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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Looking Ahead to Spring

Closeup of Purple Iris a quilt by Ann Fahl
This month we've had a blizzard with 24.5 inches of snow and now an ice storm.  We've had enough winter to last for the rest of the year now.  So I've decided to show you a new quilt to take our minds off the terrible mid-western weather.

As a child I always liked the little fuzzy parts of the iris.  We lived in a huge old house in New Jersey, and there was a bed of iris around a patio in the back yard. The iris is such a complex flower; with petals growing upward and some gracefully flowing down; and then all the interesting stuff in the middle.  So on the above iris, I embroidered the little sepals in a small circular pattern to make the contrast color stand out from the rich purple petals.
Full view of Purple Iris by Ann Fahl
 I love how the quilt turned out.  The quilting is fanciful and heavy covering the background.  I used three or four different variegated threads that were light blue or lime green in hue. It is such a pleasant contrast to the vertical lines of the flowers and leaves. 

My original plans were to make a pattern for this quilt. But right now my energy is focused on getting the book about my cat quilts finished and ready for quilters to read. You can read a little more about the quilt on my website.  Stay warm.

Ann


6 comments:

krisgray said...

Lovely iris!

I just tried free motion embroidery for the first time. Thank you for the introduction to this technique. Hope to do more of it, soon.

Sally said...

What a nice peak into Spring. It will soon arrive, I know, but so nice to see your wonderful interpretation.

The Idaho Beauty said...

What a lovely design. There are so many iris patterns out there (and yes, I've bought a few with good intentions but have yet to make one), but this is really different, lyrical, definitely an Ann Fahl.

Maggie Szafranski said...

We had a bed of lovely purple iris at our farmstead. They are a beautiful sight!

Rachel said...

Great variegated edge on the green leaves. Quilting has such variety.

Donna Becker said...

Definitely enjoyed your post, particularly how you used the background to boost soft color and texture behind the flowers. Thanks!