Labels and Some Flower Fairies

Have you read this post by Amy at 13 Spools?  While I didn't participate in the comments the questions posed definitely got me thinking.  Especially this one

     Do you ever feel embarrassed to show one of your quilts to 

a "certain group" of quilters because of its style?

 

Because I have a quilt like that.  

 

A little background: I have several friends who are pregnant.  I have let each of them know that I would love to make their baby a quilt as my gift to them.  The first was Nolan's and while the color scheme was outside of my norm, everything else felt like me, as well as like Nolan and his Mom.

When Emma's Mom contacted me about her quilt she mentioned flower fairies and I can admit my heart sunk a bit.  First, what the heck is a flower fairy and second, how the heck do I make a quilt from them!  When I asked for more details, she sent me a photo of a quilt made from this Michael Miller panel.  This was really outside of my comfort zone.  But I really believe that if I am going to make a quilt for someone, it should be something they want.  Not something I want to make. So I bought the panel and made the quilt.

All along, I had no intention of sharing it on the blog.  It's so not my style and it doesn't represent Ella's Cottage.  But as I worked on it, I started to like it a little.  And I'm actually pretty happy with the design decisions I made and the finished product.  Reading that post from Amy made me realize that I should be able to share everything I make here.  After all, I hope that as Emma grows up she connects this quilt with the love that I have for her and her mother.

 

The details: The panel measures 22" x 42".  I beefed it up with an asymmetrical border in a green solid from my local fabric shop.  This is definitely the most styles of quilting I have ever used in a quilt.  I did some outline quilting of the fairies and flowers on the panel, connecting them with a meandering loop.  The small border around the panel was filled with four petal flowers.  And the green border is filled with a free motion flower from Angela's book.

 

 

The backing and binding is a pink/purple blender called Stonehenge.  I can't remember the Manufacturer and it seems my selvedge have been tossed.  I got it from my local shop and just looked for a blender that coordinated pretty well with the pinks in the panel.

You can see some fairy legs in this one

The quilting is done with a pale pink thread to blend in the panel and stand out in the border.  I really hope Emma and her Mom love it.  And I hope that you know you can share any of your quilts with me and I will appreciate them.  The more quilts I make, the more I truly appreciate the time, work and heart that goes into each of our quilts.  I would hate to know someone didn't show one of their quilts for fear they would be mocked or not taken seriously.