Thank you, someone’s hiding in Barbara’s quilt and another quilt identification tip!

First off thank you to everyone who voted for my quilt Flora and Fauna, Parts of the Garden in Quilting Gallery's Show and Tell. It came in first. There were so many beautiful quilts entered. I very much appreciate your support!

Barbara's quilt has a secret and she doesn't know about it! Can you see what I snuck into her quilt? It’s hiding in the border!
 

 

 Look a little closer- can you see it now?

 

No? Look just a little closer. There it is!
 

It’s a little grasshopper! He is under 1” in size! Here in southern Ontario we have these green grasshoppers and they have a red stripe on their hind legs, just like this guy. They don’t have antennae (I used a little artistic license).

 

I have this very busy print which has some really pretty and interesting motifs. I used it extensively in my Flora and Fauna quilt (and several others). You can see that it is starting to look like Swiss cheese!
 

Any useable scraps (1 ½” is usable in my books) are trimmed to size and stored in bags for future use. For example, I had one flower scrap in the 1 ½” scrap bag. I put it in the centre of a nine patch block. I like adding little kinds of little surprises in quilts.

  

 

In the case of the grasshopper, his body is cut from the calix of the large red flower. I cut it leaving a seam allowance and pinned it in place on the quilt. Needle-turn appliqué was the technique I used to stitch him down. The legs and antennae were embroidered afterwards with two strands of DMC floss.

I had previously blogged about quilting your name or initials into your quilt. It is a good way to identify it in the event that it is stolen. Labels are generally stitched down after the quilt is made and they are easily removed. Hiding you name (or initials) and the date in the quilting isn't noticeable and can assist with the identification of your quilt. Another thing you could do is to include a little "secret" in every quilt you make. Pick a motif that is special to you. If I liked butterflies, a tiny butterfly could be embroidered or appliquéd. If it is less than 1” in size it could be easily hidden in any quilt, even on the backing. It would be a trade-mark and even more fun, a little secret to share! Imagine making a quilt for someone and telling them that you hide a butterfly in every quilt. Think of the fun the recipient would have looking for it! I might just go back and start appliquéing grasshoppers on every quilt! But before I do that I had better work on Barbara’s quilt!

I leave you with a few more hexagons and stars!

 

 

Until I post again, happy sewing!