This is that fabulous time of year, I get so excited, I can hardly stand it. Tied to the computer, inspired, uplifted, ideas swirling faster than my brain can handle. It’s Bloggers’ Quilt Festival Week! Where bloggers share a quilt that they’d like to share! It’s such fun to look at all the fabulous quilts being made all around the world. Very much a camaraderie of creative people!
My quilt starts about this time last year. My husband and I took a trip to Italy and while in Venice we toured St. Mark’s Basilica. I was so looking forward to this Cathedral, in particular, because I had heard such wonderful things about all the mosaic work. I have always been drawn to mosaics, those tiny little pieces, of whatever material the artist chooses, all put together to create something larger. Hmm… Kind of like quilting…. Wouldn’t you say?
May 11, 2010, in front of St. Mark’s Cathedral, Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy.
We visited here, twice this trip. The first time we only had a pocket camera and didn’t bother with many pictures because the basilica is so large. The second visit, we had the better camera but also enjoyed clouds and threatening rain… What’s a girl to do? You can’t carry everything, all the time, and still expect to have fun….
It’s huge! This is just a portion.
And because cameras are not allowed inside, I don’t believe there are any pictures of the interior. The mosaics just bumped one up against another, everywhere. One old quilt pattern smushed right up against another. So many patterns we’ve seen before. You have to go and see it, for yourself, to believe it. This is where many of our old, original, quilt patterns came from, I am sure of it!
So that is how I came to be inspired to make this quilt.
“Mosaic Tiles”
inspired by the floors of St. Marks Basilica, Venice, Italy
king size
machine pieced
hand quilted by Sewfrench
This started as a scrapbuster lap quilt and kept growing with the more love I felt. And I felt a lot of emotion making this one….. I used Stonehenge by Northcott for quite a bit of the fabric, raiding my stash for anything that could be imagined to look like a type of stone. The dark triangles in each is a dark purple, because it is what I had. And because this was originally going to be a lap quilt, the stash of purple came up a tad bit short and a few had to be pieced. I’m not sure why I even considered worrying about that….. The perfectionist in me, I suppose… Each block is 9″ square and it finished as an oversized queen. Cotton batting and hand quilted.
And the back, a quilt in it’s own right, with a strip of blocks set off center. They are actually down the center. It was too long to hold in the other direction. This quilt is now owned by my mosaic creating, rock loving, quilt snuggling, older sister. She was the luck of the draw this Christmas! And if she ever decides she’s finished with it, there are strings attached. Or threads, shall I say. You read it here.
Now, we sisters just need to go see the inspiration, in person, together.
Don’t you think???
Sewfrench 
I love your colors. Your sister is very lucky!
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Very nice choice of batik fabrics!
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Very pretty, and an interesting story too. I love to travel but haven’t made it to Italy yet.
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Fantabulous, as always, you talented lady you!
Shame we didn’t ‘meet’ until after, you could have come here to see me and visit Knossos!
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Love your quilt! The colours are fantastic (and your hubby´s really tall).
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Thank you, Sabine and yes, he is tall. He is 6’5″!
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I found you through Amy’s Blogger Festival…I love that you were inspired by mosaics. I’ve been thinking about marble floors and tile floors and taking pictures every time I travel. Your quilt could represent those as well. Thank you for sharing.
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Fantastic story and your sister is a lucky girl. Are you familiar with Christine Porter’s work on Italian mosaic floors, I think you would appreciate her book “Viva Venezia”
http://www.christineporterquilts.com
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Thank you! And thank you for the book suggestion, I will definitely look for it!
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What is the name of this pattern? I know I have seen it before! I love your inspiration for it and the colors are so nice!! TY!
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Thank you, Sara!
I do not know if there is a pattern name, I’m sure there is, I just don’t know what it is. Let me know if you figure it out, please!
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It is lovely! And the back is definitely a work of art in its own right. I wonder if people often take sketchbooks in and sketch the mosaics??
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There were several people sketching while we were there, looked like college students. It was SO busy, when we were there it was easy to get caught up in a moving line and go too quickly!
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This is gorgeous. Your sister is very lucky.
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WOW – what a wonderful quilt! I always wanted to try this pattern, now I’m even more tempted. Venice is such a beautiful city … I’m sure I’ll go there again …
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That quilt is awesome! I love both sides of it.
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wonderful quilt and great story. lucky sister! made it to parts of italy back in 70’s then our car broke down in verona. did get to visit venice–what a plate of beauty in so many forms. mosaics are one of my all time favorite memory of our times in europe–from ancient roman ones in koln to my very favorite on a church i found while lost in frankfurt. it was at least two stories high and just fantastic–in coptic style as i recall. oh, what happy memories your quilt brings back!! thanks for sharing and have a great day
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Aww, thank you, Eileen for taking the time to share your experiences! We do hope to get back, to Venice, some day. But there are just so many different areas of Europe to explore!!
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The quilt is beautiful, I love the inspiration and after seeing so many mosaics that I think would be great quilts I understand where you are coming from.
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Thank you! I think it takes a quilter to get/appreciate where I am usually coming from, LOL!
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Love where your inspiration took you. This is the type of quilt that I say has heart in it. It looks just great.
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Thank you!
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Oh my gosh how COULD you give this away! This is absolutely stunning. Love it!
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Your quilt is wonderful! I love the softness, texture, and play of light across the quilt.
