Machine Quilting: Opportunity Quilt

Sue and the other ladies in the Flying Geese Quilt Guild in Irvine, CA sent me this quilt to work my magic on...

 This quilt is large and absolutely covered in amazing applique! Seriously, the only "real piecing" in the entire quilt are the HSTs in the sashing. That's it. Everything else you see is applique. You also have an opportunity to win this quilt - keep on reading and prepare yourself for photo overload! I love this quilt and took a TON of pictures. I couldn't help myself!

 The challenge with a quilt like this is to make the quilting be functional and emphasize the details without competing for attention. This border was one of those moments where less-is-more. Simple straight lines to fill the background accent the curvy swirly applique and make it pop.

 Each block had it's own feel and design. Some blocks are blatantly seasonal where some are a little more subtle like this one.

 We only chose a few background designs and I think two different fillers for the vases. Again, less is more when there's so much to look at with this quilt to begin with.

 I love some applique pieces that show up to me looking like blobs. These flowers for instance, I knew they were supposed to be flowers, but without being familiar with the pattern I wasn't sure what type of flower.

Remember when you take a quilt to a quilter - you've been staring at that pattern for a long while, they may have never heard of it. Don't assume your quilter is familiar with every pattern you're working on.

I wasn't sure if they were something specific that I needed to be aware of or if they were just a blob that needed to look like a flower. They were just non-typical blobs in this case and I'll show you below what I did in the details.

 When in doubt with flowers, most radiate out from a central point so I started there and used wavy lines to fill the flower until I got to the edge. Each one is a little different!

 The center block was this amazing house and I used the details in the fabrics to guide me and filled in the other details as I could. All those art perspective lessons are still coming in handy!

 I don't know why, but I loved these eggs. And seriously, all of this applique was AMAZING! It all makes what little I've dabbled in applique look wonky and rough. These ladies use the most teeny tiny stitches that are absolutely perfect!

 Oh, here's more details on the house!

 I really enjoyed working on this quilt block by block and watching it come to life. It was one of those projects where at the end of each day I got to stand back and be like - did I do that??? This is really my job??? Say it isn't so!

 The HSTs in the sashing perplexed me when we were planning the quilting because of all the contrast in the fabrics. I was originally thinking of coming up with two different designs, one for the light and another for the dark. But you know what, the more I stared and pondered at this quilt, simple was best again and this orange peel was the winner! It filled the area well but also was the perfect divider for each block and border. It's amazing how it looks on the back too (you'll see that in a bit).

 The colors, the textures. This is one of those times that a quilt being full of amazing batiks with a few prints dabbled in here and there was the perfect mix. This quilt could not have been this vibrant without all those batiks!

 Here's some more shots of the quilt as best I could get laying this monster on the floor of the studio.

 And here's the back. I love a good pieced back and I love how you can see each and every block and detail from the front of the quilt.

 Here's the house! Isn't it too stinkin' adorable?!

 Again, you can see the orange peel in the sashing separating all of the blocks and the border. Seriously click on each of these pictures of the back and zoom in  to see all the details. It's amazing what you can see!

Oh, and before you ask, this entire quilt was done with only two threads, both tans. One just a tad darker than the other.

And now for the even more fun part. Remember how I said you could win this quilt? Well, this is the Flying Geese Quilt Guild's Opportunity quilt for 2017. Kinda like a raffle quilt with a different title. If you're going to be in the Irvine, CA area the beginning of June 2017, you could see this quilt in person. The quilt winner will be drawn at the quilt show on June 4th.

Not going to be in Irvine? Not even in California? Maybe you're stuck in Ohio like me? No worries, you can purchase tickets! Just contact Sue at sue.glass (at) verizon (dot) net for ticket information. Trust me, this quilt is amazing and whoever gets to win this quilt will forever be stalked by me. Okay, maybe that's a bit harsh, maybe I'll just get my tickets and cross my fingers that this quilt gets to come back to Ohio and live with me forever. Just drop Sue a line and she will get you all the info you need to get your own tickets!

I couldn't wait to share this quilt with all of you, but I had to be patient and persistent and catch up in my quilty photos. Don't worry, I still have plenty more quilts to share, but for now, get your tickets from Sue and drool over these photos until you get the call in June that you won the quilt. I will remind you all before the big day seeing as how it's almost Christmas and all. There's still plenty of time! Email Sue and tell her I sent you!