Blogger’s Quilt Festival Spring 2011
Today I am taking part in Amy’s fabulous Blogger’s Quilt Festival. This is the 4th time I have taken part and it is always a highlight of the year for me. Once you have seen my quilt head on over to the festival and take a look at all the other amazing, inspiring quilts on show. I should have a button on my sidebar by the time you read this!
I have just finished the quilt I am making for my son Felix’s 21st birthday! Regular readers will have been following the progress of this quilt but I will just fill in any Quilt Festival visitors.
My son has spent way too much of his short life sitting in from of a computer screen, especially an Apple Mac, so this design is based on the colour picker tools that you use on the computer.
I got the idea from a brainstorming session with my younger son, Jacob, and my husband, Jonathan, where I showed them lots of quilts on Flickr and in books. They both liked the quilts with all solids like Lynne’s Penguin book quilt, and then Jacob came up with the idea of the colour picker. I was so pleased because I realised this would be very simple to make!
I also love the fact that we all had a hand in designing the quilt.
I bought 4 different Kona charm packs and some charcoal and snow and got to work playing with the colours. You can read more about this part here.
Jonathan thought it would be a great idea to finish the top as if it was a classic Mac screen, so we did some research. This is sort of what we were aiming at…
Jonathan did get a bit involved with the accuracy, working out the exact font used and scaling it up to the correct size. But I did have to explain that I didn’t really care if my black lines were the correct number of pixels or not!
I wasn’t too sure about this idea originally so I didn’t commit to it with the piecing and ended up needle-turn appliqueing the strips on afterwards. We realised we should have a word in the middle so decided to put ‘Felix’. I was worried it might look a bit naff, so I just quilted it in 6 strands of grey embroidery silk, and I think it is just subtle enough!
And then in another departure from accuracy, Jonathan thought Felix would love a rainbow Apple logo in the top corner. And I thought it would be such a fun thing to make – I was right! This was strip pieced then hand appliqued again.
When it came to quilting I knew I had to hand quilt. I always do this for my family ‘heirloom’ quilts. I just wouldn’t feel I had put enough effort in if I had machined! Also I do love to hand quilt, as you can see …
So I quilted with regular cotton in the ditch of the colour squares with an echo square. Then I used perle 8 in as matching a shade as I could manage (thanks Liz Allen for the extra, lighter colours!), in the snow sashing, with bigger more ‘sashiko’ stitches.
I had plenty of Kona charm squares left to make a rainbow stripe down the back. The binding is charcoal.
Look at all those stitches! I reckon the hand quilting took about 30 hours.
What lovely colors, i love this:)
Oh so creative, a color picker. Your quilt made me laugh and smile.
Jo I love this quilt!!
and I know Felix will too! are you sure he doesn't read your blog???
Such a cool design, I love it! And I'm sure Felix will love it too, how could he not- such a cool quilt made by such a cool mum!
Oh this is so AWESOME! A great idea, beautiful execution, and filled with meaning, the trifecta of a successfulness!
Clever – Clever – gave me a giggle!! How fun!!
Very neat idea for a quilt. Love it.
Coolest. Quilt. Ever.
Even the spouse says so!! He is agog (and that is quite the compliment from him!)
Ha ha, amazing idea! And such a variety of colours. Eye candy 🙂
What a totally cool idea! I LOVE it! Seriously, WOW.
You win, hands down, the most innovative quilt I have ever seen. Clever, perfect for the recipient (your son) and beautiful all at the same time. I am inspired and feel small compared to your talents!
Very, very, very clever!
fabulous quilt!!!
That is one AWESOME quilt! And thank-you for sharing how it was created. You are a very special mom.
Brilliantly done. This took a lot of work. Thank you for sharing.
Fabulous quilt, and I love the full family involvement. Thanks for sharing.
felix is a lucky guy!! that's a wonderful quilt and fun you had input from the family. such a great idea–thanks so much for sharing and have a great day in edinburgh
Just an amazing quilt along with a great story! It will definitely be an heirloom! Thanks for sharing.
