Friday, October 09, 2009

Sheep May Safely Graze



For the fall quilt festival on Park City Girl's blog I chose this quilt. Not because it's so wonderful (it isn't), but because it's probably the first non-traditional quilt I made, and I've never posted it before. At the time it seemed very radical to me to make the music lines with satin stitch, (too bad the machine I had at the time made a terrible stitch) and to fuse the notes and the letters. I don't know why I didn't fuse the sheep. I should have, but I guess I wanted more dimension. Looking at this now, I see how terrible the applique is, and that it needs more quilting, but I'm still pleased with the design, and I like the shading from light to dark and the way the orange fabric at the bottom seems to be a mix of light and shadow. That was serendipity.

The idea of this piece popped into my head, complete in all detail, while I was listening to the Bach. However, the music at the top is not really "Sheep May Safely Graze" because I couldn't find the music for that. It's a bit of another Bach piece that I found in an old hymnal.

Now click on the link above or the button in the side bar and look at all the quilts!

41 comments:

The Calico Cat said...

WOW - I love this quilt. (But I really love how you kept it underwraps for so long.)

dee said...

Hi Kay. This is adorable and I love the story of how it came to be. Lovely music. Hey! We're seated together in the show...good company.

Debra Dixon said...

You are always so tough on yourself! It's a cute quilt & you broke out of the ordinary to make it so Be Happy!

Kaye Prince said...

Very cute - I really like the sheep!

Zonnah said...

It is beautiful!

*karendianne. said...

This is so sweet and I LOVE the combination of fabrics you used. I got a little "lost" in that study for a bit. Was that difficult to do, a lot of work with the gradation?

By the way, I enjoy Bach!

Yours even when you aren't as pleased with your work as I am, *karendianne who likes fluffy sheep.

marlene@ByTheSeam said...

Very cute. I think your inspiration was a good one, it turned out great.

Sara said...

I love sheep - and this is an adorable quilt...

Stephanie Hughes said...

I love this quilt. I put sheep on my quilt festival quilt too! Great job.

nanann said...

Since you said it was your personal introduction to non-traditional quilting, I also had to check out the rest of your blog -- Love Refraction!

Also wanted to comment that I lived in your neck of the woods for a little while -- went to Notre Dame. Went to a quilt guild meeting in South Bend once, but didn't have a car then and never made it back. There are some beautiful quilts in the two different quilt shows you featured though!

Anne at Film and Thread said...

It is a wonderful quilt! I had a dogs and sheep quilt in the spring online festival. I think your sheep look great!

Libby Fife said...

That piece is really charming. I especially like the shadows-nice touch!

jenclair said...

I really like the quilt, and the story of your evolving quiltiness!

tooznie said...

What an original quilt! It may not be perfect - your own words, but it's a joy to look at.

Helen said...

I really love this one! It is sweet. :)

Unknown said...

What a joyful quilt. I really like it. I'd never have thought to combine music and sheep but it looks so natural. And all imperfections are what make a quilt special, unless it's getting judged lol.

tirane93 said...

darling! the lovely blending of blues and greens for your background was some fine work, too!

Lynn E said...

Its a great quilt to stretch your skills and techniques. Gotta love sheep!

Latane Barton said...

How inventive. You certainly came up with a darling quilt.

Cathi said...

I love this quilt -- it is fabulous. Love the sheep and music notes!

Rhondi said...

Great quilt. It's fun to step outside of our comfort zones occasionally isn't it?

Ariane said...

I love this quilt. You did an amazing job. We always learn so much when we push ourselves to work out of our comfort zone. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Heather said...

Don't be so hard on yourself! It's a very sweet quilt.

Barbara C said...

Your sheep quilt is so lovely. The sheep have their little heads bowed in a perfectly humble way.

The two quilts in the previous post are also very nice. The light blue one is especially striking.

Rene' said...

You did a great job. Love the sheep. Thanks for sharing.

Granny Lyn said...

oh, I absolutely LOVE this one!!!

the worst part of this festival: it fills your head with tons of new ideas! I could think of so many hymns to do this with!!! aacckk,,,where do I start?

Kathy said...

I enjoyed seeing your grazing sheep quilt. I like it a lot!

Paula, the quilter said...

It is such a sweet quilt. I did satin stitching on my little quilt too, to make the points on the gate.

Vicki said...

I really like the patchy blue and green backgrounds. :D

Leslie said...

this is very fun....

Quiltluver said...

How cute! Very lovely.

Victoria Findlay Wolfe said...

CUTE!!!

Gigi's Thimble said...

Great quilt. What a creative idea. I love the music notes and sheep too. And you're right, the colors add a nice touch - going from blue to green for the pasture. I like it!

Rebekah said...

very cute! I love this hymn too

Moonlit Goddess said...

That would work for Helen's Challenge. I don't think it would matter how old it is. But sounds like you're not 100% thrilled with it, so you may have to think up something else. I've been having 'ideas', but nothing solid yet.

Jocelyn said...

Wow what a beautiful quilt! Thanks for sharing.


Jocelyn
http://happycottagequilter.blogspot.com/

Vivian said...

One of my favorite composers, and one of my favorite quilts I'm seeing during the Festival. Thanks for sharing it!

ParisMaddy said...

The blues and greens and the music notes make this a really cute quilt.

Allie said...

I LOVE this quilt! Beautifully done!

Dresden Quilter said...

It looks perfect to me. What a beautiful quilt.

Anonymous said...

Very creative quilt! Love how it took you outside your box. : ) Isn't quilting an amazing journey!? The little flowers done with buttons is cute and add a nice bit of unexpected color! ; ) Thanks for sharing