Vintage Bow

Barb brought this very unique quilt for some custom quilting.  The top was made by Barb's friend Anne who has passed away, leaving many beautiful tops that weren't finished.  Barb said she was going to keep this for herself as special memory of her dear friend.

The flowers in the center and the bow were all immaculately hand appliqued.  When Barb  first showed me the top I have to admit I was a bit overwhelmed by all of the open white fabric.  I had to sit with this for awhile before the right quilting plan came to me. 

The center flowers were the easiest part to figure out.  I stitched around the applique and added a stipple to the background.

For the border behind the bow, Barb I decided that the beadboard detail would work nicely behind the bow and in the open sections.  I feathery design would have be hard to keep flowing nicely around the parts of the bow.

The large triangles and the border had me stumped for a long time.  I originally started doodling different types of feathers, but the amount of feathers required to fill an 8" border seemed to overwhelm the flowers.  the white on white prints in the background all contained flowers so that led me to flipping through my books and saved photos for some inspiration.

The flowers, leaves and curls were able to fill the large areas but still leave a light and pretty feeling to the overall quilt.  It is always an honor to be trusted with someone's quilt top and this was no exception.