Sunday, January 9, 2011

time for a story

 I've been trying to CLEAN HOUSE here at Bumble beans...  I need to move out 
tops/backings, some to be quilted by me, some to send them out,
so they GET done in my life time... LOL!  

I have a few favorites that I just want done.
Like this Anguillan Sunrise quilt... 

Wanna Hear it's story?     It's a long one!


It all started with this one Dresden in OCTOBER 2009.  
When i started applique again after a 20+ hiatus...
These Paula Prass fabrics had me so excited I had to make something with them.

 And one Dresden turned into MANY Dresdens...
 I auditioned many fabrics and found the Yellow gingham would work best,
but I had only ONE yard of it, and I couldn't find more of it.
 SO then I tried other options that lived on my wall for a good few months at a time..
 And even got a little CrAzY!
 I tried many other yellows
And more yellows...
I went to Houston and bought nearly every yellow I could find.
Still no luck...
It then was stuffed into a basket, and shelved for a good year.

Then, two great things happened.
I wen to Lancaster, PA, and found these in an antique shop. HMM,
I was drawn to the colors of the blocks.. Black, pink, yellow, browns...
SO I remade a bunch BIGGER.  

Now what to do with those?


 Then I went to Anguilla. And all those colors were around me...I didn't sew a lick on that trip.
 But when I got home, the light bulb went off... Merge the two! same colors!!

It still needed that yellow!

Wouldn't you know it, I found another yard of that original YELLOW fabric online!

 

 I got this far, then I put it away again... Until October this year
I didn't applique the Plates until Xmas of this year.

And By Golly, I wan this quilt finished!
March will be a year and half in the making of this quilt...

And You all thought I worked fast....

hehehe!


I hope to have a finished top to show you by the end of this week...

Fingers crossed!

Do you have any quilt that has taken you years to create?



22 comments:

  1. I absolutely love the colors and fabrics. Your Dresdens are beautiful! It's going to be a spectacular quilt.

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  2. This is a beauty. Worth the wait, definitely!

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  3. Great story. Sometimes they just need to sit for awhile until you are inspired again. I just finished one that was 6 years in the making! hehehe

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  4. Sometimes it just takes a while to get that lightning strike of inspiration. Usually worth waiting for, I think. Definitely in your case. I love the yellow and I think nothing else would have had the desired effect. You knew what you wanted!

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  5. great story and a stunning quilt! I've been following your example and pulling/cleaning and finding all sorts of WIPS...I'm SURE I'll find something older than 1.5 years...wish me luck!

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  6. ummm, just about all of my quilts take more than a year. at least the big ones. let's see, I have 2 dozen dresdens just floating around, a dozen free-pieced roses, a block challenge quilt that has been laid out for a year and not pieced together, and about six that need quilting. I'm not fast at all getting quilts finished!

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  7. Too many to count and some that I wonder if I will ever finish :0)
    This one is looking just right........I love yellow....so bright and happy :0)
    How are you going to quilt it?

    Happy sewing.....new snow and 25 up here :.0

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  8. hehe!
    I meant just designing this quilt... It just never could come together for me... Couldn't get it to look like something interesting...

    I have stacks of quilt tops, that need to be done...
    The layout on this particular one just kept defeating me!

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  9. When I read the last line of your post I snorted and milk came out of my nose. Sorry. Yeah, I have projects that have taken me years to create. I thought that's how long they were SUPPOSED to take!

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  10. What a great story and great quilt to boot! Can't wait to see how you're going to finish it out. I have only a handful of quilts waiting to be quilted and about the same number waiting for the blocks to be made into a top, but somehow I keep getting sidetracked! I think I'm going to try and focus and get some of those ufos done this year. (I wonder how many people say that in January?)

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  11. Cindy asked: (I wonder how many people say that in January?)


    I say that EVERY January! LOL.

    Love the quilt top. It is perfect!
    glen

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  12. This was worth waiting for. It's gorgeous!

    P.S. I think you should send me some scraps of your yellows. I need yellows for my colours quilt. A good yellow is hard to find.

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  13. I've loved that yellow gingham since you first auditioned it, it's looking fabulous V! Yep, of course I have tops that took years, one took just over 10 years to complete, and several countries (started in Belgium, continued in UK, finished in The Netherlands!), and a fabric that started in the original blocks I found 10 years later in the same quilt shop for the borders!

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  14. This quilt is fantastic! Great story, too!! A year and a half doesn't sound really long to me, though ;-)

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  15. Some things just need to simmer a while... My own? does embroidery count? I have a cross stitch I started when I was around 16 yrs old... maybe I should finish that.. Oh yes, and my very first quilt is still screaming for attention.. now THAT is a LONG story too! Bad teacher, lots of remedial needed.. One of these days...:-) Like the finished solution you came up with. That yellow is just so spot on! Lucky find!

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  16. Don't you love it when the light bulb goes on? It's really beautiful and I think a perfect blend of vintage and modern.

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  17. Wow, another fabulous one! You have a great sense for color and design. I just love it.

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  18. Can't wait to see this pretty girl all done...Wahoo!!!

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  19. Great quilt and wonderful journey to get there! It's a beauty.

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  20. Some pieces just need to marinate for a while. Looks like this one is perfect. I pieced one quilt over a year, BOM when I lived in the city, then I moved to the country, pop.160, and spent my evenings hand quilting it over the next year. It's my all time fav quilt that I've made.

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  21. I wish we lived close enough to "play" together. I love the way your brain works LOL! This was a wonderful story for a great quilt!

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  22. They ALL take me years to finish! I remember those Dresdens from last year - glad to see them re-emerge.

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