Wow, what a fun quilt. I love the colors and the inspiration behind this. Beautiful job!
Wow wow wow, my DH who is an Apple geek wants a quilt like this and he wants it now! I love Lynne's Penguin books quilt and your palette for Felix is stunning too. Your handquilting is wonderful and you're right – so lovely to handstitch for those special quilts for the family. What a welcome home this will be for your son, may he continue to travel safely.
That is just fantastic! I've spent a lot of time looking at that color picker, too. This is just really fun and creative.
IT's absolutely fabulous. I love the fact that it's so personal to your son and truly unique. Thank you for sharing it!
LOVE!!
I need to make an exact replica for daughter!
Unless you are interested in selling??? LOL!
Holy smokes you are a GENIUS! I LOVE this quilt. Awesome!
Awesome quilt!! Quite appropriate for a computer geek! Glad the threads same in handy!
Great to see this done! It's just an amazingly fun quilt.
What a great quilt! How creative and so meaningful for your son! I love your creative process on this! Great job!
Brilliant!!! What a great idea and so well done. My partner just walked by saw it on my laptop and said "That is so cool!!!". Your son will love it!!
The concept is spectacular and your implementation wonderful
Coolest quilt EVER!
What a great idea–very colorful. I love it!
This is wonderful! I saw the small image on Amy's BQF page and immediately clicked over to see the quilt.
I just love how this one turned out! It is so fresh and modern and fabulous!
Can't believe where you have found the time to do all this for Felix, what with everything else that has been going on in your life.
It is a truely inspired quilt, and the hand stitching is fantastic, my quilt is now a year old. Amazing to think this time a year ago we were packing up to go to Norfolk. xxxx
Oh and I should have mentioned the hand quilting. There aren't many of us left! And I totally agree heirloom quilts should be hand quilted!
What a fabulous quilt idea your son had! And what a great quilt you made! I'm hand quilting a little 12 by 12 quilt and it is a ton of work.
Oh my gosh. I love this quilt! It's definitely one of a kind. Lucky son!!
Brilliant! Sure to be treasured for many generations and spark conversations about how much things have changed…
This is fantastic! Your son will love this quilt.
O wow; what a wonderfully inventive quilt!
What a great idea!!!
He's gonna love it!!
That is such a marvellous thing of beauty!
It has everything going for it. A kaleidoscope of colour on a light background. An unfussy design. Quirky.
It's hugely inspiring and I know my computer loving son would covet that if he saw it.
I might have to do something similar for him – for Christmas, as really it will take me that long.
Absolutely taken with your quilt. 🙂
What a fun idea!
very, very cool, and so neat that so much thought and creativity went into it!
I was wondering how this was going, it's FAB! I'm off to Amy's now, but still can't decide which quilt to enter!
I love it! Thanks for sharing it and inspiring this novice quilter.
What a great idea for a quilt. It looks fantastic. Beautiful work and all that wonderful hand quilting! What a wonderful gift!
WOW – I am so happy so see hand quilting & hand applique. (I used solids too – to I like that too.)
This is such a great idea! I loveit and I'm sure your son will too 🙂
What an amazing quilt, so effective. I love the quilt but I think my favourite part is the apple, absolutely gorgeous
What an amazing quilt. I am a big Apple fan too and I just love the Apple touches! I love the fact that the family had an input into it which makes it even more special. Make sure you take photos of his face when he opens it. Can't wait to see his expression!
Amazing! I really love this, both as a quilter and a techie!
Such a special quilt Jo and a perfect gift for a 21st present. Love all the details and especially the handquilting. Beautiful!!!!!
I've had an Apple computer of one type or another since 1980, so your Color Picker quilt is right up my alley! Great idea! Your son will love it!
