18 May 2012

Bloggers' Quilt Festival!

Today I'm linking up to the Bloggers' Quilt festival, hosted by Amy of Amy's Creative Side.  If you've found your way over here from there, Hi!  Nice to see you!

I've chosen the Improv Chevrons Quilt that I finished up in April.


Amy asks entrants to "Share one quilt, and its story."  I love this idea, because most of my quilt posts focus on the details about the quilt, it's size, the fabrics used, and not so much on the motivation or process behind them! Let's get storytelling!

A while back, I pinned this pillow from Anthropologie, after ogling it in a store.  I ogle lots of things in that place. 

I had made some very precise chevrons before, but the ones on the pillow felt liberated and fun!  I love how the chevron rows "point" in different directions, and that there is a big variety of both color value and strip width.  I'd still like to experiment more with this idea!  I set out to replicate them with some improvised chevron blocks.


You can see more about how I made them here.  I picked a somewhat limited and deliberate palette, since I usually lean more towards scrappy projects.  Here, I used Curry, Cerise, Snow, Teal, and Gray.  Dreamy. I managed to make it through four big improv blocks before calling it quits, and set them up with some white and cerise sashing.  It became: 


It measures about 40x40 inches in the end, so its a small throw or great baby quilt.  Since I've already written a bit about its construction, fabric quilting, backing, binding, etc., I thought I'd give you a glimpse into what happened next!

To take photos of my finished quilts, I use my trusty Canon G12's auto setting.  Yep, auto.  I'd like to learn more about manual photo settings, but I'm usually really impatient to just get some decent shots.  Luckily the G12 takes lovely auto pictures! 

To get photos of entire quilts, I usually enlist a trusty assistant to hold it up for me, or I use two pants-hanger thingys (the hangers with the clips?) hung on a white wall from the crown molding. A clothes-drying rack is quite nice for a "folded and hung" shot. 


I try to take advantage of the the limited natural light that fliters in (somehow) to my Manhattan apartment.  In the photo above, the window is about 2 inches away from the right side!  

I used to think that I needed to wait to take pictures for the 20 minutes when sunlight streams right into my place, but overcast days actually give me the most even lighting, while those lovely warm sunbeams wash out part of my photos and leave the rest in shadows.  

I try to get an up-close shot that shows the quilting, 


and one that gives you a good idea of what the back looks like.  


I tweak things like exposure and saturation in iPhoto, eyeballing it until things just look nice. Then, all there's left to do is write it up, and post it here!  

Sometimes I'll have a recipient in mind when I'm making something, but more often I pursue ideas that interest me, like these chevrons.  In many ways I feel like I'm still trying to find "my" quilting style, and what an exciting process it is! 

Thanks for stopping by, and make sure to check out all the amazing quilts in the festival! 

Amy's Creative Side


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29 comments:

  1. that's so gorgeous! I love the colours so much!

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  2. Stunning! I've had your tutorial bookmarked for quite some time, and really should try it!

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  3. Such a stunning quilt pattern! Loving the colour scheme and the fabrics!. Great quilting =D

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  4. This quilt is so fabulous. I'm always trying to think of ways to make things "different", and I love how this takes the chevron and makes it "different" - it's so fun! Love the colors, too!

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  5. I love the improv blocks that you designed and the way in which you gleaned your inspiration (ah anthro!). This is such a beautiful quilt!

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  6. very creative design!

    Check out my blog if you can...

    Margaret Gunn
    www.quiltsoflove.blogspot.com

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  7. I can't decide if I love the palette or the pattern for this quilt more! They're both just so awesome!

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  8. Unusual colour mix but it works so well and your improv chevrons are stunning on this quilt.

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  9. Love the color palette. I am going to check out our pattern post.

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  10. That is just beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

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  11. This quilt is so unique! I really really love it, and I am so inspired by it. : )

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  12. de l'originalité dans le design et des couleurs innovantes ,félicitation

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  13. Hi! I happened upon your pictures on Flickr and looked up your blog. You have a great, fresh, modern take and I'm really enjoying it! :) Fabulous work!!!

    -Amanda-
    www.thecozypumpkin.com

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  14. Really neat quilt idea, a and I love that you talk about the photography process.

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  15. Thats a really fun and fresh take on chevron - love it!

    Julia @ Stars&Sunshine
    starsandsunshineblog at gmail dot com

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  16. I'm in love! Awesome color combo.

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  17. This is the best chevron quilt ever! I haven't made one b/c I thought there always seemed to be somethign lacking but your quilt and pillow are making me rethink it. Wow.

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  18. love this! i always like something different. thanks for sharing and have a great day

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  19. Hi Anna, you have done some beautiful quilts, I've gone through your whole blog! soooooo neat!! thanks for the inspiration.

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  20. je me suis permis de mettre la photo de votre quilt dans un message ,j'espère que cela ne vous pose pas de problème ,merci d'avance

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  21. This quilt is fabulous. I think I'll just have to pin it!

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Hi, nice to see you! Sorry about the word verification but I've been flooded with spam messages recently. Thanks for commenting!