Happy Fall Y’all!! At least that’s what the calendar says! Here in Alabama, it’s still in the mid 90’s! It really doesn’t feel like fall just yet, though I have noticed the leaves turning some. That could be due to the extreme drought conditions in our county though. I love watching the leaves turn colors so I hope the lack of rain does not ruin the beautiful colors of the fall leaves as it has sometimes in the past.
Last year I was asked to make the donation quilt for our guild fundraiser for this year (2019-2020). I love pretty, vibrant colors (especially purples and greens!!), and I knew just the block I wanted to use. I opened EQ and started designing. I wanted to challenge myself, so I decided to design the quilt on point, which worked perfectly for the block I had chosen. In addition, I also knew I wanted to add some embroidery, because that’s another thing I love to do! And of course, there had to be batiks and a little grunge thrown in the mix! I love sewing with batiks – and well, they are just my favorite fabrics.
So I visited my LQS to purchase some of the fabrics, and since no one around my area carries Island Batiks, I ordered those online. Last winter I started cutting the pieces with my Then I digitized four beautiful floral butterflies and stitched them out in my largest 10 x 16 Bernina Jumbo Hoop. I purchased the art work for these butterflies years ago and had digitized a couple of them but redigitized them and added two more. I picked the ones with my favorite flowers – pansies, daffodils, orchids, lilies, irises, etc. And of course, I had to add some bling!! (Butterflies 1, 2 and 3, are in my embroidery shop for sale. Butterfly #4 will be coming soon!) This summer was our guild’s biennial quilt show and I was the chair of the Opportunity Shop. While I started requesting donations last November, the bulk of my requests including stuffing the baskets was done January through May. Plus I had two quilts to complete for the show, one of which was a quilt that would be a fundraiser for our youth to help with summer camp expenses. Life happened. Illness, busyness of the show, and having to finish quilting my two quilts at my HQ dealer’s shop because Ms. Mattie broke! On top of that, after the show I developed severe sciatica and had to work through the pain to get the quilt completed for the reveal at our July guild picnic (better living through chemistry was all I could do!!) But I did get her done with a few days to spare!! I don’t like pushing things that closely, but sometimes you just can’t help it. At the end of year picnic, when the donation quilt is revealed, the guild makes suggestions for names and votes on the name they like best. After she was named, I brought her back home and made a label. Now the pictures have been taken and are on the guild website (Birmingham Quilters Guild), and the quilt will spend time in local shops in the area for tickets to be sold to raise money for the guild! So, without further ado, I present to you Spring Awakening! I was glad to have Ms. Mattie back in working order for quilting it! I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing this quilt. It was really fun to make and I love how it turned out. I hope we are able to raise a lot of money for the guild with it this year! Spring Awakening Stats: Be sure and stop by next week for the start of the Witchy Stitchy Blog Hop hosted by Carol of Just Let Me Quilt! I’ll be posting on the first day, October 7th. Stay tuned to see what fun is in store!! Have a great week! Until next time… P.S.: Do you have your 2020 Quilter’s Planner yet? For a short while they are on sale for 10% off. Just click here or the link in the sidebar to pre-order yours!! (Affiliate link)
Approximately 82 x 82 inches.
Island Batiks (outer border, green leaves, and almond background fabric), some Wilmington batiks, and Moda grunge in green border.
Pieced with Aurifil thread.
Quilted on my Handi Quilter Avante (Ms. Mattie) with Superior Threads (Different colors of So Fine 50 wt on top and Bottom Line 60 wt in the bobbin).
Such lovely embroidery – they’ll make a gorgeous quilt!
Oh wow Brenda, my heart did a little pittypat when I saw the butterfly in the link up. Those embroideries are just amazing enough for me to dust off my machine! Sorry to hear about the sciatica, that’s incredibly painful for sure, I am amazed you managed, even with the chemistry. Thanks for linking up to Colour & Inspiration Tuesday, I am most inspired.
I absolutely love your ‘Spring Awakening” quilt. It seems to me at first look that it is something that I could do and so make my day also. The minute I rolled down and the vision appeared I was hit with a feeling of satisfaction and so that means to me that I am looking a quilt that is appealing and satisfying, if you get my meaning. I am disabled but I should like to tackle a quilt along the lines of ‘Spring Awakening’ because it means so much to me.
This is one beautiful quilt! I adore the colors and flowers you chose but I am surprised that your guilt expected you to do absolutely everything on “the guild quilt.” I hope they reimbursed your outlay. In the guilds in my area several people work on the quilt. I know how hard it must have been working through sciatica because I too have it. You are a martyr to your quilting obligations, I admire you for all the work you’ve done along with obtaining products for the quilt show. Best Wishes for all your endeavors.
Hi Brenda, Your quilt is just Gorgeous and I love the fabrics you chose for it. The butterflies that you digitized for the quilt are Fabulous and really add a special touch to your Spring Awakening quilt! Hope you make a lot of money for your guild with your quilt and that your sciatica gets better.