The following is a repeat of a post I did in 2011... I was complaining about the weather even then LOL...this quilt was a pivotal moment in my quilting life. Up until this quilt, I did traditional quilts with tradtional fabrics. While the house block is traditional my choice of fabrics and colors were not. And this quilt pushed me in other ways as I had to construct this quilt with nothing but the picture in the book to go on. As I mention in the 2011 post I fell in love with the quilt on the cover only to find it was in the "Gallery" section...no pattern included! Not only did I build my own houses I also built a fence, a yellow fence to surround my little village...I'm still very proud of this quilt!
Hope you enjoy this flasback...PS...it is raining here today so a bright quilt it is an antidote to a gray day!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Previously posted May 11, 2011
I watched the weather report last night. The 7 day forecast is for some rain every single day from now to eternity. Ok maybe that eternity part is the voice in my head, but it sure seems that way. So to counteract the gray that will be omnipresent I broke out one of the most colorful quilts I have every made. A quilt that totally changed my quilting palette. Here it is.....
It is affectionately titled Carol's Crazy Kitty Cottages or as my oldest son refers to it - the Crack House Kittys. There are 36 different crazy cottages and each one features a different cat in the window. (I love novelty fabrics!) This one is my favorite.
A cat wearing a polka dot underwear. I know that just makes you shake your head and mutter to yourself that "this is just wrong on soooo many levels" but it makes me happy, which clearly shows the depths of my mental issues - LOL! And here is another one that makes me smile...
I love the expression on this cat and that he seems to be peeking through the foliage.
And I was so proud of myself for figuring out how to make that bright yellow picket fence turn the corner.
This quilt was created from the 1999 book Freddy's House by Freddy Moran. This book blew me away. First it has beautiful pictures of her color saturated house and studio. Red, electric purpley blue, turquoise accents, a sunny yellow studio with a black and white checkerboard floor. I covet that studio! And her quilts are just a riot of color and pattern. This book focused on the house quilts Freddie has made and she has made A LOT of them.
When I purchased the book it was love at first sight with the quilt on page 86 called "The Stars at Night". I couldn't wait to start this quilt and it wasn't until I got the book home that I realized that this quilt is in the "Gallery" section - you know the quilts for which no patterns are included. arggh! Okay, I will figure it out myself- and I did! I made the houses 8" square and every one is a different combination of doors, walls,roofs, chimneys and windows. And that little square in the bottom left hand corner next to the door - I considered that to be the garden spot for each home and they are all different patterns too. I worked on this quilt for a whole summer when my kids were out of school and I even quilted it myself. I'm hanging it in my basement family room where my sewing space is and I can see it from my behind my machine and it makes me very happy!
Happy stitching-
carol fun
What an adorable quilt! I bet it was fun to piece together.
ReplyDeleteOkay, that cat in the bikini is just awesome! Oh yeah!
ReplyDeleteLove the quilt. That cat in a bikini is something that I don't think I will be able to get out of my mind for quite a while. LOL
ReplyDeleteNo wonder that quilt turned you on to quilting. If I remember correctly, I saw a quilt done from that book done in Halloween motifs. I think I actually loved it so much, I bought the book. I think I have the book in some long forgotten pile. Maybe I should dig it out!
ReplyDeleteOh oh oh!!! That same book turned me onto brights and wonky houses--houses being my favorite block to make. I am also an admirer of Mary Lou Weidman as she also uses brights and wonderfully unusual fabrics in houses, people, flowers, birds--everything you can dream up. I started the house blocks some time ago and they are in a pile with chickens, free form flowers, owls---and I don't remember what else. Need to get that back out and finish. And by the way, I emailed you sometime back about the top you were piecing of Kaffe prints with black and whites in Bonnie Hunter's delectable mountain pattern. It's all together and I picked borders which I will probably get on at the next retreat. Did it much like yours, mixing up the prints in the "mountains" instead of using all one print for each. Love it! Wonder if you have gotten borders on yours.
ReplyDeleteSuch fun little houses! I love the fussy cut critters in the windows. Thanks for linking up!
ReplyDelete