Friday, May 13, 2011

Strawberry Kisses - Blogger's Quilt Festival Entry

Strawberry Kisses
70” x  85”
Hand quilted, Hand appliquéd
Commercial Cotton Fabric
1999


Early summer always reminds me of strawberries.  When you see them in the local fields, you know that the quiet warm days of summer are finally here to stay.  All that sunshine seems to be stored in their delicious redness.  That’s probably why I’ve always been fascinated with this quilt pattern.

With Amy’s Creative Side’s, spring Blogger Quilt Festival upon us, I thought I would pull this quilt out of storage.  I made it after receiving the book Patchwork Pantry by Suzette Halferty and Carol C. Porter.  It was a gift from my good online friend, Julia.  You see, Julia and I “met” when trading books for fabric and we’ve been emailing ever since.  I loved the book – I loved the postie notes she put in with her comments – I loved this quilt.

I remember I chose it to make because it looked like it was going to be a quick and easy quilt.  LOL – NOT!  After 60+ hours of hand appliqué – most of which were the 3-d strawberry blossoms, I think I had to rethink my original assessment.  Still, I did quite enjoy making them!

Anywayssss, I dedicated the quilt to my then, 2 year daughter, who at the time, kept me hopping.  She was and is everything the quilt is, bright and beautiful, soft and girlie, sweet and interesting.  Its still one of my favorites!

You can see more festival quilts here!

23 comments:

Quilt+Bitch said...

Such a simple and beautiful quilt. Your applique work is beautiful! Congratulations on tackling such a magnificant project!

Janet said...

Very sweet! And such a lot of work. One day I hope to tackle an applique quilt - I love the look of them.

Glen QuiltSwissy said...

oooooooooh! beaUtiful! glen

Dee said...

It's a beautiful quilt, well worth all the hours you put into it.

Eileen said...

This is just beautiful. Lovely work and colors. I love appliqué and my entry...right next to yours actually at amy's is an appliqué one, too. Thanks for sharing and have a greatvday

Karen said...

This is a stunning quilt. I love all the intersecting lines in the body of the quilt and the way they contrast with the border. You are very patient to have completed so much work by hand.

stitchinpenny said...

I can see why this is one of your favorites, it is so simple, sweet and beautiful.

Kelly @ Vintage Fabric Studio said...

I'm impressed, what a lot of work, and it is such a beautiful finish!

Allie said...

Wow - such a beautiful quilt - and all hand-appliqued oh my! I think I'd keep it out of storage and out where I could see it all the time!

Sandra said...

oh no, you thought this was going to be any easy quilt -- you were naive back in the day :) But I'm sure your friend is still thrilled that you kept on working. It is a beautiful quilt.
p.s. I'm still loving the calendar cows.
Come see my entries #211, repro cheddar orange stars and #215 antique 1850 applique flower garden

SewCalGal said...

Lovely quilt. Just a delightful quilt with a yummy name. A wonderful heirloom quilt. Thanks for sharing.

SewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

quilthexle said...

I love strawberries, too - because they remind of summer ! your quilt is just wonderful, thanks for sharing. I'm off now to find some strawberries for me ;-)))

Sarcastic Quilter said...

I think it's beautiful and even more so because of the time spent creating it! Thanks for reminding me I'm too impatient to do a large quilt in applique. LOL

annette said...

Love it!! So state fair looking!! Good luck!

Karen said...

I love strawberries, what a beautiful quilt.

Unknown said...

Wonderful work!

Fabric Warrior (aka Amie) said...

Such a beautiful quilt. I love the colors and the use of white space. Really pretty.

Kristen said...

Beautiful quilting and hand applique!

Vicki said...

Wow, the applique is wonderful. thanks for sharing this quilt!

Manda said...

Beautiful applique work!

Desley said...

Beautiful applique.

Kate said...

Very, very lovely! You did a beautiful job.

Karen said...

That is very beautiful! I love applique but rarely do it myself because it is so time consuming. You did a gorgeous job!