The end of the Blues

We're wrapping up "The Blues" with a look at the dazzling quilts we've featured over the last two weeks. And, we've come to a few conclusions. First, we love the color Blue, in all its manifestations. Second, we are captivated by bold graphic designs with high contrasts: there is nothing bland about these quilts! Finally, just looking at these quilts makes us feel serene and hopeful... which means that color psychology is for real!

Top row, L-R: Bachelor’s Wedding Ring, by Eric Gunson, at Pieceful Expressions; Kaleidoscope, the 2010 ASIJ Auction Quilt by Julie Fukuda and colleages, as seen at My Quilt Diary; Yuletide Snowflake design, by Joanna Figueroa, at Fig Tree Quilts (the quilt shown was made by Connecting Threads). Row 2: Glowing Splendor, by Barbara Cline, at Delightful Piecing; Teacup, by Maria Elkins, at Maria Elkins Art Quilts; Embroidered Japanese Crests, by Susa Glenn, at Susa Glenn Designs. Row 3: Victorian Gingerbread, by Janice Lee Baehr, at Pacific Rim Quilt Company; Albers at Sea, by Debra Levin, at the Empire Quilters Guild; Delft Storm, by Ionne McCauley, at Ionne Quilts.

Image credits:  Images are shown with the generous permission of the artists.

Extraordinary Embroidery

The pairing of blue and white has resulted in some of the most dramatic textiles around the world. Here is a quote that sums up the tradition of blue and white:  "The cosmos is blue and white. Skies are blue, clouds are white; oceans are blue, waves are white. The whole cosmic message is blue and white, all over the world. There are very few countries that don't have a blue and white tradition."  The stunning quilt by Susa Glenn, below, gives us a chance to talk about blue-and-white color schemes and about extraordinary embroidery designs.

Japanese Family Crests Embroidery Design & Quilt, 50 x 50, by Susa Glenn, at Susa Glenn Designs

Each block is richly embroidered with a different ancient family crest from Japan. The Japanese Crests bundle includes twelve unique designs on a CD or as a download, and the bundles include the instructions for the gorgeous quilt project shown above. At Susa Glenn's site you can find digitized designs for wildflowers, cowboy crests, skeleton leaves, bugs, morning glories, continuous line designs, and many more. Here is a close-up of an exquisite Oriental Butterfly. 

In addition to her gorgeous embroidery designs and projects, Susa Glenn has provided some great machine embroidery tips and tutorials.

Image credits and links: Images are the copyright of Susa Glenn Designs and are shown with permission. The quote in the first paragraph is by Amy Sylvester Katoh, the owner of the shop called Blue and White in Azabu Juban, Tokyo; she is the author of four books including Blue and White Japan.