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Friday, April 23, 2010

Barking Cloth Quilt: Embellishments Give Away

Last year I met a lovely woman from Oregon who fell in love with my Barking Cloth Quilts.  Her beloved pet was aging, and she wanted to find just the right way to honor her fun spirit and gentle demeanor.  

It is always a challenge to create a pet portrait that captures both the animal's personality and the owner's memories.  Photos never can fully show the wag of a tail or playful twinkle of an eye.  Pet owners often also want to include outdoor elements like bugs or lizards, flowers or toys that their animals swatted while lying in the sun.  I often include elements from my embellishment stash to help tell the story of the friendship and trust between pet and owner.

Amazing Grace, my client's adorable English Springer Spaniel, is memorialized here in cloth.  In this detail photo, you can see some of the embellishments that make this portrait special.  Vintage velvet milliner's flowers are arranged in a nosegay below the pup's head and are wired to stand away from the quilt.  The dog's name has been stamped onto a brass star (thanks to a local jewelry artist).  Her collar is studded with the gorgeous cows that embellished her collar for years.  Rhinestone crystal brads and brass stars stud the top and bottom of the piece for added sparkle.  Lastly, beads and sequins were sewn, one at a time, because she was a show-stopping dog who would have loved the sparkle.

If you like embellishing, leave a comment below along with a way to get in touch with you, and four lucky winners will receive a packet of beads, brads and sequins for their next project.  Winners will be chosen at random on Wednesday, April 28th and posted on the blog along with the full picture of Amazing Grace.

25 comments:

Peggi Yac said...

You put a lot of spirit into your doggy quilts. I'm sure the owners love them. And I love anything blue or green on QuiltArt

Anonymous said...

Barking Cloth Quilt, I love the name. Fun idea. :) Embellishing is such a good way to enhance fiberart work!
AnnieP from QuiltArt list

Sorry but I do not see a way to leave an email addy posting here??

Thank You!

Unknown said...

Love the Barking Cloth quilt--especially since I love barkcloth and collect pieces it when I can find it.
Would love blues or yellows!
Thanks for the giveaway--a fun thing to do.
--Toni from the QA list

Michele/TextileTraveler said...

Thanks for your generosity! I love all colors but am particularly into blues these days.

Kathi said...

Wow, love your quilts!
How cool would it be to get a bag of RED embellishments from your stash to mine!!

Norma Schlager said...

I look forward to seeing your finished quilt. Please put me in the drawing for green.

Anonymous said...

I did a cat quilt and loved to embellish his collar..
Love any and all embellishments.. any color..

Cindy Cooksey said...

Fun use of embellishments! Your barking cloth quilt is a delight.

Unknown said...

The closest Bernina dealer also has a Swiss collar for her dog with the wonderful silver cows. You did a great job, with all the colors of the rainbow. ;)

Keep up the good work...I'm in the same boat as you with a daughter who is getting ready for prom and she wants her artsy mom to paint her fake nails for her, get her amusement park ticket, while the garden is screaming at me to be planted, weeded, divided and the rain is coming in.

Dolores Quilts said...

I love your contemporary quilts. Amazing Graze looks pretty interesting, can't wait to see the whole thing.
Would love anything red or green.

wlstarn said...

I'd love to see the full quilt. I guess of those 4 colors that red would be my fave (my true favorite color is rainbow!) Wendy from QA list

Karen thisoldhouse2.com said...

I don't need the embellishments because you know I won't use them, however I'de LOVE to see the whole portrait!

Mary Ann Van Soest said...

I love the color red or purple this year. A change for me.
I too have an afinity for poisen ivy.

Your doggy quilts are super
Please add me to your drawing.
mavs@netnitco.net

Anonymous said...

Lovely work. Fun for you to create and wonderful for the owners. Any color would suit me fine, but green is my very favorite
Marilyn
MRoseFrenz@aol.com on the QA list.

Sue Walen said...

Looking forward to notice of the full dog quilt.

If you pick me, my favorite color is red.

Sue

Priscilla Kibbee said...

Love the BArking Dog Quilt. I would like blues or yellows.

Priscilla from the SAQA List
pkibbee@aol.com

lindaschiffer said...

What a nice give away! I'd love to have any color you have on hand (but I'm partial to the 'hot' colors:)

:) Linda

Anonymous said...

Enjoyed the doggy quilt. I've been thinking of making a quilt honoring my recently departed cat who we are missing so much.
indyqltr@hotmail.com

Carol Ann Waugh said...

I love your idea of sharing. Actually, I'm writing on behalf of a friend who is "crazy" about sequins and embellishing so if I am the lucky recipient of your bounty, your gift will be given to my friend, not me! What goes around comes around!

Carole said...

What a lovely way to remember pets... i would be happy with red should my name be drawn. This is very generous of you.

Elizabeth in NM said...

Great use of embellishments. I, too, love to embellish--its a way to combine several of my art interests into one!
--Elizabeth
quilts22@msn.com

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful idea. Yes, please enter me in your embellishments drawing.
Thank you.
Rosalie W
rwrw@comcast.net

QuiltinKat said...

Can't wait to see the entire quilt, I will be making a "Kitty Cloth Quilt" for my aging Siamese, Maurice (Mo), very soon and would love a embellishment pack, maybe a blue one to match his eyes.

Another Oregonian!

dalebarb@teleport.com

janice said...

I am anxious to see the complete work. Love the colors in your work. I prefer blue, but like all colors.

Vivika said...

Winners are:

Peggy Yac: Blue! Please email me your address
Irish Kathi: Red
Delores: Green
Priscilla: Yellow

Thanks to all for participating, and don't forget to send me your address if you are a winner!

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