Friday, April 17, 2009

Bloggers Quilt Festival

I am taking the plunge and joining in on the virtual quilt show! What a very fun idea from the likes of Amy at Park City Girl.

As I have said over and over, I am not a garment sewer. Two years ago, I met my BFF at the Chicago Quilt Festival. We had a wonderful time together. We looked at all of the fabulous quilts and of course all of the vendors. At one booth, my BFF saw this jacket. She immediately wanted to make one, and she said that I needed to make one too! Whoa-ho girl, I don't do garments! She finally convinced me and we purchased the pattern. As my BFF lives in cold country, and I live in the south, we have to use our time wisely when we do get together. BFF was coming to my end of the world and she said we were going to make these jackets! Whewww........ now I was in trouble. The first objective was to find a 100% sweatshirt. Ha, ha, well let me tell you that it is VERY difficult to find any kind of sweatshirts in Florida in the month of May! After much searching, we did finally come across sweatshirts that were 80% cotton. As I drove around, she had seamripper in hand and tore out the cuffs and the neck trim.

We used the fabulous Kansas Troubles, and Thimbleberries line of fabrics. I love the rich color combinations. My BFF worked diligently on her jacket and I followed along. It was a very fun project and we both came out with great looking jackets.

That year I decided to enter the jacket in the Florida State Fair. I have never entered anything in the State Fair before, but I felt that the jacket was something a little different and maybe was worthy to show. To my amazement, the jacket took a second place red ribbon! What a wonderful surprise.
Here are some close up shots of the back and quilting. I also added a nice closure at the top.

















Thank you Amy for letting us be a part of the first ever Bloggers Quilt Festival. I am looking forward to viewing the beautiful quilts online.

95 comments:

Crispy said...

That is a very cool jacket...love the closure.

Crispy

Julie said...

Gosh, what a lot of work, for a first go you have done a marvelous job.

Anya said...

Nice jacket and congrats on the ribbon! Thanks for sharing...

Kerri said...

what a great jacket!!

Carol said...

The jacket was well worth the effort to make :)Very pretty.

Belva said...

Ohhh...love it..and love the little closure you added...very vintage looking.

Unknown said...

Oh, that is just beautiful. The fabrics were a wonderful choice. I'd love to wear something so unique and lovely. Great job! And congrats on the red ribbon. Well deserved!!

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

Nice work on the jacket and a ribbon also!
Thanks for visiting my blog and the nice comment on my pinwheel star quilt.

Mary L. said...

Oh what a pretty jacket! I love it and congrats on the ribbon.

Zonnah said...

It looks so cozy!

Diane J. Evans said...

Congratulations on your ribbon! Didn't you feel like you were on Cloud Nine when you won??!! Thank you for the lovely comment on my blog -- I appreciate your taking the time to visit.

Diane

Elaine/Muddling Through said...

How cool - a wearable quilt. It's really pretty.

Beth said...

You did an awesome job on your quilted jacket! Thanks for sharing your story too and for your kind comments on my blogs :)
Beth

Jan said...

It is so cool that you both made these jackets. Congrats on winning a ribbon at the State Fair; that's quite an accomplishment.

Jean said...

What fun to have a friend to sew with. Your jacket turned out so pretty. Extra bonus to win a ribbon!

Stephanie D said...

I don't do garments, either! So when our quilt bee had to host the Guild luncheon a couple of years ago and we made sweatshirt jackets, I had to do a vest, because my arms are too short for the sleeves.

I recently donated it to a thrift store. It was that bad.

YOURS is terrific!

~ Phyllis ~ said...

It's beautiful. Love the colors.

Mushyhed said...

great job on your beautiful jacket!

em's scrapbag said...

Fun jacket congrats on the ribbon!

Becky said...

What a great BFF story! Your jacket is stunning. Thanks for sharing your "quilt"

Shawn said...

I love the fabrics, they are so pretty together!

Jeannette said...

Ah yes, garment sewing...it is one thing to get a garment nicely made and another to have it fit oneself just right. Your jacket is lovely and fun. Perhaps you will also meet other nice quilters when you wear it.

Pat said...

I love your quilted jacket. I have always wanted to do one of these with the sweatshirt and not yet attempted it. Maybe I'll try one day soon.

STEPHANIE. said...

wow, the quilting is great!...i love your teapots too!

Carson.J.Designs said...

thanks so much for the comment, sometimes words alone can't express how much you care about someone and for people like "us" making something for them is the best way to show it. My friend had been to the lowest that anyone can get and now that she is finally getting better I wanted her to know how happy i am that she is still here in my life and her own as well (debbie downer moment) but making her the quilt was like I LOOOVE YOU DONT EVER LEAVVVE ME! I love your jacket, that is crazy, I could never do a jacket and quilting together!! so beautiful.
Jenny

Micki said...

