Tuesday, May 1, 2018

PILLOW TALK





What an exciting month!  I have been looking forward to this Island Batik Ambassador theme for the month of May for quite a while now........and this is why!!!!!!!!!!!!



                                           

When I saw this on Gene Black's blog, my heart started pounding and my vision blurred....I  just fell in love with his stain glass (ok, that is a little bit dramatic but you can understand when you see something that totally inspires you).  Gene is one amazing person and I have even met him.  The minute I met him in person I thought, yep, he could pass for family.  He is such a warm, fun, creative person as you can see by his stain glass.  He is a wonderful painter, weaver, and quilter.  If you have time, go over to his blog and scout around.

So...............I immediately emailed Gene and told him that this would be a wonderful block.  We talked back and forth and so I asked him if I could make a block from his stain glass and that I would give him all the credit.  I actually think this would be a beautiful quilt.



The minute Gene gave me the go ahead to make his stain glass into a pattern I did.

I know it will make a beautiful quilt and those Island Batiks are just fabulous.



Well...I didn't stop there.

A few years ago for Christmas I had some scraps from my sister's husbands shirts (I had been making doggies for her grandchildren and various other projects out of his shirts).  As I was saying, I took the scraps and made this pillow below and most of the buttons from the shirts I put on the pillow.

This picture does not do the pillow justice but that is okay, you get the picture.


So I said to myself, self....one day you are going to make yourself one of these pillows.

From looking at her pillow, I think I didn't get the right tree (if you saw all of  my personal designs you would understand why I might not have gotten the right tree)...but who cares right!!

Here is my pillow.



 This pillow is from Alpine Jingle line and I used Aurifil #2155 on the blanket stitching,  The stain glass pillow is made from awesome Island Batik Scraps.

Below are the Island Batik Ambassadors.  They will be posting through out the month their pillow projects.






14 comments:

Needled Mom said...

Leaded glass patterns and quilting just go together. That turned out great.

I also love your Family pillow. Both are great uses for your batiks.

Gene Black said...

Barb, the pillow is amazing! I am so happy that I got to be your inspiration - since you so often inspire me. One special thing that I love about your version is the way you changed to colors in such a subtle way and yet made it feel completely different. In my version the center was left clear (and looks white) as it was needed for the plot of the play. Here is the link to the post

Gene Black said...

...and this: Oh yes! I am happy to be a part of your family - even if we have no blood ties.

Suzanne said...

I love the Family tree pillow. You are so smart to use the buttons too.

Angie said...

Thank you for alerting me of Gene Black's blog. I signed up for the emails! Your tree is awesome! I like how its different than the other one. Both pillows are really great! Have a great day!!

works4me said...

I can certainly see why you were inspired by Gene's stained glass and you did it justice with your pillow. Love your family tree, too. This is going to be a fun month of perusing the Island Batik ambassador blogs.

QuitShopGal said...

Gene is super talented and a very nice guy too! Beautiful stained glass design and it really does look great as a pillow. Great job. I love the other pillows too!

Snoodles said...

Gene truly IS amazingly creative, and so are you! Love these pillows! Beautiful!

Quilting Tangent said...

Pretty pillows.

Barbara said...

Beautiful work, both you and Gene, as always!

Kathleen said...

I love your pillows! Mine is done too, but not quite ready to post....in a few days. Love the replication of the stained glass - and glad you were able to get permission to copy it.

KaHolly said...

When inspiration strikes.......! Well done! I’ll bet he was tickled with your request!

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

What a wonderful design. Gene is impressive and so are your pillows!

Robin (RsIslandCrafts) said...

The pillows are lovely. Pillows are so much fun to make. I love anything with a tree on it.