Friday, February 14, 2014

Love is a Choice

Love is a Choice (c) LAPaylor 2014


This is our 20th Valentines day. 20 years of the happiness and glee of finding a mate, of knowing that mate loves you too. We'll be married for 20 years this July as we knew within months that we'd like to go through life arm in arm. We met at a dance, and enjoy the closeness and still prefer to dance with each other.
please do not pin, copyright 2014 LAPaylor
I like to write. I want to write more and more every day. I want to express myself through words and fabric. I wrote the poem, decided on fonts and layout, printed it onto fabric then painted over it. The edges are turned, cording applied and appliqued onto the finished quilt.

I often put my quilted women in clothing I wish I could wear! I might be able to pull off this skirt. I did an underskirt of red with a lace overlay and a ribbon tie.
  Drew is wearing jeans as usual, but poetic license allowed me to do them with sparkle fabric! Shhhh! Don't tell him!
The fabric under our feet was textured yellow but not enough. I placed a stencil down and sponged gold metallic textile paint (Seta shimmer) over with almost a dry brush technique. Very effective, no? 
 More words, this time in ribbon from from the scrap booking section.

I really didn't want too much quilting. I used metallic YLI gold thread, Sulky halogram in red, Sulky rayon in blue and tan. I did a mix of echo and free-motion quilting, letting my spirit guide me as I went.

I don't like the planning of things.



When Drew saw it last night in it's  final stages, I asked what he thought.
 My engineering husband thoughtfully said, "it's good. Why crows?"
He is a man of few words.
I said, I wanted to use them, they are enjoying life dancing in red high heeled shoes! 


Of course.
love, LeeAnna

30 comments:

~Diana said...

Wonderful quilt...funny what people pick out, isn't it? I would have said "why not???" :)

Anonymous said...

Lovely! Just perfect for a Valentine's Day. I love the dancing crows.

Anonymous said...

I've enjoyed all of your Valentine's quilts, but this one is SPECTACULAR! Great words, woman. :)

Linda

Mayleen said...

Now that's a fun Valentine's quilt, especially the dancing crows!

Linda Wulf Koenig said...

This is spectacular. Your composition and color sense are amazing.

Norma Schlager said...

Charming and I, too, like those dancing crows.

Maria said...

I love it.... Adding this to the list of my favorite quilts that you have created! Happy Valentines Day!

bearbuster said...

Perfect! It's so much more than I could ever have visualized from your plan. So simple, yet so intricate. Kind of like you :) Happy Valentines Day to you and your dancing partner ... oh, and Cole too! Pat

quiltedfabricart said...

Fantastic! So you , I love it

Lisa said...

I saw this picture in all the linky and had to come look! It is beautiful and touching! My husband of almost as many years would have asked about the crows too!

jan said...

Love it.

Linda Cline said...

The stenciling on the yellow fabric is perfect. Gives the floor a little depth and a place for the dancers to stand. The crows just add to the happy feeling.

Judy@Quilt Paradigm said...

How awesome!! I have an engineer, man of few words husband too :) I think the crows with high heels are perfect! :)

Connie Kresin Campbell said...

What a beautiful piece! Happy Valentine's Day! Thanks for sharing.
Freemotion by the River Linky Party Tuesday

Joanne said...

Hi LeeAnna!
It's gorgeous! What a joy to look at! Fun, those crows! Stencilling on fabric, I should give that a try sometime!
Enjoy your weekend!
It is thawing out over there?
Take care,
Joanne

sonja said...

I love your valentine quilt, number 20? Now that a series of love in cloth!

M-R Charbonneau said...

So fun! I like your way of looking at things, Leanna! Congrats on 20 years! Love the binding too -- reminds me of piano keys!

Sarah said...

This is lovely. Congratulations on your 20th valentines!!!

Carla A Few Of My Favorite Things said...

Crows in red high heels, perfect! LOL Congratulations on your 20th Valentine with your Drew!

Teresa in Music City said...

Love your Valentine - it's beautiful and very creative! Sounds like your husband is a lot like mine - he might have said much the same thing :)

Val's Quilting Studio said...

I love the red high heels too!! Cute heart quilting!!

Kathy ... aka Nana said...

Gotta love crows with red shoes!

Thanks for stopping by my blog! You are a woman after my own heart ... A quilter who loves hockey! You're right ... It doesn't get much better than that! ;-)

Denise :) said...

Oh this is darling! Thanks for stopping by my blog and for leaving the kind comment. I see you are in Severna Park? I grew up there - whereabouts are you? I spend my early years in Severndale and then we moved to Oakleigh Forest in my later years. My folks still live there! :)

Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow said...

So creative and pretty and just romantic as all get-out! :)

Amy @ Amy's FMQ Adventures said...

I love your creativity! And I love the crows.

Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation said...

This is too cute. It is so creative and I love the skirt and red shoes!

Thank you so much for sharing this at Needle and Thread Thursday!

:) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

Anonymous said...

Lovely piece!

Deb A said...

Congrats on 20 years! Love the crows in red shoes. Your little quilt is beautiful.

Quilter Kathy said...

Such wonderful personal touches in your love quilt... beautiful and moving!
Thanks for linking up to Slow Sunday Stitching :)

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the 20 years! Love the quilt!

~Jess