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Sunday, May 20, 2012

Bloggers’ Quilt Festival

There is an amazing event going on in the Blogosphere right now – the Bloggers’ Quilt Festival hosted by Amy’s Creative Side!  Seriously, you need to go over there and check out all the amazing quilts being entered!!!  I’m just stunned at them all =^..^=

Now, you know me, and you know I have to join in, right?  So here’s my entry….


Easter Sonrise is a Judy Niemeyer design called Hawaiian Star that I first saw in a magazine back in 2007.  Let me just say I was stunned the first time I saw it and thought to myself, “If I could ever make a quilt like that, I will be a *real* quilter!”  I was a fairly new quilter, still in my first year and not quite yet dry behind the ears :*D  But I had taken a paper-piecing class and loved it, so I jumped at the chance to take this 3-day class with Judy herself at Quilter’s Attic when she came to town. 

I got my first clue about what I had gotten myself into when I went to pick up my kit at the shop and saw that it required 22 yards of fabric and the pattern was in a BOX!!!  A THICK box!!!  Uh-oh!!!  Then I got my second clue when I began to cut out the pieces to prepare for class.  It took me THREE DAYS to cut out the pieces!!!  By this time, I was pretty concerned that I was in way over my head, but I packed up my stuff and headed into class, hoping that somehow I would be able to keep up.

Well, Judy was a perfect teacher!  First thing, she amazed us with a magic trick.  One of the girls had not had time to cut her fabrics before class.  Well, Super Judy took her fabrics and layered about 20 of them on top of each other and sliced and diced until she had cut out that entire quilt in about 15 minutes!!!  Yes, the same quilt that had taken me 3 days!!!  Yep, we were totally enthralled with her!  We knew we were in the presence of a *real* quilter =^..^=
Judy 'n me!
She explained everything so simply that before I knew it I was cranking out these marvelous lone star points and curved flying geese, just like everyone else :*)  She kept saying, “Now, just have fun.  Remember, there’s no mistake you can make that I can’t fix, so go for it!”  Dummy me, I believed her LOL!!! 

When we got to the part where we were making the curved flying geese, I got my first one done and took it to her to make sure I was doing it right.  She took it, looked at it for a minute, and said, “Oh no, you’ve ruined it!”  At first, I thought she was kidding, because hadn’t she said she could fix anything?  But no, she was totally serious.  I had cut off the seam allowance from the inner curve!!!  Yikes!!!  


After a minute though, she smiled and said, “Listen, don’t worry about it for now.  Go work on the others and we’ll come back to this one.”  So I did, making VERY sure that I didn’t cut off any more seam allowances :*)

The next morning I came in to class, and what did I find?  Judy presented me with a new curved flying geese unit that she had sewn up for me herself the evening before!  Was that sweet or what???  Yep, I loved her! =^..^=

It took me several months to complete the quilt top.  I held my breath with every Y seam.   But it came together beautifully .... and then it sat on a shelf in my quilting closet for another year while I practiced my quilting skills.  I didn’t want to ruin all that hard work with slipshod quilting!  And I really didn’t want to send it off for someone else to quilt it.  I wanted to say I had done this quilt – all of it!



This was the first large quilt I ever quilted on my domestic machine, a Janome 6600P.  Here are some of the pictures of the quilting.  






I’ve learned a lot since 2009 when I quilted it, but I’m still happy with how it turned out and wouldn’t change a thing.  The quilt has earned the Overall Color & Design Award and 1st Place Blue Ribbon in it’s class at the Tennessee State Fair, as well as 2 other Blue ribbons in other quilt shows.

I have such happy memories associated with this quilt!  We became a little group of Judy fans at Quilters Attic and for a while we met there to work together on our quilts.  Fun times! 

The original quilt kit called for alternating star points of green and orange.  But I really didn’t like the green.  I thought the orange points looked like a radiant burst of light, much like what must have burst forth when Jesus rose from the dead (hence the name!).  When I said that I would have preferred all my points to be orange, Pat (the first lady on the left in the front on this picture) said she rather liked the green ones and would trade with me if I liked.  I liked!!!  Pat has since passed away.  She was a wonderful quilter and a really lovely person, and I wouldn’t take anything for having gotten to know her and all of these other amazing ladies through this class.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this walk down memory lane with me.  It was a bit longer walk than I had anticipated when I sat down to write it, but sometimes the memories just come up and make us smile, and we just have to share, right?

