Check out the Folk Art Holiday Christmas in July Holiday BlogHop post HERE!!!
So, another quilt was finished last week…I kinda wanted to wait until this Friday to share, but I just couldn't!!
Each Modern Quilt Guild that wanted to participate in this year's Michael Miller fabric challenge signed up for fabric, and our guild, the Houston Modern Quilt Guild was no different!
What is a fabric challenge? Basically, Michael Miller Fabrics, a fabric manufacturing company gave loads of fabrics to each guild (6 fat eighths per person-a fat eighth is a 9"x21" piece of fabric) and the members of the guild make stuff and post their projects! There is a contest part of the challenge, too! Three winners will win a gob of fun stuff from Michael Miller and the Modern Quilt Guild!
So, here is the progression of my project:
Here are my fabrics…I also used grey solid…a lot of it!
This was my launching place…A little diamond…it reminded me of a lantern really…which made me think of Tangled…which made me think of birthdays…which made me think of the number 45!!
So I designed this quilt!! It ended up just a hair different, but I love the result!!
Here is my finished project!! It has 45 little lantern diamonds to depict each year of my life (as of August 14th coming up! LOL!!).
I free motion thread "wrote" the words "blissful life" and added sheep buttons that my new friend Jamie sent me with our Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt Swap!!
I quilted around each diamond and then did french knots in the open space of grey fabric. I didn't want to detract from the "lanterns"!
This pic is after washing the quilt.
Here are three things I learned finishing this quilt…
1. Take pictures before and after washing no matter what. Quilts look great both ways!!
2. Always include a sheep in everything you do…if you love sheep, of course!!
3. If you look around you and notice the bliss in your life, it starts to point itself out to you after a while! If you look at the garbage in your life constantly, that's all you will see!! I'd rather see the bliss…it may be a little 'rose-colored glasses', but I'm okay with that!!!
Are you living a blissful life???
Start today!!!
Blessings!!!
Absolutely love it!! It is such a great idea, I turn 50 next birthday (sob, sob) but making a special quilt for it is a great idea. x
Thanks for the great encouragement and reminder to look at our blessings! Love your quilt – especially the quilting around the diamonds and the sheep – what a wonderful idea! I, too, participated in the challenge – fun! And fabulous free fabric, too!
What a fantastic idea, making a quilt to give yourself!!! Someday soon, I’m going to do that as well, when I stop making things for our 10 grandchildren, their spouses and our 6 beautiful great granddaughters, all of whom, are our blessings.
lv2bquilting2@comcast.net
Thanks, Kay!!! You definitely should make yourself a Celebrate 50 quilt just for you!! ♥
Don’t you just love the MQG challenges, Jodi? Thanks so much for your sweet words!! ♥
Those family blessings are everything, right? Thanks so much for your encouraging words, Sylvia!!