This is Sonja's quilt (And Sonja...if you still want that surprise, close this asap!). I had the pleasure of quilting it for her. It was her 3rd quilt, according to her. She, like I, has an insatiable love of batiks. What she also has is an amazing story. I encourage you to go
here and read a little about her...
The name for her quilt, "Firestorm", is naturally born out of the immense tragedy she and her husband went through last year. The quilt does have some fiery gold and red hues, but as soon as I saw it in person, I was more reminded of Fall in New England than of fire. To me, it needed some other connotation that wasn't a constant reminder of the damage and destruction of a housefire. Fire, Sun and flames are great quilting motifs, but I really felt that I needed to take this quilt in a different direction.
Rather than decompose the quilt in a truly creative way, as Carla taught in her QW class, I utilized the natural lines and sections of the quilt. I chose several different types of leaf designs to quilt in the different rows. I selected two Rainbows variagated threads to use - one was more colorful and one was predominantly orange tones for the gold areas. In retrospect, the shimmery variagated threads "made" this quilt.
Above is the quilt center, which I really like. It is simple, yet it speaks for itself.
I certainly got to use Suzanne's decorated twirly feathers a bit on this quilt! And some vining leaves too.
The outer ends of the quilt have 6" squares which I placed oak leaves in. I loved getting to play with different sashing patterns. It really was a fun quilt to make.
Some decorated feathers and some plain traditional feathers. Not leaves, mind you, but fun and pretty.
I especially like the continuous leaves I designed for the 6" blocks above.
Sonja, I hope you and your husband like this. I hope you will send me a picture of the quilt finished, bound and on your bed. It was a joy to do and hard to send home to SC.
The name for her quilt, "Firestorm", is naturally born out of the immense tragedy she and her husband went through last year. The quilt does have some fiery gold and red hues, but as soon as I saw it in person, I was more reminded of Fall in New England than of fire. To me, it needed some other connotation that wasn't a constant reminder of the damage and destruction of a housefire. Fire, Sun and flames are great quilting motifs, but I really felt that I needed to take this quilt in a different direction. 
Rather than decompose the quilt in a truly creative way, as Carla taught in her QW class, I utilized the natural lines and sections of the quilt. I chose several different types of leaf designs to quilt in the different rows. I selected two Rainbows variagated threads to use - one was more colorful and one was predominantly orange tones for the gold areas. In retrospect, the shimmery variagated threads "made" this quilt.
Above is the quilt center, which I really like. It is simple, yet it speaks for itself.
I certainly got to use Suzanne's decorated twirly feathers a bit on this quilt! And some vining leaves too.
The outer ends of the quilt have 6" squares which I placed oak leaves in. I loved getting to play with different sashing patterns. It really was a fun quilt to make.
Some decorated feathers and some plain traditional feathers. Not leaves, mind you, but fun and pretty.
I especially like the continuous leaves I designed for the 6" blocks above.
Sonja, I hope you and your husband like this. I hope you will send me a picture of the quilt finished, bound and on your bed. It was a joy to do and hard to send home to SC.
A beautiful story and a beautiful quilt!
ReplyDeleteOh wow, Sonja is gonna cry when she sees her quilt! I can't think of anyone more deserving than such gorgeous quilting!
ReplyDeleteHer quilt does have quite an amazing story - and what you put into it Margaret was the perfect happy ending that they need ;)
I can't wait to text her and tell her that if she "WANTS" a sneak peak to come look... ;)
Love from Texas! ~bonnie
That looks amazing! Sonja will be overwhelmed with joy when she sees what you have added to it, simply stunning.
ReplyDeleteMargaret-
ReplyDeleteWords can not express how awesomely beautiful this quilt looks after you did the quilting on it. My husband and I dearly LOVE it!!! When we finally get back into our home some months down the road, it will be beautiful on our Rice Bed which is dark and had tall pedestals, along with our hard wood floors we are planning to put in.
I love the different designs and patterns you chose. It definitely does look like autumn. The variegated thread is my favorite and I am so glad you chose that. I especially love how the aqua blue color comes out in the block from the thread! I could go on and on about this quilt but will stop! I so much appreciate you spending so much time on my quilt. My husband even said, "Wow, this sure took a while to do". He definitely LOVES it!!! We'll be looking you up again for other quilts. He and I both just joined a guild!! lol
Thanks again for such wonderful work. I will be passing your name on to my friends as well! Also, thanks for the link you provided so others could read my story. That was so kind of you :)
Blessings,
Sonja-SC
Margaret-
ReplyDeleteWords can not express how awesomely beautiful this quilt looks after you did the quilting on it. My husband and I dearly LOVE it!!! When we finally get back into our home some months down the road, it will be beautiful on our Rice Bed which is dark and had tall pedestals, along with our hard wood floors we are planning to put in.
I love the different designs and patterns you chose. It definitely does look like autumn. The variegated thread is my favorite and I am so glad you chose that. I especially love how the aqua blue color comes out in the block from the thread! I could go on and on about this quilt but will stop! I so much appreciate you spending so much time on my quilt. My husband even said, "Wow, this sure took a while to do". He definitely LOVES it!!! We'll be looking you up again for other quilts. He and I both just joined a guild!! lol
Thanks again for such wonderful work. I will be passing your name on to my friends as well! Also, thanks for the link you provided so others could read my story. That was so kind of you :)
Blessings,
Sonja-SC