Spring Thaw

I shared the ThreadBender’s recent challenge “Birds Eye View” a few weeks ago. This weekend those quilts are hanging at the Crazy Quilter’s show in Mukwonago, WI. The photo at the top of this post shows them all hanging together and they look great! (if I do say so myself 😊). The show is open until 3pm today, so if you live nearby and have a free Sunday afternoon, please head to the middle school in Mukwonago.

Those who are very observant might have noticed a quilt in the above photo that wasn’t previously on the ThreadBender’s site. A week before those quilts were due, I was on a Cattail retreat with friends. While Mary and I went for a walk through the melting snow I came upon a moment when I just had to snap a photo;

It was a close range “Birds Eye View” type image, and it really intrigued me. I’d already made my challenge quilt ~ “Kansas City Departure” (click here to read that post), but I had this strange desire to make another. A week after those quilts were due for jurying at the guild meeting, I changed the photo to grayscale,

and enlarged it to the proper size using MS Excel™. I then printed many 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper sheets using a technique I’ve posted about before (click here for that post), and taped them together to make my full sized pattern. I knew I needed a good leafy fabric and found the perfect one online.

The rest of the fabrics were pulled from my stash and the fun began. I chose to sew directly onto the printed photo using raw-edged Repliqué, beginning by adding the snow to the leaf fabric (you might notice – I forgot to take photos while making the quilt, so these were taken later and include quilting).

Then the tree trunk and the rake were stitched in place (I liked red better than the green on the original photo).

I knew that doing this all raw edged would result in some fuzzy edges ~ and I’m trying not to let it bother me 😂.

Finally my boots and legs were added. I enjoyed the entire process and had it finished quite quickly ~ simply because I was having fun.

It was done in time for the Crazy Quilter’s show and I named it “Spring Thaw”.

I was thrilled to have it hanging with the entire exhibit.

I always love the Crazy Quilter’s show, and have been honored to be one of the judges for the show many times over the years. This year had an added blessing. My friends and I were at a retreat at Tall Pines in Mukwonago this week. The retreat ended on Friday ~ and I was to judge the show at one o’clock that afternoon. The judging was a joy, and the quilts were wonderful. I took pictures of my favorites and I’ll share them with you in next week’s post. Until then… I have a true confession that I hope will make you laugh, or at least help you to remember what not to do the next time you’re basting your quilt sandwich together.

I chose a Wisconsin “Shop Hop” fabric from may stash to put on the back of the Spring Thaw quilt.

It seemed like the perfect choice. As I was beginning to pin the layers together I actually said to myself “Chris, check to make sure the back is positioned so the top is at the top”. I checked and decided I had it right. WRONG! Thus the sleeve is at the bottom of the quilt in the above photo, and when hanging the back is upside down 😩. It was all quilted before I noticed. I’ve decided to say I wanted it that way 🤣.