I’ve decided to put one of my babies in the Spring Blogger’s Quilt Festival @ Amy’s Creative Side. Say hello to “Happy”! She measures 72 inches square and was finished early in 2009 for the Dallas Quilt Show. HOWEVER, she actually began her journey way back in 2007. I created the pattern in Illustrator and was determined to make this quilt with a pieced background and needle-turned appliqué elements. I worked for months & month & MONTHS, but I never felt like it was going to be done. Enter 2008 & the birth of Spoonflower!
I designed several little bits of artwork to create my own fabric & had a lot of fun being one of the first people to use this wonderful service. One night, I was sifting through files to create a pattern repeat & accidentally opened up the file for Happy. It was a lightbulb moment! I took the entire applique design and split it in half. Then, I uploaded it to Spoonflower as a four yard long continuous design & waited for my order to come home to me from North Carolina. I sliced the two halves apart, sewed them back together as a whole unit with a single long seam up the center, & commenced hand quilting! Being a deadline driven person, I entered it into the Dallas Quilt Show in the hopes of finally seeing a finished product one day. & I finished. Well, I almost finished… My quilting doesn’t go all the way out to the edges & I’m pretty sure I was still sewing on the binding during the car ride over to drop it off at Dallas Market Hall! Oh well. Live & learn.
I pulled Happy out of the brown paper bag she’s resided in since March of 2009 and it made me a little sad. She deserves more love than that! But I have no idea what to do with her, so she primly sits on my guest bed waiting for me to figure everything out. Oh, & I almost forgot to mention that she has a cutie polka dot backing!
Well, thanks for stopping by! Enjoy more quilts from the Blogger’s Festival!!!
frybreadquilts.wordpress.com 
What a story & what a quilt! Thank you for sharing it!
Thank you! This festival is so fun!
Brilliant idea to use Spoonflower! It is a really gorgeous design – so vibrant and lively.
Thank you!!
Wow! Its so awesome! I think you need to hang this quilt up! Somewhere in your place so everyone will see it! In a paper bag?? jeesh! Hang Happy up!!
I know! What’s wrong with me?! Lol Thanks!
Wow! What an amazing idea! It turned out beautifully, congrats!!
Thank you!!!
All I can say is “Wow!”
Thanks!! 🙂
What a great way to translate applique designs. Kudos
Don’t put it back in the bag!.
Come see my entries, #212 repro cheddar stars and #216 antique 1850 applique flower garden
Thank you & I’m on my way to see your quilts right now!
This is an incredible quilt! So much patience!
🙂 Thank you!
So glad you got Happy out of the bag. I’ve always loved seeing the beauty of the Hawaiian quilts. You’ve taken it a step further with all the different colors and piecing. Beauty for the eyes!
Thank you so much!
Wow this is lovely, great use of spoonflower. I love the bight vivid colours. My quilt i’ve submitted contains some different types of applique but no needle turned, that seems far too time consuming for me to try
Thank you!
Fantastic quilt! It is indeed a happy quilt.
🙂
Absolutely stunning and wonderful!! And the polka dot backing is so much fun! “Happy ” is the perfect name because that’s how I feel just looking at this quilt.
Thanks! I love those giant polka dots- The fabric was licensed by Disney for sewing a Minnie Mouse dress!
Such beautiful and vibrant colors. Good job.
Thank you very much!
What a great idea for applique! (or Spoonflower’ique, as I’m going to call it in my head.) =)
🙂 thanks!
I can’t believe you left this beautiful quilt sitting in a paper bag!!!!! I love your idea of using Spoonflower to design the fabric for the applique. It’s a stunning quilt and has the perfect name, please make sure you put it in pride of place and not bag in a bag.
Hmmmm, I need to check my typing, back in a bag not bag in a bag
Thank you! & every time I type on my iPad, I write the craziest stuff! So, no worries about typos. 🙂
O my goodness; this is not applique? You are a design genius, and your hand quilting is great!
Thank you so much! This quilt went over like a lead balloon @ the Dallas Quilt Show, so I’m super happy to hear that people like it!
I just love your quilt! It really is bright and cheerful!
Thank you, Jessica!
Love happy! A fun and vibrant quilt and enjoyed reading the story. Thanks for sharing and have a great day
Thank you & have a good Monday!!
Great quilt. I found your story fascinating!! A really interesting way to make a quilt.
Thanks! It’s a great feeling to take something digital and turn it into something soft & cuddly.
what an absolutely stunning quilt! Love the bright colours and your quilting – it’s very special!
Thank you! I appreciate it! 🙂
It’s gorgeous. You should put it up where everyone will see it. It is too beautiful to leave on a guest bed. 🙂
Thank you, Siobhan!
You did this in a few months? This looks like it would take forever! Good for you for appliquing and hand quilting.
Thanks! I love hand work & sitting on the couch underneath the quilt I’m working on. The bad part is that it makes me nap too much!
My goodness, what an amazing quilt! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Thanks! & thanks for stopping by!!
Your work is amazing. Truly beyond words.
Thank you for the kind words! I appreciate it!
Happy is the perfect name and Spoonflower, wow, I regret not getting involved in that when it was in Beta mode but I’m so happy it’s such a hit and anyone can create now. 😀 Your quilt is just great.
Thank you, Becky! & I have to mention that the Spoonflower peeps are the nicest in the world. They deserve all the success headed their way.
lead ballon? What were they thinking in Dallas? this is AWESOME. and I am inspired to think about trying Spoonflower now. love those round bluebirds, too!
Thanks! Yeah, that year the Dallas show had a very traditional vibe. If you looked to the left and right of my quilt, you would have noticed that it was the odd duck. It was weird because I had a quilt in the 2007 show & it won a 2nd place ribbon! Oh well. You win some & you lose some…
So bright and cheery! It’s lovely and I love the polka dots on the back.