so very interesting... it reminds me a little of a japanese quilter whose name I can't draw up right now. Not so much... I don't know, it's still a very different style, but just in terms of the type of art quilt this is. I don't know. I'm half asleep, so I wouldn't trust whatever comes out of my mouth/fingers right now :D

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  6. Love this piece! The quilting is amazing. Adding the red was a great call. Adds a lot of interest! Wonderful job!

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  7. Great quilt! Simple and complex at the same time. Love the texture.

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  8. You could have easilyt entered Broken Windows in the art quilt category. How interesting!

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  9. Wow!! Seriously cool! I think the whole piece got pulled together by the quilting and red lines added extra interest. Hats off for such a fantastic job with "challenging" fabrics :-)

    -Soma

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  10. Very cool! I was excited to see what you brought to the Festival! Always a treat!

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  11. you definitely rose to that challenge! Great job using an ugly bunch of fabrics. You did make a silk purse fro a sow's ear! Love the addition of the red quilting.

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  12. Bravo, Carly! I think you worked some magic with those scraps. Inspired to use the main fabric's design as windows and I love how you mixed up the patchwork inserts in terms of size and shape. Worked beautifully! The quilting just pulled it all together and made this a work of art. Wow.

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  13. Oooooh what a cool and contemporary quilt - I really love what you have done! :)

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  14. Your work is wonderfully creative! This piece is deserving of a place on any wall. I really love it!

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  15. This is lovely! I jut love that it was a challenge too.

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  16. Good job working with the ugly! I'm really impressed and amazed at what you came up with.

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  17. You did a great job of making something wonderful out of Erin's scrappy scraps.

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  18. I seriously love your ART quilt! You’ve made something wonderful out of those ‘ugly’ scraps!

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  19. Looks fantastic! You manage to make gorgeus quilt with Fabrics you wouldn't choose! Beautiful Fabrics, great design and quilting! x Teje

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  20. This is genius! I love it! Thanks for explaining how you did the revers applique.

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  21. Wow! What a challenge. I can't imagine pulling off a better winner with what you were working with. I would never have guess it wasn't planned to the nines. Your projects are always so edgy. I love it in an uncomfortable way, LOL Makes me want to try reverse appliqué.
    And I hear you on slow productivity and blogging...

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  22. nicely done! I would call it an art quilt - very cool! all the texture from your quilting really makes it and the design is simple - almost japanese influenzed

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  23. I would have hung that one on my wall too, it's wonderful and better yet, it's interesting. Love it!

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  24. Oh Carly, I LOVE it! The fabrics peeping through, the quilting lines, the reddish accent lines. Well done!

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  25. wow what a cool story. I feel the same way you do about batiks! and congratulations on taking something you weren't too sure about and making it beautiful.

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  26. Carly, you seriously do the best improv piecing! Who would have ever thought these were castoff fabrics!! Love it!

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  27. Carly, you seriously do the best improv piecing! Who would have ever thought these were castoff fabrics!! Love it!

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  28. Brilliant! Makes me think twice about which of my scaps are actually ugly!

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  29. Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and commenting. This is fantastic. What a great quilt. I think I need to go back through my ugly fabrics. :)

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  30. Amazing what you can do with someone else's scraps. Your quilting gave it such great texture.

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  31. tu colcha es muy divertida!!!
    creo que mas original no se puede
    me pasa algo así con los batik.....
    gracias por visitar mi blog y por el amble comentario
    saludos

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  32. This is a lovely quilt. I'm always amazed at how creative we can be when we're given a challenge to work with the types of fabrics that we don't usually use. I think this came out beautifully. But then, I love a good neutral.

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  33. That is very interesting project. You done a fab job with the scraps and the quilting makes the whole thing!

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  34. Wow! This little quilt has such texture! I love the quilting too. Nice.

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  35. Woah this is one of the better quilts I have seen. You've truly taken the scraps and made something beautiful out of it.

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  36. What a wonderful piece! You took some not so wonderful scraps and you made a gorgeous quilt out of them.

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  37. I love what you did with the scraps, it's amazing, you've really transformed them. It's nice to see something a bit different....I can totally see why you've hung it on your wall :)

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  38. You sure showed Erin and her 'ugly' scraps! Beautifully done! Who's laughing now? :-D

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  39. Silk purse out of a sow's ear!!!!! Love it

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  40. Well done for making 'a silk purse our of a sow's ear'. Who would have thought such an innovative quilt would result from those uninspiring fabrics?

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  41. What a great way to use fabrics you would never have chosen! Even better that now it has become a favourite quilt.

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  42. I think this might be my favorite original quilt I've seen in a long time.

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  43. This is amazing! It is a beautiful art quilt.