Absolutely blows me away – I love your creativity in this quilt – this is so wonderful!
I love this quilt. It definitely caught my eye at the Quilt Festival!
Fantastic! What a cool quilt!
Great quilt. Great idea. Wonderfully crafted. Inspiring.
Lovely use of colors, beautiful!
What a great quilt. Thanks for sharing!
Now that's a great idea. Isn't it amazing where inspiration comes from?
Totally fun and bright and happy! I really like how you quilted this one too!
It's even more stunning now it is finished. Don't think I'll ever have the patience to handquilt a biggie like that but the effect is way better than machine quilting.
I'm sure he'll love it. Juliex
I love your quilt! This is the best quilt story that I have read so far on the Bloggers Quilt Festival. It is great that your family took part in the design process too!
The only thing I can say is fantastic!
OMGosh, don't know what to say other than, I LOVE YOUR QUILT! Great job.
This is just a wonderful, most personal quilt. I love it – and your handquilting is amazing !!
This is so clever, I can't believe it. I have to try something like that. Gorgeous quilt.
This is such a cool quilt! The hand quilting is fabulous 🙂
You're the best Mom ever!! This quilt is amazing and your son must be just thrilled with it. Very, very cool. Love the hand quilting too.
What a fantastic quilt, it's so clever and perfect for your son. One of the most enjoyable quilts I've seen on the festival round.
Wow, that is such a wonderful idea, and so beautifully realized! Lucky Felix 🙂
What an amazing idea! Your son is very lucky!
That is great! I love the apple! What a fun personalized quilt!
What's that expression? "You win at life"? Definitely applies here – a FABULOUSLY creative quilt that is beautifully executed. Felix is one lucky fellow. I also love that the rest of the family had a hand in the design. Thanks for sharing!
Wow! What an amazing quilt, and so beautifully done!
Wow thats fantastic!
It is gorgeous! I love the story behind it and all the care that you put into all the details. The quilting is perfect for this quilt, and he is going to love it!
Stellar concept, incredible quilt, great job you did… Felix is one lucky young man!
ha ha! I love it. I'm such a graphic design geek and this is way cool!
You can see my submission to the Blogger's Quilt Festival here: http://blog.petitdesignco.com/2011/05/bloggers-quilt-festival.html
WOW, just wow!
It's lovely to see the quilt all finished. It really is stunning – beautiful work! Lucky Felix 🙂
Oh Jo, what a divine quilt and a fabulous quilty idea! What a special quilt for Felix, I too have a 'computer' son who would love this!!! xo
this quilt caught my attention as I was looking at the thumbnail photos on Amy's blog – very nice looking.
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/
Great idea for the desing. Looks fantastic.
Wow look at the reaction this quilt got Jo, and deservedly so – for me it's one of those quilts that make us lot look cool and not so patchworky LOL
What a fun idea! Your implementation was brilliant. Great quilt! My family helps me with working out some quilt projects too and it's so special when those quilts become a reality. Thanks for sharing.
Az Én fiam is imádja apple mac. Én varrni neki Iphone tokot, rajta apple logo. Én varrni fiamnak paplant, szintén apple mintával.
Nagyon szép te paplan.
Oh, it's just gorgeous. Your thumbnail looks so perfect that it's more like a screen capture than a quilt. Amazing.
I love this quilt!! Are you doing a pattern for this? Because if you did I would buy it!
Wonderfully creative and what a masterpiece you have created. Judy C loves it
This is absolutely amazing! Very Creative! When I first saw it on Amy's site it was small, I almost didn't think it was a quilt, it look so real!
What a creative and very personal design for your computer geek son! it turned out very nice.
I love this! I remember when you were making it, it is wonderful to see it finished! And such a good idea.
This quilt is amazing! What an original idea and it turned out wonderfully!
Came across this on flickr and had to come for a better look. What a marvellous blog you have – and this is a masterpiece of a quilt.