Tuesday, December 15, 2020

勇気 Courage, Dear Heart 💝

Here is my 13th and final quilt on my "2020 Resolution" list!!! I've been wanting to make this lion since I first saw it displayed at the Minneapolis Spring Quilt Market in 2015. 
Quilt Info:
Pattern: The Lion, Jungle Abstractions by Violet Craft
Size: 45" X 45"
Fabrics: Japanese prints from Yuzawaya, Tokyo, Japan 
Batting: Quilters Dream Poly
Thread: Glide 60--Mocha
Quilting: Fern Gully from Intelligent Quilting
Interesting Info: We have been watching the Narnia series of movies and listening to the books recently. This quilt reminds me of Aslan, the Great Lion, who represents Jesus Christ in that series. One of his famous lines to Susan and Lucy is "Courage, dear hearts", which comes to mind every time I look at this quilt.
I was going for a "long animal fur blowing in the wild wind" look with the quilting. This is a fairly dense version of "Fern Gully" quilting:
This pattern is made by foundation paper piecing 126 different sections! The pattern has to be photocopied, as it's printed on both sides of the paper. 
It is typically made with solids, but I decided to use my Japanese prints. The pattern calls for six fabrics in a gradating color for the main section, three in another gradating color, plus black and white.
I pieced together some Japanese metallic fabrics for the back:
Quilting:
I received this badge of the quilt at Quilt Market back in 2015, when I first saw it and have held onto it ever since. I have it pinned to my quilt in the lower right corner, with my label:
The pattern finishes at 60" square. But I downsized it by 75% to get a 45" finish so it will fit in this space at the landing of our stairs:
Grace and peace!!! ~Nancy

26 comments:

  1. Wow!! Completely gorgeous! Is this foundation paper piecing or English paper piecing? I love the fabrics, and the quilting looks delicious!

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  2. This is beautiful. The quilting is exactly right for the quilt. So glad you were able to finally make him.

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  3. WOW! Breathtaking! I have seen this pattern and thought about making it. Yours is stunning. Your quilting design is perfect. Congratulations and thanks for sharing this beautiful lion.

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  4. I've always thought the same thing when I've seen the quilts and the pattern. Your quilt, made with the Japanese fabrics, and the quilting, and where you've hung your quilt is just so full of meaning. So good, Nancy! A great reminder each time you see this quilt!

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  5. That is so awesome! What an accomplishment, nice work Nancy

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  6. I love the movement of the quilting. It's the perfect choice! Amazing and beautiful quilt, a masterpiece!
    Quilter Bonnie

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  7. I love this! YOur choice of fabrics give it such remarkable depth. What a treasure full of rich meaning. Thank you for sharing this.

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  8. I dare say that if you had made this quilt when you first saw it five years ago, it would have turned out much differently. Now you have accumulated just the right fabrics, thought about where you wanted it to hang and did the downsizing. Just perfect! I like the quilting pattern you used for it, too.

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  9. He is fabulous! What a treasure!

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  10. This is incredible Nancy!!! The quilting absolutely does look like the lion's lovely locks blowing in the wind! I love everything about it - beautiful work!!! I have tried a little foundation paper piecing and find it fascinating!!! Thanks for the inspiration.

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  11. This is a masterpiece. I have seen this pattern and almost borrowed it from a friend to make for my son-in-law from Singapore. The Lion has special meaning to his family. But the colors used in the original bothered me. These are wonderful, so it may be time to think about it again.

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  12. What an excellent job of gradating print fabrics, Nancy. Love everything about this quilt.

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  13. Gorgeous quilt. And the first thing I thought of was Aslan when I saw it. Such a special quilt to have finished by Christmas. Thanks for sharing on Wednesday Wait Loss.

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  14. This is amazing! The quilt is just magnificent!
    www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com

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  15. Beautiful! The prints give the lion some interesting depth in a very good way! I've done one violet craft pattern before and loved it.

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  16. I love this! Thanks for linking up to TGIFF as I lost this earlier in the week between our travels. I love Aslan, the fabrics and the most exquisite quilting. You did a marvelous job on it - a quilt to be treasured like the stories.

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  17. Great job and and I love the quilting, it does kinda look like fur. Thank you for linking up to Put your foot down.

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  18. OH what a masterpiece - makes me feel better that it was a 2015 project! LOL. Have a great weekend!

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  19. A regal finish!!! Way to finish the year - with a roar :-D

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  20. Fabulous! Your quilting really brings this to life.

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  21. It’s stunning, Nancy! I too thought of Narnia!

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  22. Wow, I love it on your staircase! This is such a beautiful pattern and finish! I am slowly (very, very slowly) working on the EPP version and have always planed to call mine Aslan! I've always loved the Narnia books!

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  23. Absolutely gorgeous. And it looks great on your staircase.

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  24. He is Spectacular!!!! I love it - and the whole story - and by the way - congrats on sticking to a resolution list!! that is impressive itself

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  25. You saved the best for last! Well done on making all your resolutions! This lion quilt is a stunner and looks amazing in your allocated position. I'd like to do something like this one day - I've always loved big cat pictures, jigsaws etc, this would be perfect.

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  26. You did an awesome job on your lion. And, loved seeing my current favorite quilting design, Fern Gully on this quilt. It is perfect. But my attention was drawn to your stairwell quilt gallery. How do you have your quilts hung on the walls? Are they permanent or can you rotate what you have? I miss having my mini quilts hung but haven't quite figured out how to hang them. I used to have a metal rope set up with special clips that we got from Ikea. But no longer have a straight hallway. But I do have a stairwell and would love to feature my minis. So please, tell all! Merry Christmas to you and yours.

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