Quilts of Florida

We're so excited to feature Quilts of Florida. As you may know, Florida is the Sunshine State, and many Florida quilters have incorporated bright colors and sun themes in their entries - along with some impressive workmanship.  All of these quilts were exhibited at the January 2015 World Quilt Show in West Palm Beach.

Bienvenidos, 28 x 39", by Laura Ruiz

"Bienvenidos" ("welcome") was a blue ribbon winner and recipient of Curator's Choice for Mixed Technique in the 2014 Hoffman Challenge - and we can see why!  Laura Ruiz cleverly used print motifs to create the colorful pots and plates exhibited on shelves behind the girl.  Mexican pottery is painted with many intricate details, which Laura captured with her use of Hoffman fabrics.

close up, Bienvenidos by Laura Ruiz

Everything about this quilt was lovely, including the portraiture of the girl with her dark hair, gathered Mexican blouse, and broderie perse flowers.  Even her necklace has a floral motif.

Color Wave, 42 x 42", by Beth Shutty

This is one of the most dynamic Storm at Sea quilts we've seen, with its waves of color and a yellow block reminiscent of the sun at the center. Beth Shutty says, "I arranged my hand dyed fabric so the color radiates out from the central focal point. The placement of white patches creates diagonal waves of color which influenced the quilt’s name."

close up, Color Wave by Beth Shutty

Storm at sea is such a great block pattern, with its straight lines that create the appearance of curves.  In Color Wave, Beth Shutty's spiral machine quilting adds an additional level of movement and emphasizes the yellow "sun".

Sunshine State of Mind, 42 x 50", by Susan Rienzo

This quilt really makes us smile, with its warm suns that contrast with the cool colors of blue water.  Each of the 6 circles is made of 4 blocks.  Susan says that she started by experimenting with curved raw edge strips onto 9” blocks onto different layouts, looking at the traditional Drunkards Path pattern for inspiration.  She then added the rays, thus creating the ‘suns’.

close up, Sunshine State of Mind by Susan Rienzo

Susan Rienzo says, "The wonderful sunshine in Florida is what brings everyone here to enjoy, either to visit, live part-time or year round! Are you in a Sunshine State of Mind?"

Dandelion, 35 x 46”, by Louise Moor

Louise Moor says, "Dandelions remind me of my daughter blowing the “puffs” when she was small."    Dandelion was hand appliqued.  Star-shaped embroidery stitches were used to depict the dandelion heads, as shown in the close up photo below.

True Colors (aka White Lines), 68 x 68”, by Karen Marchetti

This stunning rainbow quilt won 2nd place in the Florida Quilt Competition. It's often not easy to see the quilting on black backgrounds, but this one really stood out with lovely feathers, lines, and other fills.  The center feathered star is from a pattern by Marsha McCloskey and the remainder of the quilt is Karen Marchetti's original design.  The quilt was hand and machine appliqued, machine pieced, and long arm quilted.

close up, True Colors by Karen Marchetti

The beautiful trapunto machine quilting really shows up here. Karen says, "This quilt was started years ago. I call it the quilt that refused to be finished because it has given me so many difficult trials... All I can say is that I am happy it is finished!" To read the whole story, please visit Karen Marchetti's website.

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration.

Celebrating Valentine's Day (and our 5th blogiversary!)

Happy Valentines Day to all! Time flies and... believe it or not.... it's our 5th blogiversary. We just surpassed five million page views here at Quilt Inspiration; and on Pinterest, we have 69,000 followers. Wow !!  Thanks to all who have visited and encouraged us over the last 5 years. Here are some hearts and flowers for you, our dear readers (and, at the bottom of this post, a link to 50 free valentine quilt patterns!)

Hearts and Flowers by Bonita McFadden, 2014 Pacific International Quilt Festival

Our good friend Bonita McFadden has created a beautiful wall-size quilt which drew so many admiring looks from viewers at last October's Pacific International Quilt Festival. Bonita used the Broderie Perse method of applique to affix the the elegant roses and butterflies, giving this work a vintage, Victorian look. She even found tiny heart-shaped crystals for the corner valentines, adding to the overall romantic ambience of her creation.

Close up, Hearts and Flowers by Bonita McFadden

Bonita's original design is machine pieced, machine appliqued, and machine quilted. The center valentine heart is embellished with tiny hot-fix pearls and two separate layers of lace. As always, we enjoy seeing this superb example of Bonita's flawless workmanship.

Ruche Flowers, 33 x 33", by Louise Mishler, quilted by Holly Nichols.  2014 River City Quilters' Guild

"Ruche" or "Ruched" is a word taken from the French,  which in English means "gathered"or "ruffled". Here's a lovely bouquet of red flowers, made from fabric that is folded and pleated in various patterns to create a three dimensional wall quilt. Louise notes that her experience in making stained glass windows helped her create this design in bold colors.

Close up, Ruche Flowers by Louise Mishler, 2014 River City Quilters' Guild

Holly Nichols has quilted this off-white background in swirls and spirals which match the swirls and spirals of the ruched flowers. The closely quilted background really helps the miniature valentine hearts pop out between the leaves.

Heart of Hearts, 18 x 30", by Mary Ann Behlen Hruska, 2014  Contra Costa County Quilters Guild

Mary Ann explains, "I was looking through some old quilting magazines and saw this pattern by Ellie Brown in McCall's Quilting Jan/Feb 2012. It was almost Valentine's Day, and I was motivated. Everything I needed was in my stash. I don't usually follow patterns or do "crafty" types of  quilts, so it was a new experience for me. I love walking by it and ruffling the hearts!"  We think this three-dimensional "Valentine's tree" with its adorable hinged hearts is one of the cheeriest wall quilts ever.

Vintage Valentine, 70 x 70", by Theresa Olson, 2015 World Quilt Show (Florida)

Blue ribbon winner for Best Machine Workmanship, Theresa notes, "This was quilted on a Handi Quilter Sweet Sixteen sit down machine. The pattern is Vintage Valentine, a block-of-the-month pattern by Verna Mosquera at The Vintage Spool.  I started making this quilt in 2008. I was afraid to mark and quilt it, so it sat for awhile."  We wish that all of our readers could see this quilt in person, because it is really a breathtaking showstopper.

Close up, Vintage Valentine by Theresa Olson, 2015 World Quilt Show (Florida)

Theresa continues, "After taking free motion quilting classes in person, watching many classes on Craftsy.com, and getting some advice from my friend Karen Marchetti, I finally got the nerve to quilt it." As you can see, the results are absolutely stunning. This spectacular quilt will no doubt be a treasured heirloom by its owner.

Free hearts and valentine quilt patterns as seen at Quilt Inspiration.  Now it's your turn to make something for a special someone, including yourself !  We hope that you find just the right free pattern from all the pretty ones shown below.

Image credits:  Quilt photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration. Verna Mosquera at The Vintage Spool