Swap Quilt Reveal

Julie has received (and posted) the little quilt I made for her. I'll share it here for those of you who aren't regular visitors of Julie's (you're missing out on a good thing, let me tell you!).

We had been discussing, via email, one of her favorite books. She offered to buy and send a copy to me in exchange for a little art quilt. It didn't take me two seconds to make up my mind. ;- ) This was back in the fall. I pieced up a couple of three inch heart blocks right away, in colors I thought would please her. Then I got stuck. And then the holidays came and I was busy making a Halloween quilt... and I was starting to feel guilty that I hadn't lived up to my end of the bargain. Julie was very understanding of course.

After New Year's and some journaling an idea came to me to turn the heart blocks into flower blossoms. I had a blast creating a name for this new species of flower. Introducing Cardiaflorum sympaticae:

They are a rare species, found in secluded, sheltered corners of the world. They have their roots in the soil of blessings and secrets and gifts of the spirit.

I used seed beads to create flower "petals" and then did some outline stitching with embroidery thread to create veins in the leaves. The stems are braid secured with more seed beads.

The root system for the flowers was made with vintage rectangular sequins. I had to add a fairy to tend the flowers of course.

This was really fun to create, once I got started. It was one of those pieces that was hard to put down at the end of the day. Love that!