Blogger's Quilt Festival - Modern Quilt

It's that time of year again - the Blogger's Quilt Festival!  I've enjoyed participating in this several times as the event has grown every year, and look forward to seeing all the wonderful entries.  This year we can enter two quilts in different categories.  It's so hard to choose, but this quilt is one of my favorite quilts that I have created this year, and I think I was successful in designing a modern quilt using Batik fabrics (from Island Batik!)

This quilt was made using a package of 10 inch squares (Florida Oranges) and was a quilt that I think really made me grow as a quilter!  The simple piecing set the stage for me to do some more elaborate quilting on it, which was a lot of fun.

As I worked my way through the marking of straight lines and quilting some freehand wedges I was really inspired to try some different techniques and stretch my skills as a free-motion quilter.  The open spaces invited me to quilt spirals and swirls.  I was challenged to try to add more dimension by adding dense quilting in some areas and open channels in others.

I was delighted to receive a blue ribbon in my county fair for this quilt, along with a positive comment on my quilting!

 It was fun to see it hanging there, it really makes a statement!  I call this quilt Solar Flare - it measures 72 x 72.  I used Aurifil thread in a light gray to quilt it (50 wt) and Warm and Natural Batting.  

I hope you like my quilt as much as I do!  Make sure you check out the rest of the Modern Quilt Entries as well.