Monday, September 18, 2017

Bloggers Quilt Festival (Shadow of Light)

The Bloggers Quilt Festival is here and this is my entry - Shadow of Light.
Shadow of Light measures 47" square and is machine pieced and machine quilted.

Shadow of Light!!!


The inspiration, the process and the story of this quilt follow.
Finished!!!
I hate you (like I love you).  This is a song from a favorite movie of mine - Delhi Belly.  In the beginning of the movie, a young, attractive, self-assured, VJ is being interviewed by a couple of journalists.

VJ - I want to do everything - singing, directing, writing.


Greens

Purples and Yellows

Beige to Brown

Then she shares with them the lyrics of a song that she has just written -
"I hate you, like I love you. Like I love you in brackets."

First Block in process

Cut Up

Blended Scraps Block (for the Honey Pot bee)

This is hilarious. There is absolutely no way this could be the lyrics of a song.
However, at the end of the movie, the credits roll to this song - I hate you, like I love you.

And second (for Me)
This block - Blended Scraps evokes the same feelings in me. A love-hate relationship.
(I had made the first block for the Honey Pot Bee. )
Matching Fitbit :-D

I love this block because it is so striking.

Love the gradual changing of colors

I love this block because it gave me an opportunity to play with color choices, subtle changes in values, near-solids.

Reds can be difficult

I hate it because it makes me want to drop everything and make this (DrEAMi) quilt.
I hate it because I spent hours trying to gather five shades of red in the perfect gradation, questioning and re-examining every choice.

But this works!!!

I hate it because due to this block, I dived into my stash to find one set of five blue fabrics - from lightest to the darkest. I found four sets of five fabrics.   That shows that I have way too many fabrics. (No quilter wants to hear that).

My favorite block
This turquoise block has the best gradation of light to dark, in my opinion. All fabrics were already in my stash (rolling my eyes).

Does this work?

Not enough gradation
Although it was easy to find many fabrics in shades of blue, it was much more difficult to find five shades of yellow - that gradually go from light to dark, without becoming beige at one end and orange at the other.

Design Wall

I decided that I need at least nine blocks to make a quilt - one in each colorway. I chose emerald green, orange, purple, yellow, blue, green, red, turquoise and pink.

Almost Finished Flimsy
Added a black border and I completed the flimsy.  Now, since I have so many other looming deadlines, the quilting of this Dreami was not a priority. Yes, it was a UFO. And I hated that.

Just wow!!!
My guild takes a summer recess but we returned on Tuesday, September 12.  What did I have to show for the three months? Playing Footsie, yes.

(Clay's quilt and Matt's quilt were both completed and gifted, all during the summer).

In shade
I had to finish this one.  

And I hate that because I was (and I am) feverishly working on my September OMG and completing this quilt is not a distraction I want.

In sun
I believe I have sufficiently explained the love and hate part.  Here is the finished quilt.  I am calling this - Shadow of Light.

Walking Foot Quilting

And I am very happy with it :-)

A change of perspective

Inspired by Janine and Sandra, I was looking for a picturesque setting for a photoshoot. So I took it to work, where we have a water fountain.  My co-worker/friend Rekha came to my rescue.

Rekha, caught unawares :-)



Do you see the flower from the tree above trying to kiss the quilt?

Blue & Turquoise Blocks

Orange & Yellow Blocks

Ooh Purple and Green!!!
Yes, there is a back too. I know I almost forgot.  

Backing - Half & Half
When Paul saw the back, he said - a quartered layout would look even better.
Oh GOSH YES!!!! AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH...............

Where were you on Friday when I was piecing this back?
Taking a nap - obviously.

Geometric Setting



Paul looked over my shoulder as I was drafting this post.
Paul: What is a Dreami?
Me: It is kinda like that French book store character from the movie Unfaithful.
Paul (incredulous): The guy that seduces Diane Lane???
Me: Yep, he makes you want to ditch your husband and run away with him.
Paul: You are talking about a quilt?
Me: Actually it could be just a block that leads to such dangerously dark thoughts.
Paul: So do you ever return to your husband?
Me: Oh yes...unless...
Paul: Unless
Me: Unless there is another Dreami.
Paul: Does the husband have to kill this dreamy thing.
Me: Nah, I just finished it.

