Love Calms the Seas - A blog for Spring!

Please vote for Love Calms the Seas for Viewers Choice Thanks

Please vote for Love Calms the Seas for best Large Quilt Thanks

Thanks must go out to Amy's Creative Side for hosting the Spring Bloggers Quilt Festival.  What a wonderful opportunity of joining blogs together and gathering a lot of magical eye candy.  I like to thank all of the sponsors and also all of the bloggers who are linking to make this a wonderful interactive festival such fun.

Completed Love Calms the Seas

Love Calms the Seas Quilt was made for my youngest daughter as she completed her final year at Secondary College. I planned to finish this so she could have it with her on her new journey in life at University, to have a little bit of home and me with her.

starting of the piecing and placement of colours

I decided to piece this on the machine using the freezer paper foundation method.  This really helped as it was a very large quilt.  In fact this is the largest quilt I have ever made measuring 93" x 96".  Initially it was to only have one heart in the centre, but my daughter loved it so much we decided to put four more hearts in the quilt.  I am so glad we did for I feel it is very balanced now.

Quilting the waves

I love to hand quilt so with Aurifil 28 wt thread, in a blue, green and a purple and a turquoise. and my John James needles quilting began.  I was using the storm at sea quilt block but as the quilting  flowed I decided this quilt really needed to be called 'love calms the seas'.  I quilted waves into the quilt with blue going one way and the green areas going the opposite direction.

another shot of the waves being quilted

after the waves are quilted ready to quilt the hearts

When it came to the quilting of the hearts it called for something different.  I felt like the waves needed to be calm within them, as my desire for her life ahead to be full of more calmness than stress.  I was quilting my love into this quilt, so she can forever have a hug from her mama bear.

starting the quilting on the centre heart

another heart in the midst of quilting

Label just had to be a purple heart

At last the label screamed to me to be a heart.  This quilt took me 18 months to make and another few months of planning and gathering fabrics.  Whilst my daughter had completed her first year of University before I finished it, she now has her quilt and loves it very much.  I am so glad I took the time to quilt it the way I did.

here she is hiding in my back garden

Thanks for reading my post and for voting for my quilt, I also have another quilt entered in the hand quilting section - Hand quilting 'Time Warp' and I would appreciate your vote over here also. 

Please enjoy the eye candy and be inspired,

Keep on quilting and quilting,

Wendy :)

Fabulous Friday Fun

Today I was overwhelmed with a parcel I recieved from  my dear friend Kathi.  I said I was looking at this Eiffel Tower fabric online and Kathi suggested that she buy if locally to her and send it to me.  To round out my parcel she included some fat quarters.  I gave her some colours and said surprise me!  Wow was I surprised, they have had me smiling all afternoon since I collected them from my post office after I recieved the notice for collection.  If you would like to see the wonders that Kathi creates you can click here and check out all she has been up to lately.  

I can't wait to be able to start creating with these fabrics and show you all so be sure to sign up to follow my blog and see what I create next.  I can't wait to use the cute little needle threader when my eyes are just not coping and I am starting to struggle seeing the eye of the needle.

This morning I was busy with all of the mundane chores on our lovely autumn day.  Around midday all of those chores were complete so I managed to sit down and quilt at the frame on my love calms the seas quilt for my daughter.  I am continuing quilting this tonight as I watch the yearly event of Eurovision song festival.  This has become a tradition of ours  which we enjoy very much.

So as I sit at the frame and quilt and watch television I hope you all enjoy your day or evening doing what you have to do.

Until next time, enjoy the ride,

Wendy

Slow quilting at the frame

Today I have been able to return to my quilting at the frame for love calms the sea.  It is certainly a different process quilting at the frame to in the hoop.  For me I much prefer quilting on the frame, I do know that others struggle with this process but since I have adapted to quilting away from me with my thumb i believe I can get a more even stitch plus it seems to be quicker.  I am using my much loved aurifil 28wt to hand quilt with and I just can't say how much I love using this thread.

I have also been busy cooking today, I managed to do two loaves of bread and some bread rolls along with date and nut loaves.  It has certainly been a productive day even if it is a slow stitching Sunday and I am glad to share this Post with  Kathy.

So until next time have a wonderful Sunday and enjoy your slow stitching,

Wendy.

Quilting Waves into "Love Calms the Seas

Now that my storm at sea which is known as Love calms the seas is on the frame

Quilting could now commence, I managed to finish the border quilting yesterday 

It was time for some Sunday stitching to form the waves

I decided to do two rows of quilting approximately a 1/4" apart and then about and inch apart mimicking the curving which is formed within the pattern of the quilt.  I decided the waves of the green section would go one direction and the blue section would be quilted in the opposite direction, giving the illusion of a storm at sea.  The plan is to make the hearts which are embedded within the quilt pattern to be calm and still, hence the new name, "Love Calms the Seas"

  I hope you all have a wonderful slow stitching Sunday

 All the very best and have a wonderful week

                                                                             Wendy