Friday, May 21, 2010

Japanese Squares and Frames - Quilt Festival Entry



Thanks for stopping by! It's Quilt Festival time again! Go to Amy's Creative Side (Park City Girl) and check out everyone's entries. I am an all-by-hand quilter, I've never owned a machine and don't know how to use one, so everything you see is hand sewn. Feel free to check out my finished quilt gallery down the left side of the blog.

For my entry I have Japanese squares and frames. I'm a modern quilter and my absolute favorite thing to do is to highlight tiny motifs by framing them. I love that an overlooked, unassuming little animal or plant or whatever can get its moment in the sun.

Like this apple, for example.


Or these circles. Who ever highlights circles? They are the overlooked workhorses of the quilt world. Lol.


Or how about these cute little guys peeking out of the letterbox? Or the bird in the cornerstone?


These are mostly Japanese double gauze fabrics and organic Cloud 9 fabrics, with some Mingle and others thrown in. I made it for a baby named John William, who is Amber's new nephew, on commission. Amber, a non-quilter, picked out all these fabrics to go together! Good job Amber!
And here's John William on the quilt. Super cute!
So here's the pieced back, with the double gauze and a few more squares.

Back closeups. Cute Japanese orange dot for binding.

Well, now that you've seen it, I hope you say:

Thanks for coming and please leave a comment if you've made it this far. I solemnly promise to visit your blog and leave a comment if you comment on mine. Every comment gets a comment. Cheers!

55 comments:

Heather said...

SUPER CUTE! Love this quilt! Come visit us at quiltstory.blogspot.com so we an feature one of your quilts, you have really cute stuff!

Amber Hollingsworth said...

yaaay! it is john william's favorite quilt too : )

good luck!

Stephanie in Michigan said...

Cute. Love the fabrics and colors. Very vintage feeling!

Lizzy said...

Adorable quilt and adorable baby! The colors you used are really pretty!

jess said...

You already know you're my hero but I had to add that again. :)

Holly said...

I love the way you highlight special fabrics! That apple makes me happy.

Allie said...

Wonderful quilt for a cute baby! Well done!

Dawn N. said...

It is fantastic!! I love how you highlighted the little details in the fabric.

Cynthia said...

So cute! I can't believe you do it all by hand! Great work!

Dolly said...

It's fantastic !

Had to say it.......so rare to hear of anyone doing it all by hand these days.
Your quilt has the contemporary look of today's quilts, and yet,is done in the most tradional manner.

Wonderful job !

I wish you much success and blessings.

Anne at Film and Thread said...

It IS fantastic! I think sewing by hand must make you think more about what you are doing and the results paid off!

Allison said...

That is beautiful...I still can't believe you HAND sew them! That is amazing...seriously..AMAZING! I love your fabric/color choices in this one, its so cute and could be for a boy or a girl. Love it -Allison

Marie said...

sewing by hand wow, the quilt is really nice

SarahB said...

Adorable quilt! Love how you highlighted the fun little details in the fabric by framing them!

Lynne (Lily's Quilts) said...

That is a really cool quilt - I love the coluors and all the shapes - cute baby helps too!

AJ said...

Lovely quilts!

Lisa Echerd said...

Love your approach with framing the motifs. Great idea!

Abby and Stephanie said...

Sweet quilt for a sweet little one. Love the novelty fabrics.

Chris said...

Super sweet, especially the sweet baby :) I think you posted the perfect picture...the one that says fantastic. It is!

amy smart said...

What a super quilt. You know I LOVE those Japanese fabrics! :) And I love the way you highlighted them. So cute! (Love the colors too, btw.)

O'Quilts said...

This is a darling work of love!

Tracey Jacobsen said...

I agree... it really is fantastic.

And omigoodness... all hand!

Quilter In Paradise said...

great quilt! the idea can be used for so many things.. makes me go "hhmmm"! Inspiration!
Thanks for sharing
Beth in Dallas

BJ said...

How fun. Love the unusual color scheme.

Carol said...

I love doing hand sewing. It's very restful. The quilt is lovely. I enjoyed seeing all the "highlighted" pieces.

Miri said...

Adorable quilt...even cuter baby!

Marjorie said...

I am so glad to see someone who pieces by hand. Such a refreshing break from machine pieced and quilted! Maybe I'd like piecing again if I went back to doing it by hand.

Katie B said...

Gorgeous. I can't get enough of that little baby wrapped up in your beautiful quilt!

Carissa said...

So beautiful. I love your stuff. Makes me want to do more work by hand again. It would make our great grandmothers proud don't you think?

Anonymous said...

Hand pieced! Awesome! I love to hand piece too. Beautiful quilt.

Unknown said...

you continue to amaze me with all of your hand sewing. The quilt is gorgeous.

mary said...

I can't believe you pieced this all by hand. Wow! Very cute quilt and I love the colors.

Leslie said...

this quilt is adorable!!!

Margot said...

Great Job, Wendlebobber~! Really think "It's Fantastic"!

Cheryl Arkison said...

It is fantastic.

Rebekah said...

This is gorgeous! I can't believe that you did it all by hand! I love the selection of fabrics that you used for this!

Anonymous said...

Awesome quilt (especially the apple block!).

XUE said...

Greetings from Tokyo! I am more inclined to modern quilts too & I am a big fan of Japanese fabrics so luckily, I am living in Tokyo!

Janice said...

Love those apples in the sky! I can't believe you do it all by hand. Gorgeous work!

SewCalGal said...

What a fun quilt. Beautiful.

SewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

linda said...

I love baby quilts too!! Precious!

Stephanie said...

I love the fabrics you used! Lovely quilt!

Karen said...

That sure is one super lovely baby quilt. I love the birds peeping out the letterbox. Too cute.

Eileen said...

very, very impressive!! you do lovely work. love the layout. so much work, but so nice to know people still do that

Jessica Christensen said...

I love all your little Japanese prints. They make such a sweet baby quilt!

Jodi Nelson said...

What a great quilt! Really adorable!

Michelle said...

Very intriguing style. As a more traditional quilter, I find I'm having to develop my eye for the modern quilting styles. However, I like you, I do much of my work by hand, although I have slowly become friends with my sewing machine. :-)

Heather said...

very lovely quilt. Great selection of fabrics.

Sandra said...

what a cool pattern, sort of a square sampler. Love all the retro novelty fabric and how you showcased it. Lucky baby.
Come see my antique quilt entries
http://utahquiltappraiser.blogspot.com
http://starleyquilts.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

I love your quilt! the way you used frames is really special...AWESOME quilt!
hugz, Pam

Amy said...

I love this quilt, The baby is precious,thanks for sharing,Amy

Simply Sandy said...

Love that you like to hand quilt. Th9s quilt is adorable, but not as adorable as that sweet baby!

Allie said...

I love your turtle quilt. You are so talented and you are appreciated. Thanks, Allie

JESLEY said...

I am attracted by your beautiful sewing. I hope one day, I shall be able to finish something as nice and great. I had never done any quilting before and really hope to be able to learn and make one for my kids.

carla said...

Hi!!!! I love your quilt and John William!!! Both adorable!!!! Thank You