Green, green

March is the month of St. Patrick's Day on the 17th and the Spring/Autumnal Equinox on the 21st. In the Northern Hemisphere, it's the month where the trees and plants of the earth start to grow new leaves. In honor of March, here are quilts from around the world in beautiful shades of green.

Tree Full of Life, 34 x 34", by Susan Cronenwett, Oregon, USA

Third place winner in the Wall Quilts category at the 2014 Pacific International Quilt Festival, Susan writes, "From the earth and back again, the tree represents all of life and its continuous journey." The leaves and trunk of this tree are designed as a beautiful , eternally looping Celtic knot, without beginning or end. 

Close up, Tree Full of Life by Susan Cronenwett

You can see that a Celtic knot is even quilted into the background of Susan's  intriguing and eye-catching work. 

Growth, 52 x 49", by Marijke van Welzen ,Germany

Marijke notes that the inspiration for her quilt is small city gardens, which make the city a better place to live. Done in a traditional barn-raising pattern with green and blue shadows, this quilt looks like an assortment of vegetable plants taking root in the early spring soil.

Growth by Marijke van Welzen, Germany

To create her original design, Marijke used machine piecing, textile paint, machine applique, and free motion machine quilting. Look at the interesting three-dimensional green leaves which hang off the right hand border. It almost appears as if a magical vine is growing on the side of the quilt.

Ephemeral Nature by Sandra Lange, Brazil

Sandra explains, "The passion for the tree at the entrance of a friend's house was immediate. I used to walk under it, stopping to admire its trunk and canopy, which against the sky, seemed to me was made of a green lace. It was a giant Guapuruvu tree. Someone that has had the opportunity to be under one of those can imagine my indignation when I stopped by to admire it and faced a severed wonder, drastically trimmed without a fair reason. I was there, paralyzed, astonished, trying to understand what had happened...And, that image never left my mind ever since. " 

Close up, Ephemeral Nature by Sandra Lange,  Brazil

Ephemeral Nature was exhibited in the special SAQA Brazil Trunk Show at the World Quilt Show in Florida. This was the first time that this show has traveled outside Brazil for presentation. Sandra has created this feathery, wispy tree using transparent fabrics and thread painting, so that light and shadows can be seen shining through the back of the quilt.

Spring is Here, 62 x 50", by Gisha Wogier, Israel

Gisha notes, "The inspiration for this work is flowering in the spring. Blossoming flowers in many colors. Poppies in red, cyclamen in pink, groundset in yellow, iris in blue and purple, anemones in blue, purple and pink."

Close-up  Spring is Here by Gisha Wogier ,Israel

Gisha's work has a bright, scrappy, very cheerful look to it, almost like a field bursting with wildflowers. Her work is machine pieced and machine quilted. Gisha adds, "[This is] a feast for the eyes and heart."

A Forest's Crowning Glory, 45 x 61",  by Tanya McRae, Australia

Tanya constructed this spectacular quilt to symbolize a beautiful  landscape scene from her homeland. She notes, " A recent trip throughout our own "high country" of Victoria (Australia) inspired this interpretation of Eileen Wright's bargello quilt 'Island Surprise.' The beautiful green palette was singing against the crown of snow-clad heights. I felt I needed to express this in fabric to create a lasting memory."
The Island Sunrise pattern is in More Twist and Turn Bargello Quilts by Eileen Wright.

Close- up,  A Forest's Crowning Glory by Tanya McRae

Tanya continues, "The glorious winter green of ferns, mosses, lichens, brackens, and gum trees in hidden places are fed by creeks and waterfalls, crowned by... snowy [mountain] peaks."

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration at the 2014 PIQF show (Tree Full of Life) and the 2015 World Quilt Show. 

Best of the Bargellos

What makes Bargello quilts so interesting is the movement and dimension that can be achieved with this technique. Over the last week, we've showcased some of our favorite quilt artists who excel in this genre. Some of these quilts are even made for king size beds, and there is nothing so dramatic as a bargello - made with thousands of small squares - on such a large scale.  Here's a wrapup of the best of the bargellos!

Above, Row 1: Bargello Blues, Color Connections and Bargello Swirl by Ruth Blanchet at Arbee Designs. Row 2: Blue Borealis, Bargello Flamme 2 and The Long Serpent by Eldrid Røyset Førde at Kameleon Quilt. Row 3: Surf Song, Infinity Bargello and Supernova by Eileen Wright, in:  Twist and Turn Bargello Quilts, published by Martingale & Co. Row 4: Night Lites, Lazy Lagoon and Disco by Dereck C. Lockwood at Lockwood Quilts.

Twist-and-turn Bargellos

This week, we are learning more about Bargello quilts and the artists who design and sew them.  Eileen Wright was born and raised in Canada and has been sewing and knitting since she was very young. Vancouver Island has been Eileen's spiritual home since her very first visit, and she has lived there for almost 20 years. She fills her days with designing and creating quilts.

Surf Song, 98 x 96", by Eileen Wright as seen at Martingale & Co

Surf Song, above, is one of the most popular of the 11 designs in Eileen Wright's Twist and Turn Bargello Quilts.  The stepwise progression of blues from dark to light - in about 12 steps - gives the waves their dimensional appearance. Kathy at Tamarack Shack Longarm Quilting (Manitoba) has some wonderful photos of her guild's Surf Song raffle quilt; you can see the finished quilt here and some handy design tips here.

Cosmic Twist, 60 x 80", by Eileen Wright as seen at Martingale & Co

In "Cosmic Twist", Eileen combined floral prints, swirls, dots and batiks in an analogous green-yellow to blue color scheme with a tropical flair.  These print fabrics create an interesting surface texture. The detail, including the beautiful quilting by Nadia Wilson, is shown in the close-up below.
Close-up, Cosmic Twist by Eileen Wright, quilting and photo by Nadia Wilson at Nadia Wilson Designs
 

Nadia Wilson, a representative/dealer of American Professional Quilting Systems (APQS) did the lovely quilting which you can see above.  She quilted from corner to corner along the lines of the Bargello design.  In this photo you can also see the piecing scheme, and the way in which the rectangles become narrower at the points of the "flames".

Infinity Bargello, 50 x 57", by Eileen Wright

We've seen this stunning "Infinity Bargello" in blue and red, but this version - done in pinks and fuchsias - really glows. All of the designs shown here (and more) can be found in Eileen's bestselling Twist-and-Turn Bargello Quilts (Martingale & Company). One reviewer has said: "I love the fact that she teaches you how to make the simple, traditional bargello and then brings you into the world of twisted bargellos, which are quite complicated and a little challenging."