Have a lovely Sunday & enjoy all the blessings our sweet Lord has given us!!!

Hugs & Blessings,
Teresa
=^..^=

28 comments:

  1. Teresa, Your quilt is absolutely awesome. I have done several of Judy Neimeyer patterns and know they take a lot of fabric. Thank you for sharing your story.

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  2. Yay you!!!! What a beautiful quilt you made and what a wonderful weekend you had with Judy. I'm so jealous.

    Great job.

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  3. An amazing quilt, Teresa. Can't believe you did it as a relatively new quilter!!
    I love Judy's method, but have never been fortunate enough to take a class from her.
    Great story about the creation of this quilt!

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  4. Wow, I can't even imagine doing all that piecing!!

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  5. Such a beautiful quilt and story. When you jump into something new, you really DO it in grand style. I'd say you definitely have a winner there. Awesome quilting too. I know how hard and tiring that can be on a domestic. Slow but steady wins the race though. Love it!@!

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  6. Just let me say awesome quilt and story.

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  7. That really is a stunning quilts, and I agree about the orange going all the way around. Wise choice!

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  8. What a marvelous and incredible quilt and a wonderful story to go along with it! What an great opportunity to learn from a pro quilter. I have been gifted with one of Judy's patterns that I am going to try on my own. Please say a prayer for me - LOL. I got a pick chuckle out of Judy cutting all the pieces needed in 15 minutes as compared to the 3 days it took you. I'm sitting here thinking I would probably have done and will do as you have done. What a great experience to see it done in a more efficient way. Well anyways great job on a magnificent quilt. You should be proud!

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  9. What a absolutely beautiful quilt and I really enjoyed your story about it! I am just like you in wanting to do my own quilting to make the quilt my own. Waiting a year to quilt it was the perfect thing to do!

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  10. Teresa: What a stunning quilt. Where does this quilt now live? And good for you for going to the quilting sessions with enthusiasm. Good on you! Judy is one awesome teacher isn't she :)

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  11. Amazing! I'd say you are a real quilter now. A paper piecing expert too.

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  12. Wow, that is stunning -- and thank you so much for telling this quilt's story. You were lucky indeed to have studied with such a wonderful teacher!

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  13. What a beautiful quilt made while creating such wonderful memories. No wonder it is a favorite. Smiles~Beth

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  14. Now that's what I call a blog!!! And a beautiful quilt with a beautiful name and story made by a beautiful daughter of mine. I just know it is going to win. I tried to post a comment on your last blog about my sonflower Mother's day gift! Wow! it brought me to tears. I will love having that so much! Thank you for being such a wonderful daughter!

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  15. Wow beautiful quilt! I made that one for my daughter's wedding. But you actually had a class with Judy, oh how wonderful that must have been!

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  16. This is an incredible quilt - you should be very proud!

    Thanks for sharing your workshop experience!

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  17. Teresa,

    You do some amazing work! I am in awe. Vintage Valentine's is on my list of quilts to do too... if you aren't too far ahead, maybe we can be "quilting buddies" if I get my act together and get started.

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  18. Oh what a wonderful post about a fabulous quilt! I just love what you made and I'm with you - having all the point orange makes it all the more spectacular. I loved reading about your process. I'm going to have fun reading your older post.
    Blessings!

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  19. Stunning work! And the memories and stories that go with the quilts are the best part! Thanks for sharing, you have a wonderful way of telling a story. April @ Little Mama Hen

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  20. What a fantastic quilt and a wonderful story. Thanks for sharing!

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  21. Oh My God!!! That is an absolutely beautiful quilt. A real master piece.

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  22. Wow, what a spectacular quilt! So glad you chose this one to share.

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  23. Wow, I'm so voting for you! Fabulous!

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