Last spring was the first time I participated in the Blogger's Quilt Festival, and I had a great time. There are some amazingly creative and talented people out there, and going through their favourite creations gave me a lot of inspiration. I'm happy to be participating again, and sharing my favourite project from the summer. This was my very first attempt at hand quilting, and I enjoyed it a lot. Quilts can be nominated in several categories, and mine fits into doll/mini quilt, applique, and two colour quilt.
As inspiration for this quilt, I made some larger scale mushroom houses to match my adorable Natalie Lymer woodland fabric. Both of these were hand sewn from a pile of tiny felt scraps in order to pass the time on a plane ride.
I enjoyed this hand sewing opportunity, so on my next trip I pieced a small quilt to bring along, in addition to my felt mushroom houses. I spent the next ten days hand sewing the mushrooms onto the quilt, and then outlining all of the red sections with matching thread. Considering that this was my first attempt at hand quilting, and that a lot of it took place while sitting in the back seat of a truck, I think the stitching turned out remarkably well.
The felt mushrooms came out nice and puffy. I really enjoy using felt for applique because it adds a lot of texture and gives the quilt something soft that you want to reach out and touch.
This project started out with the intention of making a decorative toilet tank topper for our guest bathroom, inspired by this awesome Ghastlies tank topper. Unfortunately, when came the time to cut it down to size, I just couldn't bear to chop off part of the applique on which I'd worked so hard. I decided to bind it as-is and keep it as a mini quilt. The finished size is 18" by 9".
This means that I have the chance to design another mini for the bathroom. I'm looking forward to it, and will try not to get too attached this time. But for now, I'm off to check out the other quilts being shared for the festival!
I adore those felt toadstools - they are such a great shape! Your hand quilting is lovely. I completely understand why you wouldn't want to cut up your mini!
ReplyDeleteJust darling! Love the little applique mushrooms.
ReplyDeleteOh I so like this - I adore anything with mushrooms and this so caught my eye! Its lovely. Thanks for sharing. #263
ReplyDeleteHave become a follower as I have just spotted your fabulous tardis!
ReplyDeleteThis is adorable! Good luck at the Festival;)
ReplyDeleteI love the dimensional mushrooms, they are so fun and unique.
ReplyDeleteThose mushrooms are adorable! Fantastic detail, MC!
ReplyDeleteAdorable! Just love it and i couldn't cut into it either. Great job Thanks for sharing and have a great day
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