All Things Rhapsody

[Margo C.]

Cindy.....love your applique designs. They are going to look great in your quilt. I am anxiously waiting for the next picture.

[Margo C.]

:roll: Waving at you qltcrzy :roll:

Cindy, I love your applique and the rhapsody backgrounds...can't wait to see it finished.

Dana in Olive Branch, MS

[Robin G.]

This is my first post to this section of the forum. I had ABSOLUTELY NO INTENTION of making a Rhapsody quilt. I have lots of other ideas for quilts and figured this was just not in my future.
Well, last weekend, I was at my favorite quilt shop and saw Ricky's book and bought it, just in case. I played around a little with the curved piecing and double blanket stitch and I was hooked.
I have my skeleton done and have made my templates and chosen fabric and have started to play with the applique designs. (No pictures posted yet - I will wait until I have all the fabric cut out and stuck to my design wall.)
I have been thinking for some time of doing a quilt based on the wallpaper I have in my bathroom. This is a great opportunity to combine those designs with the Rhapsody quilt - with some modification and redesign the wallpaper motifs will work beautifully with the skeleton I chose.
It has been great fun and a real learning experience to read all 22 pages of postings to this topic. It's nice to know that as I will struggle with getting this quilt completed so will lots of other people.

[Wanda M.]

Welcome Robin! Love your quilts!

[Ricky T.]

Yeah Robin! Keep us posted on the progress.

Ricky

[Jean H.]

Robin,
that was my first thought, AND THEN once you pick up that paper and pencil its all over, in 1 night I had about 8 drawings and trying to put them in some kind of order because I want to do them all and had to yell at myself ( PUT THE PENCIL DOWN, ENOUGH ALREADY). Its just too much fun........Jean

[Jean H.]

Dana, your rhapsody quilt is gorgeous. You should be so proud of yourself. I'd love to see it up close and be able to touch it. Isn't it funny how quilters think they haven't 'looked' at fabric unless they touch it?!

Have a great week, Sharon in TN

[Jean H.]

Sharon,

Thank you so much for the comments about my Rhapsody. I had more fun making it than anything I've ever made. I know what you mean about touching fabric and quilts.....I have it spread across a chair in my den right now and every time I walk by, I run my hand across it.........and smile

Dana in Olive Branch, MS

[Duffy I.]

Hi Dana, Your Rhapsody is a jewel. I love it very much.
Thos flowers are so..... No words for it. I wish it was my idea.
Mine will never so beautiful. I am trying to work on it everyday a litle. I am stil sewing on the center.
Have fun!
Duffy from a raining Belgium

[Eileen K.]

Dana,
I don't know whether to be inspired or intimidated :wink: !! Your Rhapsody is beyond words in it's beauty. How long did it take you to do this? Did you do it step by step with Ricky and then take off on your own while we waited for more videos?
Whatever you did, it's wonderful
eileenkny

[Eileen K.]

Dana....It looks like velvet...I'd love to touch it, too. Awesome quilt.
Jan

[Annette R.]

I feel like a celebrity because I have seen and touched Dana's Rhapsody in a couple of its stages and it does look like velvet or ultra suede it is so soft and just absolutely extraordinarily beautiful. (I felt sort of like the peasant being allowed to go to visit the crown jewels with the queen the day Dana took me along to the quilters to see it on the long arm and then again when I saw it when she brought it home) that is the benefit of being an RVer and living all over the place sometimes you are there at the serendipidist moment and get such a privelege. And you all need to know she did that quilt in what I call warp speed but you would never know it. It looks like many long and tedious hours to do it. The beauty of Ricky's philosophy that he makes and designs and teaches easy quilts that look complicated. Now convince me so I can get off the dime and start my rhapsody Have the skeleton now need to conquer my timidity and get it going Ann -not usually the timid one!!!!!lol

[Ruth C.]

Dana,

Wow, your rhapsody is awesome! I love the way you used the bright yellow at the edges--it positively glows. The whole effect is vibrant and stunning.

[Ruth C.]

Thank you all so much........ ops:

INTIMIDATED you should not be.............INSPIRED you can and should be just like I was from these wonderful techniques and teachings from Ricky. You can absolutely do it from his video blogs...just go for it. And then if you have that beautiful book, it's an added bonus with the great illustrations.

To answer the questions: All of the fabrics are Ricky's hand dyeds and like Ann said, they look and feel like suede. They are so beautiful and such a joy to work with. The two applique fabrics are batiks. I started the quilt in Ricky's three day class that I took at the AQS Museum in Paducah, KY at the end of July, 2007. When I got home, I just couldn't stop. I hurried thru every part of daily life just to have all the time I could find in the evenings in the sewing room. I was so excited from the first stitch till the last. It's funny now to think about it, but when I would go to bed at night, I'd get back up several times and go back to the sewing room to look at it. I took it to the machine quilter on September 24th, and completed it on October 24th.

It truly is the quilt of my heart.......not the most beautiful quilt by any means, but making it showed me that I can try new things and that to "create" rather than "control" is a wonderful thing. Thank you Ricky, a million times.

I can't wait till all your Rhapsody quilts start to come to life.

Dana in Olive Branch, MS

[Damaris E.]

Dana, that was beautifully said!! You are an inspiration to us!!