I love patchwork jackets and yours is stunning. I joined the list too, and it is such fun to read about all of the quilt stories.
Micki

Abby and Stephanie said...

I had to laugh...your BFF travels with her seam ripper on hand? Beautiful jacket and I love the clasp.

Teodo said...

Fantastic, my daughter saw it and said "I want it too".
ciao ciao

Quilt Rat said...

okay you are officially a garment sewer :-)
Great jacket, congrats on the ribbon

Helen said...

I love your jacket! It's beautiful and the story to go with it is so much fun. Oooh, and a red ribbon to boot!! Wonderful!

Thanks for visiting my blog and checking out my first gtandchild's quilt to boot. I appreciate your comment.

I had always wanted to make one of these jackets, so a couple of years ago I jumped in and "winged" it. I used bits and pieces of past projects and just pieced it onto the sweatshirt. It's my most comfortable jacket ever. I love wearing it, it often brings other quilters to you, asking about it. Mine is nowhere as precise as yours. Yours is gorgeous.

Hugs

Kim said...

Beautiful quilted jacket, love the colors, what a fabulous job. Thanks for sharing, I love seeing everyone else's work!!

scraphappy said...

What a great jacket. I've always pondered wading into garments, but I enjoy quiltmaking so much more. This is a great way to combine the two. Congrats on the ribbon!

Dorothy said...

That is a great jacket. I've always wanted to make one for myself, but never found the time.
You've inspired me.

Unknown said...

Congrats on your ribbon, it’s nice when good work is recognized. Thanks for stopping by my blog, also.

Anonymous said...

Lovely jacket! Congratulations on winning the ribbon for it!

Maria

Lori in South Dakota said...

Love your jacket. It's so much more fun to sew with a friend. My quilts are also displayed around my home. the walls are covered, they are folded on furniture, and the beds are covered. quilts and wall hangings are on all the walls of my long arm room. I change them around as my mood takes me. Quilts are to be enjoyed, in as many ways as possible!

Shelina (formerly known as Shasta) said...

It is a pretty jacket - well deserving of a ribbon. It is nice to try something different now and then and stretch yourself.

Anonymous said...

I love those warm colours in this jacket, - beautiful.

rebecs said...

love the story behind the jacket, sounds like a lot of fun!

Calamity Jane's Cottage, Bonnie said...

Congratulations on your ribbon and I can see why you took it home. Beautiful jacket and something like this has always been on my to do list. Thanks for sharing,
Keep Stitchen'
Bonnie

Marit said...

Congratulation on your pretty jacket, and on winning the ribbon to!
; ) Marit

Robin said...

What a cute jacket! I love the warm colors and the fabulous closure. Congratulations on winning a ribbon-- it looks like you definitely earned it. :)

Tami @ Lemon Tree Tales said...

What a fun jacket! The best part must have been the time spent with your friend searching for sweatshirts and then sewing them together. What a sweet story. :-)

Ariane said...

I love the jacket. Thanks for sharing with us.

stitchinpenny said...

Thanks for sharing your quilt. A reminder that quilts do come in all sizes shapes and even uses.

Rosalyn Manesse said...

Thanks for visiting my blog. I love the jacket. I made a jacket from a sweatshirt, but I only cut it open and sewed bias all around the edge, and added patchwork pockets. you deserve that ribbon!

Anonymous said...

You have wonderful taste in fabric!! Kansas Troubles is my favorite, and I have alot of thimbleberries. Have you seen the Fabulous Fall fabric?? It has those nice rich colors too. The jacket is beautiful, if you get tired of it you know where to send it!:-))

marlene@ByTheSeam said...

No wonder it won a prize in the fair, it turned out beautifully. Isn't it ironic that you don't do garment sewing and it won. I am glad for you.

Sand and Sunshine said...

Isn't it interesting the way things turn out? Your jacket is beautiful and you have all those great memories of your time spend with your BFF and a ribbon to boot. The closure you used is especially complimentary. Congrats on a job well done.

Hooked on Quilting said...

You are so talented! One of these days I hope to try a jacket! It's beautiful!

RG said...

I love your Jacket and congratulations on your 2nd place! Wooohoo!! Way to go :D
I love the clasp / closure you have used and actually I just love the jacket...enough that I think I may 'need' one too... *giggle*
Thanks for sharing!
hugs
Robyn xx

Anonymous said...

Great job on your jacket! Congratulations on your ribbon. Thank you for visiting my blog and for your kind words.

Anonymous said...

Love that you stretched yourself in this way! Congratlations on your ribbon. Off topic - did you see that the movie version of Persuasion was on tonight? Wonderful! :)

Debbie said...

It's no surprise that your jacket won a ribbon. I like the way the fabrics are arranged.

connie said...

I love your jacket. Funny what happens when we do something we have never thought we would do before.

