Thursday, August 16, 2012

Paul's Big Boy quilt goes to the weekly themed contest


I have posted this quilt before but Quilting Gallery has selected scrappy quilts for this weeks weekly themed contest, and this quilt is a lot scrappier than it appears at first glance.

I was attracted to this block many years ago in a quilt magazine and it looked like the perfect take-along project. (three pieces sewed into a 5" block and then four of those joined into a 10" block.

I went into my green and blue bins and cut one piece from each fabric in the bin, then sewed dark, medium, and light  together to make the small blocks.

When the larger blocks were laid out for arrangement, I was not satisfied with the way they looked so added sashing. When I went back to the magazine to see what went wrong, I found that though the pattern had shown the arrangement of those tones, the original picture that had attracted me in the first place did not keep that same arrangement of darks and lights.  One day I may try this again as a "stash buster".

Remembering my childhood tracing quilting lines with my fingers, I drafted the border and sashing quilting so it would all link up. It made it fun to quilt, following the lines over and under around the top.

For the backing I chose tenugui with the twelve animals of the Oriental Zodiac. Since Paul is a dragon, I added another dragon across the top and dragonfly yukata fabric along one side to match up the size of the top piece.

When we had a family reunion, Paul brought his quilt and all the family signed their names and birth dates on their own animals.

This is the year of the dragon, which means little Paul is now 12 years old. He really is a "big boy".
Oh how those years have flown! Before we know it, my first grandchild will be a teenager!







I just can't seem to add a link but if you click on the quilting gallery logo, you can go there to see some amazing quilts and cast your votes for your favorite.

12 comments:

  1. Such pretty blues and greens together. And intricate quilting. Very lovely Julie.

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  2. That is a wonderful quilt to enter into their contest.
    I will make sure I look for it, when they post the quilts for the voting.

    Debbie

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  3. A super quilt, Julie you so deserve lots of votes, and I hope you win.My favourite colours too. Cheers, Jean

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  4. Reminds me of waves swirling in the ocean on a sunny day. So relaxing to look at. Gorgeous quilt! Got to go vote...

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  5. I love the idea of family members signing this - what a treasure! blessings, marlene

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  6. Beautiful quilt! I gave my vote for you.
    Just in case, this is the link
    http://quiltinggallery.com/2012/08/17/vote-now-scrappy-quilts-3/#ViewPollResults

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  7. I love it! What beautiful quilting; it makes me want to start yet another quilt :o)

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  8. such a gorgeous quilt and such wonderful meaning for him with all the family signatures on it!

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  9. The quilting on that is just perfect!

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  10. Hi Julie!

    Both are beautiful! My younger daughter is dragon too. I'm dog. Julie, you make so beautiful works!!

    Hugs, Sandra

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  11. That's a beautiful quilt! And I know you do hand quilting so it is really a masterpiece! So appropriate in the hot sweltering months. Your quilt looks like shimmering water.

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  12. Mom, Paul is sleeping under this quilt every night, so you'll be glad to know it is getting lots of use. Ben is still using his baby quilt although he is about the same size as Paul. It does cover his twin-size bed, but without any extra to tuck in. Ben would love it if you put a new quilt in the queue for him some time in the next couple years!

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