On a beautiful sunny day

Here are some more pictures...because I am in lust with this Dreami quilt. 

Simple Quilting - Perfect Texture

Black Binding
Labelled

Cannot get enough of it!!!
I  have never said this about any of my previous quilts. But this one makes me drool!!!!


Fiery Red - Evoking passions

Yes, she is absolutely going to the Quilt Show in 2018.

Shadow of Light

I will be connecting with all my favorite linky parties.
Now, I must get back to the task at hand - the September OMG. But I'd love to hear your thoughts.




57 comments:

  1. Just Awesome Preeti!!!!!!! Loved the look & what perfect points !

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  2. It is a terrific quilt. I was agonizing with you as I read how you searched for the right fabrics.

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  3. Beautiful quilt! Beautiful photo shoot.

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  4. I really like it, and can absolutely see how it became a Dreami project! I didn't expect that choosing the fabrics would be so difficult, but I bet I would have some trouble with that, too. Great finish!

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  5. Beautiful design, I love the gradients you were able to achieve with the prints.

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  6. Wow! What a gorgeous quilt! The colors just pop and the light really does come through in the fabrics. I can see why you are "in lust" with this quilt. :) It is beautiful, Preeti!

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  7. Excellent quilt and a fantastic process post with gorgeous finished photos. Well done!!!

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  8. Beautiful! Awesome! The more I look at this quilt, the more I love it. No wonder you lust over it.
    Pat

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  9. I love how you graded the colors... just perfect!!

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  10. I love it and love the quilting, I know what you mean about the love hate thing, good finish

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  11. Hi Preeti,
    I think this should be labeled a love/love quilt. It is a beautiful quilt. Your fabric choices are spot on, I think. And the background for your pictures - those fountain shots are dreamy. I love your hubby! ~smile~ Roseanne

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  12. Wow Pretti! This one is marvelous. You did a stupendous job with the gradation of the fabrics. I would be drooling over this one too if I'd made it. Heck, I'll drool over yours just because it really is a wonderful quilt.

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  13. It is beautiful and so inspiring to use up scraps!

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  14. Beautiful!! Thank you for sharing!

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  15. Boy, you sure do have a gift for telling stories! Not to mention making gorgeous quilts! I LOVE THIS!

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  16. My first response when I saw the initial photo was, "How striking", so I wasn't surprised to read that you found it striking, too. I enjoyed learning about your thought process as you constructed this quilt, and enjoyed the story you wove around it very much. You are exceptionally gifted.

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  17. I can't stop looking at the way the light changes over the surface of this quilt. It's always amazing how colors and values change depending what they are next to, so I can see why you had a love/hate relationship with the layout of colors at times. Good thing you had a lot to work with. ; ) But what a success!! And the texture of the quilting makes me want to reach out and run my fingers over it. Love, love, love the photos by the fountain. I hope lots of people stopped by to see what you were up to. (Thanks for the shout out for the inspiration, but now you've really inspired me.) Stay DrEAMi!

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  18. very very nice quilt. love the design. thanks for sharing the steps you did to make it. micki@2dogstudio.us

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  19. Just the very BEST DrEAMi!! And I can totally see why you'd ditch your current OMG, your MBS, and yes your husband to finish this beauty! Love the photo shoot; it's like I can HEAR the water, Preeti! Thanks for the nod - drool-worthy INDEED. :-)

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  20. So beautiful! I can see why you have a love-hate relationship with this project... but the results are so worth it. Beautiful photos too, in a beautiful setting! Thanks for sharing this beauty!

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  21. Beautiful quilt and the story is even better!