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  44. I am so in love with this quilt and it's subtle but complex beauty. Wonderfully done.

    Hillary

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  45. Wow, those were some pretty un-exciting fabrics to start with but you made a beautiful quilt out of it. What you did with those is amazing!

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  46. I feel the same way about batiks! I actually used to really not like them before I quilted. I don't like them in clothing making generally. :) Sam

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  47. Talk about making SWEET Lemonade with those lemons! Amazing!!! It's wonderful!

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  48. Even though its little it packs a BIG punch : )

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  49. This is a fabulous little quilt! LOVE it!

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  50. This is great, so inspiring!

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  51. Wow - you did a fab job. I can't bare batiks but I totally love your unique quilt and the quilting just makes it. A fab entry.

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  52. Very original and modern art quilt ..I love how it looks like !
    You inspires me Lisa..I need to do smt more free spirit like this

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  53. I think the red quilting really elevates it to a thing of beauty - great job, C x

    PS....what Patti said too!

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  54. This is gorgeous! I love your intricate quilting on this. It really enhances the quilt.

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  55. I like what you said about the batik. I guess I am somewhere in between. I am amazed at how you transformed this. New follower. Thanks for stopping by angelaathome

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  56. Lovely quilt, very inspiring!

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  57. Wow! I love the quilting, the change in colors just adds such an interesting pop!

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  58. Seriously genius- you've taken some fairly questionable fabrics and turned them into a real thing of beauty and visual interest. Im completely in love with all that quilty texture.

    Just goes to show that you can make something beautiful out of ashes !

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  59. Wow, what a neat quilt to come out of a tough challenge. Super!

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  60. This is great! I love the red, and I never would have thought of what to do with that almost-plaid batik. Great use of the fabric!

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  61. Wow, what a great end result! You really took those fabrics from almost rags to a very rich and vibrant wall hanging.

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  62. This is a fantastic result from a bag of fugly scraps, I don't think I could have made such an amazing piece with the same scraps! I am firmly in the "can't stand batiks" camp, so that alone would have given me a creative block.

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  63. What great use of those scraps! Love the reverse applique and quilting!

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  64. It just goes to show that you can create a beautiful quilt with fugly fabric. Well done on a great result!

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  65. An inspiration to all quilters! Wonderful!

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  66. Love that you have discussed the process you have gone through in making this quilt. And that quilting! So even. Thanks for sharing this Carly.

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  67. This is amazing! You have taken a bunch of old uglies and created a modern art quilt - very creative!

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  68. Wow! you never cease to amaze me. You have a wonderful gift for transforming your projects. Nicely done.

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  69. Oh, I love your quilt! You really made a silk purse from a sow's ear. This is so striking, and so clever of you too. Great job!

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  70. It's so great to go outside the box of your comfort zone once in awhile - and aren't you glad you did! Love this!

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  71. Its great! It's not fabrics I would usually go for using often either, but the results are superb! getting out of that comfort zone pays off!

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  72. At first glance I did not know what to make of this quilt, but after reading about it and seeing close-ups I am so impressed with the design and construction! What an interesting piece of art!

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  73. I love it! I would've never thought those fabrics could be so beautiful! Thank you for stopping by my blog and good luck on this beautiful piece. This really is art!

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  74. You made something wonderful out of those fabrics...the red quilting is perfect in it !

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  75. You really did a great job with scraps!

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  76. I LOVE this!!! What you did with those horrid scraps (except for the batik which I think is really cool and unusual, but I do quite like batiks) is exceptional. I did some matchstick quilting this past winter on a pocket in an Amy Butler purse...loved the effect. I love this mini, love the reverse appliqué idea as well, makes your eye zoom around the quilt, and the red thread quilting is just such a terrific design idea!

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  77. Wow! You transformed those scraps. This is an amazing example of how an great quilter can make anything look good. I love it and I am so impressed.

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  78. This is so great! Turning those "ugly" scraps into something so modern and artsy - great job!

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  79. I like what you did with the bag of scraps you ended up with. Super cool!

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  80. Love it! It feels like it has a lot of movement but the colors are so peaceful :) Love the story behind it too!

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  81. When I saw your photo of the scraps I couldn't believe you'd turned it into such a lovely quilt. They looked pretty ugly to me and you turned them into something beautiful. Brilliant, and so much more creative and challenging, I think, than starting off with a bundle of designer FQs and turning them into a beautiful quilt.

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  82. Wow---you did an amazing job of making those scraps into a really cool quilt--love it!

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  83. Such a cool and original quilt! Bravo!!

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  84. Love it Carly! And thanks for the tips on the knitting needles for socks - I'll order a pair and give them a try!

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