Monday, September 18, 2017

Bloggers Quilt Festival 2017

Amy at Amy's Creative Side is again hosting her Bloggers Quilt Festival.  I've met so many wonderful bloggers through this festival in past years that it just seems right to enter one more time. So here goes ...

This quilt was conceived during our trip back to Oregon in fall 2015, having moved back to our home state of New York in 2014 when DH retired.  We traveled to many of our favorite haunts, and I began picking up odd fat quarters and even up to a yard of Oregon/beach/mountain/greenery/ocean themed fabric at each of the quilt shops we visited between Port Orford along the southern coast all the way up to Astoria along the mighty Columbia River, where we found the theme fabric for this quilt, depicting turn-of-the-20th century salmon canning labels.  So fitting since my husband worked at the OSU Seafood Lab in Astoria while a student at Clatsop Community College many years ago.   The colors of the canning labels are so rich and vibrant, my rather pathetic photo editing skills do not do them justice at all. The quilt is aptly named Memories of Astoria, for my husband who lived, went to college and worked there right after graduating high school.   Without further ado, a few photos:

Begun fall-winter 2015, completed late 2016, hand quilted

I hand quilted this quite simply, about 1/8" from the ditch along nearly every seam, then outlined various features within each block.  My husband wanted cotton batting, the Hobbs 80/20 makes the quilt relatively flat and I'm happy with that look for this quilt since we wanted the fabric features to be the focal point, not the quilting.  Finished size is 56x65 inches, just about perfect for an afternoon nap on the couch.  A few close-ups:





I hope you'll take the time to visit the many other bloggers who share their work during this annual Festival, and perhaps make some new quilting friends too.  Just follow this link to see all the other entries.  Enjoy the show!