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  22. This quilt is so striking! Thank you for sharing your process and thoughts behind it! I agree about yellows being hard! I rarely use them, wanted to recently, and it was nearly impossible to find the right shades! You did fabulous!

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  23. Your quilt looks wonderful. I admire your patience when working with the colours and piecing the blocks. Lovely work.

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  24. Love this colorful fun quilt! I see many of those fabrics in my own stash, LOL

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  25. Striking is the perfect description of your quilt! I keep coming back to your post just to look at it and enjoy your process photos as well. I don't comment as much as I should but your blog always brings me joy! Hope you have a happy quilting day today!

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  26. Beautiful quilt! It was so neat to see all of the photos of the steps showing all of the wonderful colors!

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  27. Wow! Your quilt has a beautiful rainbow effect. Thank you for the indepth post. Alot of time went into all those directions.

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  28. Beautiful! I go through the "love and hate" thing with every single quilt. I love how this one just glows. Nice work! (And a nice assist from your co-worker, too!)

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  29. Very pretty, Pretti! I enjoyed reading the discussion between you and your husband.

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  30. Great quilt. I love the colors with the greys and how you went from dark to light. I can see why you love it!

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  31. Your story of the quilt is captivating. The quilt has depth and light, luminosity I'd say. The various photos are so pretty, my favorite is your friend Rekha holding the quilt in dappled light. So sweet.

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  32. I probably have enough colours in my stash to do the same type of quilt. I need to sew more quilts... I love your quilt with the colour gradations. Congrats on a great finish!

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  33. A very clever quilt, I love all this scrappy colour! And I enjoyed reading all about it too!

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  34. This quilt is striking with the mix of colors twisting and turning. My favorite part of the quilt is that you took time to arrange the colors and greys so beautifully. You are talented and disciplined. Your love/hate, dark/light, color/neutral theme just keeps going. That discipline really set this quilt apart.

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  35. Another wonderful post Preeti. I can see why you love this quilt, there are so many ways you can look at this quilt. As always your photography is lovely and enviable.

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  36. Wow! Very dreamy! You nailed the color progressions in each block. It's a gorgeous finish.

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  37. Awesome, wonderful colors and value shifts. The story is super and thanks for sharing it along with the photos. It is an exciting quilt. The photography just sets it off.

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  38. oh my gosh...what amazing quilt....

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  39. Stunning, Preeti -- all that time and effort that you put into the color and value picks really paid off. And it's GOOD that you had it all in your stash, because running out to the quilt shop for more fabric when you don't have the right color really slows you down! I also love the slight waviness to your quilting lines; it softens the straight piecing lines just enough to bring the quilt to life.

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  40. The pattern and colors are so mesmerizing! Beautiful quilt!

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  41. This is so pretty! Your use of color and value is amazing. Love your design as well.

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  42. Beautiful use of color! And I loved all the great pictures of the process! :)

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  43. Thanks for the pattern link. Your quilt is simply stunning!! Not sure I would find the depth of color in my stash. Brights and mediums take over, so the lights and darks are hard to come by!

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  44. Another great entry to the quilt festival. My honey bee never even reached that block, and it was inspired to repeat the block over and over. The wide range of fabrics all really pull together, and i love it.

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  45. I can relate the agonising over fabric choices......well worth the effort. A great result.

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  46. Breathtaking. And so wonderful to see it again and again. :-) Both of your entries make me want to have a couple DrEAMi! episodes...

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  47. That is so striking! It must have been hard lining up all those seams. I think that is why it looks so good, though.

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  48. Oh pretty Preeti. So many challenges in one quilt, variations in value, a glut of blues, all those points and seams to line up, then you nailed it! I like the name, suits it and to be honest not all names suit the quilts I think (not talking about yours mind). Who's a clever girl then?

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  49. I love the consistent black/gray/brown of the second half of the block. It really makes the bright colors pop! I made a similar quilt a couple of years ago as a wedding present though didn't use graded colors. Love that idea! It's beautiful!

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  50. So bright and vibrant. I love the colours. They almost shimmer.

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