Jennifer said...

Lovely jacket! And congratulations on your ribbon win, it is well deserved.

merete said...

A lovely jacket, - I made a few some years ago and this made me thinking. Maybe it's time for another jacket now?

Happy quilting!

Autumn said...

BFF's are wonderful. Great story.

Susan said...

Congrats on the ribbon. Your jacket is lovely.

Belvie said...

I love your jacket. I live where it gets cold and should try one for myself. Congrats on that ribbon from the fair!

Andrea said...

wow, that was a sweatshirt? Great work and congratulations on the ribbon.

Debbie said...

Love the colors and the quilting. I don't like to sew garments either. You did a great job so I hope your Florida weather allows you some wearing time! Congrats on the prize!! Debbie

Unknown said...

Congrats on your success in garment sewing!! How fun that you won a ribbon with something you had little confidence doing :) I love the colors and your quilting - very nice! Thanks for sharing.

Granny Lyn said...

How wonderful is it that you and your BFF made these together,,,AND the jacket took 2nd place!! Must have been the love that went into it!

Dresden Quilter said...

It's a beautiful jacket. I love the colours. Congratulations on your ribbon!

Kim said...

Inspiring story! I'm not a seamstress and hesitate to approach a project like this but you've given me hope. It's a beautiful jacket!

Anonymous said...

gorgeous! Your jacket matches my quilt entry :) love Nova xxx

Unknown said...

That is a beautiful jacket and I just love the closure! BEAUTIFUL!!!

Sarcastic Quilter said...

Well, congrats on the ribbon. It just goes to show (ha! no pun intended) that trying new things can pay off and good for your BFF for making you follow through. The jacket looks pretty dang good, too!

Michelle said...

Awesome story, what a special friendship. Neat to see a quilted jacket.

Sharon said...

What a beautiful jacket! And I love the closure. It's so much fun to sew with your friends, isn't it? It's one of my fave things to do. You did a great job!

Sherri said...

Your jacket is absolutely gorgeous!!!

sewtakeahike said...

how fun! that's what best friends are for, to push us on even when we don't want it!

Anonymous said...

Hello Jocelyn,

How lovely! You did a marvelous job. Thank you for visiting. I have enjoyed visiting you back!

Sue said...

That is a great jacket! Made even better by the memories of your friend that are attached to it....

Anonymous said...

Sorry I just wrote a comment but it looks like it disappeared!! Love your jacket, I always for get how many uses quilting has other than quilts!! You did really good here!!!

jen duncan said...

What a lovely piece!! Such a great story too. Glad you put yourself "out there"! :-)

Mandy said...

What a wonderful jacket. I do like the closures you have found too.
Thanks also for your comment on my Blog as part of the Bloggers Quilt Festival.

dee said...

I'm so impressed with anyone who can sew garments of any kind let alone this beauty. Really nicely done.

Mama Spark said...

What a neat jacket. I've not been brave enough to try one yet!

Pink Sky said...

I'm impressed with the jacket (not being much of a garment person myself!) It's great that your friend encouraged you to step out of your comfort zone! Congrats on the well-deserved ribbon. :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for stoping by my blog. Love your jacket
Janie

Susan @ Blackberry Creek said...

THe jacket is gorgeous--very deserving of that red ribbon. Congrats.

nanann said...

I didn't do garments until my daughter started insisting on wearing only dresses, and now I'm starting to look at fabric for dresses instead of for quilts! Yikes!

Great job on your jacket!

Tina said...

I love the colors! What a great project to do with a friend. Congratulation on the ribbon

Allie said...

That is really awesome! I don't do garments either, but it makes me want to try, lol!

faith said...

wow! that's amazing. and what a fun story. neat to have that kind of project with a close friend.
don't think we have family in georgia, but there's bound to be a connection! we don't have too common a last name. :)

L. jane E. said...

Beautiful. I love your "quilt"!

Jenny said...

Thank you for commenting on my blog and I LOVE this jacket!!

duckyhouse said...

great job, I love the quilted jacket!! Congrats on the second place :)

thanks for dropping by the blog

Aimee said...

Great job & congrats on that ribbon! What a great story to go with it. I bet every time you wear it you think of your BFF. : )

Quiltbirdie said...

Your jacket is a winner! Thanks for visiting my quilt as well.

Philippa said...

Well done on the jacket and the ribbon. I always tell people I only make flat things when they ask about clothes. Thanks for visiting my quilt. I see you are also keen on the vintage embroideries. Try mixing them into a quilt sometime. Its great fun.

Cathi said...

Fabulous jacket and wonderful story. That looks lovely and cozy -- perfect for fall or winter!

Anonymous said...

It's amazing what happens when you step outside your comfort zone. The jacket turned out beautiful and how wonderful it took second at the fair. Thanks for sharing with us...and thanks for visiting my quilt.