Judy's Ostentation

More loveliness to share! This is Judy Vargas' interpretation of Ostentation. Judy has added a very pretty colour pattern around the outer ring - I especially like the gold tips at the top of each of the star points.

Judy writes,  "As you can see I modified the pattern...and am pleased with the outcome.  It's going to be donated to Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach so they can auction it off."  What a generous way to share your talents, Judy;  congrats on this beautiful piece of work.
Ostentation appears on the cover of Quilting Beauties.

Joanne's Ostentation

These pictures belong to Joanne Colleaux of British Columbia, who has just completed a stunning version of Ostentation.

Joanne's bold colour choices show off the design beautifully. Joanne chose to applique her curved seams rather than piece them;  instructions for this alternate method are included in the general directions at the front of the book Quilting Beauties.

 Her quilting is just spectacular.

Joanne has shared her work with us before on this blog, and it's always exquisitely executed.  You can see her Oriental Beauty and Farrago in this post:

http://sewkaren-lycreated.blogspot.ca/2014/12/joannes-oriental-beauty.html
Thank you, Joanne for being a fabulous ambassador for Sew Karen-ly Created designs! :)
You can find the pattern for Ostentation in the book Quilting Beauties.

Quilting Beauties: Ostentation

Last post I showed you one of the pieces chosen for the cover of Quilting Beauties, so today I will show you the other:  Ostentation.

This quilt was sewn while the book was still a twinkle in my eye. I spotted these fabrics on a shopping trip to Halifax, and it was love at first sight; I knew immediately I wanted to stitch something which hinted at plumes and peacocks...without actually stitching either. To suggest feathers, spiky, pointy blocks were chosen. The yellow centre of the rings in the NY Beauty blocks are reminiscent of the eye on a peacock’s tail feathers. 

The name for a flock of peacocks is an ostentation, and it aptly describes this showy quilt. It is neither round nor oval but has elongated patches added top and bottom; a beaded black tassel further accentuates the shape. 

A shiny black button helps draw your eye to the centre of the quilt. It was serendipitous to find a button to match the tassel in a different store, in a different city!

Ostentation features wool batting and is heavily machine quilted in various feather designs using a gold metallic thread.

All the quilting for the book was done on my much-loved Bernina 440.

I hadn't patterned it previously, but it was perfect for the book and I am pleased AQS liked it as well. I love how when you stand back, the yellow centre spins around. This would be so fun to stitch in Christmas prints just to see how different the design would look.  (That's on my to-do list!)

AQS did an absolutely stellar job with the piecing diagrams, showing just how simple it is to sew such a complicated-looking design. The construction is all laid out step-by-step.

Before I sent it off, I blocked the quilt to make sure it was perfectly flat.  You can see why I have plastic sheets to cover my work...Polly claimed the territory in the name of King and country and wouldn't let anyone near it.  It took kitty-treat distraction to get her off the quilt.

You can purchase an autographed copy of Quilting Beauties from my website

Last Call

I am really floored at the fabulous response to Ostentation. I can't thank you enough for all the kind comments, emails and phone calls I have received. It's been heartwarming to say the least. The poll for Viewer's Choice closes tomorrow on the Stitch Star site (July 19) so if you have not yet voted, perhaps you will be kind enough to do that now: http://sewtimeless.net/?p=1337 Give the pictures of all the entries a few minutes to load; the voting screen will appear at the end of each set of pictures once they have all downloaded.
On a funny and somewhat related note...I was reading last week that quilters subconsciously dress in the same colours with which we are currently working. I don't often post pictures of myself on the blog (for obvious reasons!) but here's a quick snap hubby took of me before Ostentation got sent off which I offer up as support for this hypothesis:
Intrigued, I went back through quilt photos from years' back; funny hair and all, here's what I found...




Have a look through your own pictures and see if you've done this too!! (Right after you vote, of course :) Today I am wearing blue jeans and a white shirt as I work on my latest quilt - no mystery what colour it is!

Ostentation

I've been taunting you with glimpses of the quilt made using Plume fabrics by Timeless Treasures. Now it's time for the big reveal!
Polly and I began work on this piece in March. Every step in the process of working with these beautiful fabrics was pure delight. The fabric has a peacock theme so in keeping with this I chose spiky, pointy blocks to suggest feathers. Using EQ7, palm blocks were drafted on a 60° grid, and encircled by New York Beauty blocks. The yellow centres of the rings in the NYB blocks are reminiscent of the eye on a peacock’s tail feathers. (Sigh...get off the quilt, Polly.)

Originally I intended to back the quilt with a plain royal blue cotton. After I had it basted however, it was bothering me not to use the royal blue print from the Plume line, so I took it all out and started over. I am very glad I did.

The feather theme was carried through into the quilting, which was done using a gold metallic thread. I stitched feathers up the "legs" of the central palm blocks.

I echo quilted an eye in the gold NYB centres, and stitched feathery peacock plumes in the V shape below.

Although it is rather heavily quilted, spaces were left to allow the loft of the wool batting to puff.

I like how the piecing draws your eye to the centre, so to accentuate that I added a sparkly black button.

This interestingly shaped quilt is neither round nor oval but has elongated patches added top and bottom; a beaded black tassel adds the finishing touch. Amazingly, I stumbled across a tassel which was a perfect match for the button. What are the odds?

After the binding was added, I decided to block the quilt to ensure it would hang straight. To do this, I pinned the quilt to a cardboard cutting mat and sprayed it with water. Then I covered the quilt with plastic and left it overnight to dry.

Here you see the reason for the plastic. Polly assumed guard duty.

It took some time to come up with a good name. Jackie from dayle's suggested a crossword dictionary which was a terrific idea. I discovered that the name for a flock of peacocks is an ostentation, and it aptly describes this showy, ostentatious quilt of glitzy fabric and thread. Because I was so pleased with my finished design, on a whim I sent off a picture to Timeless Treasures who are running a "Stitch Star" contest on this fabric line. How exciting to get a phone call from their office in New York last week telling me Ostentation is a semi-finalist!

The quilts are all shown on the Timeless Treasures Stitch Star blog and voting is now underway for People's Choice. The prizes in this competition are substantial - $5,000.00 and a Horizon Memory Craft 7700QCP Sewing Machine by Janome for first place - so I do hope you will take a moment to vote. Think of all the fabric that would buy...!