Friday, October 29, 2010

Bloggers Quilt Festival 2010

 Amy from Amy's Creative Side is hosting a Blogger's Quilt Festival.  Go to her website and look at all the quilts entered from quilters around the world then post one of yours on your blog so you can get in on the fun.  This is not a contest but a quilt show.  Now you can see and read about the quilt I am "entering" in this Blogger's Quilt Festival.
Farmer's Nightmare 2001
10" x 14 1/2"
 Now you all might wonder why the name Farmer's Nightmare for such a pretty looking quilt. As I was thinking about this Boyds Bear doll bed that my husband gave me for Christmas one year I wanted to make a quilt that reflected what he does. He is a farmer....so I thought about crops he grows, cattle he raises, typical dress of a farmer, etc. What I settled on was making a quilt that reflected some of the pests he fights each year.
 
My original idea was to do a "redwork" inspired quilt with bugs and weeds he has to deal with yearly in the crops he raises so I sat about making a list of possible candidates. I had no problem coming up with lots different weeds and asked him about what bugs he has to fight for his crop health. I had quite a list when he finished telling me but the problem was most of them were in the larva stage and that means they would be fat worms - YUCK! I did not want to put any of those on my quilt so looked only at the weed list and I had enough to make the number of blocks I wanted to make.
 
It was decided then........... an all weed quilt.
 
I proceeded to draw simple line drawings of the different weeds then transferred the drawings to Solvy and pinned the Solvy to my white fabric. Using my sewing machine and red thread I stitched the designs. I lowered the feed dogs on my machine and used an embroidery foot. I ended up going around the lines twice to make the lines show up - one line of stitching was not enough for the impact I was looking for.
 
After the designs were all stitched on over sized squares I trimmed them to size (2 1/2" unfinished) and finished piecing the quilt then machine quilted it in white thread.
 Now for the list of weeds.
Row 1. (left to right) cocklebur, dandelion, lambsquarters
Row 2. pigweed, buffalo burr, bindweed
Row 3. shattercane, puncture vine, sunflower
Row 4. velvetleaf, milkweed, black nightshade
Row 5. musk thistle, ragweed, foxtail
I had to laugh when I got this quilt top finished my husband wanted me to print a scan of it. He wanted to take it to the elevator to ask his farming buddies to id. the different weeds. That was a real compliment to me as John hardly ever says anything about my quilting other than - That's Nice!
Lynn

26 comments:

Care said...

Oh, I LOVE this quilt! Despite the fact that it's all weeds (an idea I love!), it is so beautiful!

I must say -- if I had a vote, I would say BINDWEED is the WORST!

Leila said...

I love red work and I love your quilt. My husband is a corn breeder and would get a kick out of it too.

Sara said...

WOW!! You hand stitched those tiny little blocks?! Very impressive work!

hazel said...

I have nothing but respect for those who work in miniature, and that is a beautiful small work of quilting art. I love how you found the inspiration and executed it so beautifully!

Hazle

Doris said...

awesome.... I know many a farmer who would appreciate this. The size is unbelievable!

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

One of the most unique and beautiful quilts I have come across! I was raised on a farm and could identify a few of those lovely weeds!

Valerie said...

Wow what a remarkable little work of art!

Pattilou said...

In my view it takes a HUGE amount of patience to make something so small! Nice work!

Michelle said...

Omigosh! I can't believe how tiny that quilt is--and so perfect! What a fun theme too. I bet your husband got a kick out of it.

Chris said...

WOW. What fabulous work.

Marjorie said...

Absolutely fantastic. My dad used to say "The only difference between a flower and a weed is intension. The flower is where you intended it to be, and the weed is not,."

Lucky Duck Dreams said...

Wow so cute!

Aunt Spicy said...

I am so in love with this quilt, first I love miniature, but I also love the story behind it!

Carol said...

Gorgeous and definitely unique :)

Nina Marie said...

wowowow!!! tooo tiny- wow! just lovely!

2miracles/Tove said...

So pretty and so tiny! I'm very impress with some of those little piece. Very beautiful

Sandra said...

What a delightful quilt-my Dad's a farmer so I totally understand the weed thing. But you made them look so lovely. Kudos.

Come see my 1890 antique schoolhouse quilt and
black/white/pink scrappy miniature

Miri said...

Wonderful little redwork quilt! Love the story!

farmersdotter said...

Wow, never seen weed's on a quilt before, may have to check into that, since my last name is Weed! BTW, iI also have a quilt on the festival!
Brenda Weed...
The Farmer's Dotter
www.farmersdotter

Karen said...

You must be very patient. There is such a lot of work in this tiny quilt. It looks wonderful!

Anonymous said...

What incredible detail for such a tiny little quilt! Its really wonderful.

Anonymous said...

What beautiful weeds you've made! I love this idea - super clever!

~ Meagan

Anonymous said...

I love love love love your mini mini quilt for beds!!!!

Unknown said...

Oh what a fun quilt. I have yet to tackle a mini quilt, the thought of such small piecing intimidates me.

My husband says the same thing about my quilts. "That's nice, honey."

Anonymous said...

my goodness! what a lot of detail in such a tiny quilt! Lovely though. :)

Eileen said...

what an adorable little quilt and what a fun story to go with it. a lot of work has gone into it and it's just wonderful to see. thanks for sharing and have a great day

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