QJ - Floral Applique - Part I

QUILT JOURNAL – FLORAL APPLIQUE – Part I


This quilt has been a UFO for 14 years –

It has a very long and wonderful story.

Maybe if I tell you the story - you will understand why this quilt is still not finished.

=====

It all started in January 1996 -
when we went to the Ojai Valley Quilt Show -

I saw the most GORGEOUS quilt I had ever seen!!

I literally stopped in my tracks!!  Her color shading and workmanship were incredible!!
 
It was Nature’s Splendor - Ellen Heck of Somis, CA - 75 X 75

It had just won Best of Show, large quilts, at the
Quilts: A World of Beauty exhibit at the fall
1995 International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX

A close-up of the Grapes block in the top left corner -

Then in April 1996 -
It was featured in Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine - April 1996/NO. 281 - PHOTO FINISH

February 1997 - June 1997
A local quilt shop offered a “Block a Month” series of 5 classes –
Taught by ELLEN HECK –
I signed up immediately!!

I still have the blurb from the newsletter –

Botanical Album Series ***

An extraordinary “Block a Month” series with award winner & Master Quilter ELLEN HECK teaching hand appliqué to achieve realistic floral pieces of her NEW & original designs! In class you will explore the use of fabric to create a realistic look, to make it more exciting with colors that give the “Ellen Heck Inner Glow”. Techniques include the use of freezer paper, narrow stems, delicate leaves, dimensional petals & buds, stamens, and exquisite details.

She provided her original designs/patterns and taught hand appliqué techniques for several blocks – 

Not a “quilt” per se – so we were free to design the quilt any way we wanted –

Fall 1997 – Nature's Splendor was featured in
American Quilter - Fall 1997, Vol. XIII, No. 3
It had won Wall Quilt Hand Workmanship Award at the
AQS 13th Annual Quilt Show & Contest

July/August 2002 - Quilter's Newsletter Magazine showed a photo of another quilt -
Nature’s Symphony - Ellen Heck - 65 x 73
It had won Best of Show at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival

We didn’t know it at the time –
But the blocks in Nature's Symphony were the ones she had taught us in class -

So – all of the patterns are hers –
Patterns – Ellen Heck © 1997 –

The stitching is mine – left-handed -

We started with the Butterfly block -