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This is a really beautiful quilt. I love the way the colors and fabrics work together to create feel of transparency and blending. Your sister is very lucky.
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What a wonderful quilt! And a gorgeous place to visit and a special inspiration. I have just started to ‘see’ quilt patterns in the world around me. Hugs!
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AMAZING! I LOVE the depth and detail in this quilt!
You are such a good person to give it away!
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Thank you, Kelli!
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Beautiful! That quilt is huge! There is obviously a lot of love in your heart.
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It’s very beautiful.
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You made me even MORE excited for our family vacation to Italy this summer! I’ll be sure to pack a sketch pad for the times we can’t take photos. The lights and darks in your quilt are terrific.
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Oh, Tina, I am jealous of you and your family heading to Italy!! So much to see!! And eat!!!
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What wonderful inspiration for your quilt. I love the story behind the design. Great colours, too. Your quilt looks wonderful!
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This quilt is like an optical illusion. It’s great that it became a queen size quilt!
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beautiful and such agood fabric choice. I am a beginner this makes me jealous……
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We were all beginners once upon a time. With many challenges, I often, still, feel like a beginner!
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Really beautiful! I really love the colors.
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Lovely! The Stonehenge line is really nice.
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Isn’t it? I wish more fabrics had the feel and drape of this line!
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Your quilt is beautiful. And I love that you have used dark purple in the small triangles rather than the more obvious black.
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In our neck of the woods dark purple rocks are around. Not so much black ones, but I totally see what you mean.
Thank you!
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Your quilt is beautiful, and the back is an added bonus. Lucky sister.
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Such a beautiful quilt! I love the colors! It is perfect for your inspiration.
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I think, I think we need to see the inspiration together for sure!
I love your quilt and think you did an exceptional job. Thank you for sharing.
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Really enjoyed the colours and looking at it up close!
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The colours are so perfect together, and the design is perfect for the colours, and it doesnt look very quilted ( so often I feel the design gets lost in the quilting) …what a lucky sister!
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Sono contenta che hai trovato ispirazione a Venezia,
la trapunta è veramente bella.
Ciao dall’Italia
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Wow what an awesome quilt! I love the colors, the pattern, and that you hand quilted. Simply great work!
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I’ve seen those Stonehedge fabrics advertised on Thousands of Bolts and now seeing your lovely quilt, I can say I love them. The quilt is just spectacular! Thanks for sharing the story too. Loved it!
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What a beautiful quilt…love the colors..just awesome!
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I love the colours!
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It’s gorgeous! Love the use of purple; there are many rocks that come in purple (as wella s most any other color you can name). It’s a great offset to the earthy tones in that fabric line. Someday I’d love to go see your inspriation for myself!
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Excellent work. I like the subtle texture of the fabrics you’ve used. It looks much like I imagine the interior of the Basilica.
I admire your perseverance in hand-quilting this beauty. That is just a bit for me to undertake….
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What glorious fabrics you chose to create your fantastic quilt. Your lucky sister- the colors are just so rich in it. I also enjoyed seeing the photos of Piazza San Marco- We visited the square many years ago and it is always nice to see the square again.
Enjoy the festival.
Regards,
Anna
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Thank you, Anna! And thank you for reminding me that it is actually called Piazza San Marco, as all the signs, on the building’s corners, illustrate!
I feel like I am getting old when I am forgetting such influential things in only a year’s time….
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That is such a pretty quilt! Love it!
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Gorgeous quilt! I love how the shading makes it look three dimensional pyramids!
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Great inspiration! Beautiful quilt!
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What an awesome quilt, I almost expect it to be cool to the touch like marble. Kudos on a great job.
Come see my entries #211, repro cheddar orange stars and #215 antique 1850 applique flower garden
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Your trip to St Marks Basilica brought back memories. We went there about 10 years ago. I loved your story and the inspiration behind the quilt. I can’t believe you hand quilted the whole thing. Another thing to do on my long list. Thanks for sharing.
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You have such a wonderful use of value in this quilt and it really makes it so dimensional!! Great job. 🙂 Thanks for sharing it with us.
Cheers!
Rachel
http://www.dewberrylane.com
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Simply beautiful!
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Hi!
I followed your link here from Amy’s quilt link up party.
I too have always admired and appreciated mosaics. And yes, I too always thought they were a hard surface type of quilting.
Your quilt turned out a master piece in its own right! I can see the mosaic influence! As well as the stone like qualities. Good job!
I am linking up the quilt that I made for our grand daughter last spring. If your interested in seeing it, you can find it here –> http://thebzhousethatlovebuilt.blogspot.com/2011/05/my-thrifty-quilt.html
Another thing I noticed about this quilt of yours, is that while it was made mainly from muted colors, it still has points in it that kind of ‘pop’.
If you do end up pulling the strings back to yourself, due to your sister tiring of it, should you in turn tire of it, please then pass it my direction! o;->
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That is simply fantastic. I love how the different colors give it such dimension. Beautiful work. Thanks for sharing and your sister is one lucky girl!
xo -E
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What a lucky sister! This is such a GORGEOUS quilt! I love the mix of colours and the story about your source of inspiration. You are obviously a very skilled quilter and a real inspiration. The back really is lovely, too. You’re right in that it’s two quilts in one. Again … LUCKY SISTER!
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I love your quilt and story! Lovely photos! x Teje
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