Spring 2012 Bloggers Quilt Festival: Purple People Eater

Purple People Eaters

Welcome anybody clicking through from the wonderful Blogger's Quilt Festival.  I hope you'll check out some of my other quilts (you can see them by clicking the tabs above).

Some of you have probably seen this quilt before as I wrote several posts about it last fall, but I've decided it should be my Bloggers Quilt Festival Quilt for this year so here it is again.  The bright colors and geometric pattern are very me, and even though I started this many years ago (like maybe 2007?), I just finished it up a few months ago.

It was inspired by the floor in one of the (relatively) newer wings of the Seville Cathedral, but the central medallion pattern is a fairly common one in quilting and Norah McMeeking has also written a book that  features it.  I drafted the pattern and paper-pieced the center medallion, and then picked several traditional quilt blocks for the top and bottom borders.  I pieced them in purple-on-purple so they would add some visual interest but not detract from the center medallion.

I free-motion quilted it on my mother's Innova long-arm, and enjoyed doing lots of fun different fillers in the center medallion as well as some feathers in the pieced blocks and leaves on the border.  In a potentially ill-advised fit of whimsy, I FMQed octopuses in the corners around the medallion.

This quilt is far from technically perfect;  there are many non-matching points and much of the FMQ is terrible.  My mom will tell you I nearly (or actually) had a meltdown while working on the long arm and was about ready to toss the whole thing away.  But now, every time I look at this quilt it makes me happy.  I just love the pattern and the fabrics and the way it came together.  For some reason this quilt in particular reminds me that I really do love sewing and quilting and crafting.  I hadn't seen the quilt in a couple of months because I'd entered it in the Dallas Quilt Show (no ribbons) and it had been waiting at my sister's house for me to retrieve it.  When I got it home last weekend, I was just going to put it in the closet but upon unfolding it, I just fell in love all over again.  I decided to keep it out; it's a perfect throw size, good for cuddling on the sofa (although this isn't really throw weather), and I thought I'd share it with you guys!

For anyone wondering, my grandmother's rocking chair isn't usually in my front yard, but I love the look of everyone's natural outdoor quilt photos but I don't have a nearby park bench or scenic railing, so the rocking chair it is!

Many thanks to Amy for hosting the Spring Bloggers Quilt Festival, so many wonderful, inspiring things to see!