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.