A Kitchen Sink Spectacular

Another one of the flimsies prepared by Betty for last year's Quilts for Survivors shipment was this spectacular Kitchen Sink. I just love it.

She pulled together a vast bundle of orphan blocks that she's been collecting - some of them hers, many from friends - and came up with this beauty.

I know that some of them have been waiting patiently for some time because this blue and white block is from an Irish Chain that I finished in 2012

She's done such a wonderful job of pulling everything together.

There were a few blocks made to fit and others reworked; points were optional 😉. 

So much eye candy!

She had  more of the green and purple check that she used in Birdsong to build in a narrow border to sit between the pieced blocks and a wider mauve border.

And, as usual, she prepared a backing - the yellow gingham - and a great purple binding to complete everything. Such vision, such a labour of love....M

Here Comes Cupid

One more diversionary post before we return to the Quilts for Survivors flimsy parade - something to celebrate the fact that Cupid will be making the rounds for Valentine's Day tomorrow.

Recently, I watched Vanessa unpack a box of QFS donations on Facebook and she got so animated when she found a huge bundle of Sawtooth Stars with an ombre heart at its centre. She couldn't have been more thrilled. When she signed off she was going to see if she could source the pattern to make a few.

That was all that it took to get me doing a search. The Take Heart pattern was designed by Lane Hunter for Modern Domestic and is intended for personal or fundraising use. It was created to bring a sense of ease while enjoying the quilting process, regardless of what is happening around us. Given all that is in flux these days, my discovery seems quite timely. 

It came together in no time and finishes at 7 5/8", which is sort of an odd size. To use it in the centre of the star I needed an 8" block, so I made a second one and just increased the size of the outer triangles.

I thought that it might pair nicely with this soft grey print.

And it did!

So delicate.

These are 16" blocks. When I make the star points, I usually use 4" HSTs, but this time I made four 4" x 8" Flying Geese instead, which was really nice - fewer seams. I've never made HSTs this large before and it proved to be a good test as I've had my eye on a pattern that uses nothing but. Serendipity.

Interested? I also found a short tutorial video of how to make the heart block which takes all of the mystery out of it.

Happy Valentine's Day!...M

It's Superbowl Sunday

Today's a big day for football in the US so it seemed like a good time to share this project with you.

The Green Bay Packers didn't make it to this year's finals but my nephew Ted is a big Green Bay Packers fan so Betty, his mom, decided to make him a new duvet cover for Christmas. I think she nailed it.

She was quite creative when drawing up the pattern for the G, using a glass from an antique oval picture frame. It turned out to be the perfect size. 

Everything was machine appliquéd using her antique Singer featherweight. And, it has a lovely sentimental touch included too. The strips of darker green print that border the cheddar centre panel are from his Nana's stash (our mother's) so, metaphorically, every night he is wrapped in her arms as he sleeps.

Needless to day, Ted was thrilled....M

Birdsong

My little QFS parade continues. Today it's all about an adorable flimsy made by my sister Betty.

She had found a panel with lots of sweet birds framed in garlands of flowers and just knew that she could do something fun with it.

Add in a few interesting little framed four patches for the corners (notice how she cut the narrow green border to match the narrow border on the blocks from the panel)...

and a lush graphic sashing...

and before you know it, a lovely little flimsy emerges. 

I love the green check that she used for the borders. It has a little purple running through it, which worked so well with the rest of the bits.

She also included a mauve gingham backing and a binding made from the same green as the frames around each bird, so all that would be needed on the other end was to quilt it and get the binding on.

This time of year we've just about had it with the chill of winter and start looking longingly for those warmer spring days, just as this wee block suggests....M