I am excited to be part of New Quilt Blogger Blog Hop at Plum and June. At the end of this post, you will find a list of other Blog Hop participants. I will start by introducing myself to everyone who does not know me.
My name is Camelia Elliott and I started quilting in 1995. My love for quilting has grown into a business, “Camelia’s Unique Creations”. I design and publish quilt patterns, host 4 day/3 nights quilting retreats, give lectures and teach quilting class. I travel across the US and teach at quilt guilds and quilt shows.
My most fascinating quilted project is my quilted couch. I designed a simple block and set it in a kaleidoscope arrangement to create this stunning piece of furniture.
I made a king size quilt and cut it up to reupholster my couch.
For a slideshow of photos of the quilted couch in progress and to read more, click here then scroll to the bottom of the page. Quilt shop owners from miles around went crazy over my first quilted cushion. I decided to share my concept with others. When I went to my machine quilter’s house to pick up the quilt, she commented, “This looks really good on my bed.” She was right. I made the decision to publish a pattern with all bed sizes “Kaleidoscope Flower Garden”.
When placing the “couch quilt” (created with blues and yellows) next to the wallhanging (created with country French fabrics in primary colors) I was amazed at the difference.
One change was the layout. In the quilted couch, the starbursts are outside of the center kaleidoscope. In the wallhanging, the starburst is in the center.
Both projects are created with the same simple quilt block. Isn’t the difference amazing?
“Lighthouse Cottage by the Sea” was created to commemorate our 30th wedding anniversary trip to Florida. I considered creating a scrapbook, but instead designed a scrapbook quilt that resembled 35mm film strips and beach memorabilia.
Working with the vivid, cheerful colors was a breath of fresh air and filled my heart with joy. This is one of my favorite quilt designs.
To see all of my quilt pattern designs go to my website and click on patterns.
Now I’d like to show and tell you about my charity quilts for P Buckley Moss Foundation.
Since 2007, I’ve enjoyed working with Pat Moss. I have always loved children and The P. Buckley Moss Foundation promotes the integration of the arts into all educational programs, with a special focus on children who learn in different ways. Moss/Elliott raffled and auctioned quilts have brought in approximately $3,000. to the P. Buckley Moss Foundation. Click here to see all of my originally designed charity quilts as well as close up details and photos of the quilts in progress.
I will share a few blogging tips, some quilting tips and a few trivial facts about myself.
My blogging tip suggestions are: do not use an all white background with all words and no photos (b-o-r-i-n-g). Use a lot of photos because they help tell a story and many people are visual learners. Small photos on a blog frustrate me. I like to be able to see everything and strongly dislike small photos.
There are quilting tutorials on my blog. My favorite videos are “Demystifying Y-Seams” (April 30, 2014) and “Easy Needle Threading Video Tutorial” (April 20, 2014). Special thanks to my friend Mary Ellen of Quilt Mouse Blog for filming the videos.
A few trivial facts about myself? I am a blacksmith artisan.
Although blacksmithing is at the opposite end of the spectrum from quilting, forging that hunk of iron gives me satisfaction and offers another avenue to express my creativity. Because my grandfather and great grandfather were both blacksmiths, it must be in my genes. I have created: a Camellia flower business card holder (click here to see photo slideshow), yard art, a bottle tree and much more. There are more blacksmithing photos on my Facebook page “Camelia’s Unique Creations”.
Trivial fact #2—I am an author. My living history book, “Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains” is a combination of quilting, photography, history and literary work. If you would like to read about my “quilt that grew into a book” click here.
If you are interested in quilting, photography, or blacksmithing, you may enjoy my website and Facebook page “Camelia’s Unique Creations.
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Did you know that mixing equal amounts of Dawn Ultra Dishingwashing Liquid™ and Hydrogen Peroxide are the best and cheapest spot remover ever? It has to be the original blue Dawn—the first one that came on the market. I have been using this spot remover for over 30 years and it is the best thing I have found. Some people wonder about the hydrogen peroxide bleaching or spotting their clothes but this has never happened to me in over three decades. The only thing it does not remove is ink and hair spray will remove ink. Many years ago, it even removed red jello from my toddling daughter’s dress!
The Recovering Perfectionist 