Cinderella Pumpkins

With Halloween now in the rearview mirror I will be busy making my pumpkins from the front porch into puree for the freezer. But, I've also been making pumpkins since the beginning of August. Sadly, it's proving the be one of those 'two steps forward, one step back' types of projects, one that's been hard to get some serious traction with.

I'm using the Laugh Yourself Into Stitches Cinderella Pumpkins pattern. It's well written, even if the first step for making HSTs includes the words "Trim to 1"!

But if you just take a deep breath and methodically work through the instructions, in no time you have several darling one-inch HSTs.

And shortly thereafter, a very nice rustic pumpkin.

But when I started laying out a column of them for my runner it just wasn't doing it for me. Stay tuned for Plan B....M

Sidestepping the Turkeys

I dropped a few items off to Roberta this week for quilting and she happened to mention a backing that she is anxious to find a use for so I brought a small piece home to play with. 

Not sure what the print is called, but I've taken to calling it Turkey Talk because of this little guy who is scattered throughout, along with a pumpkin and a green squirrel. I've got lots of the orange check for the backing and binding so I landed on green for the star, but not this one.

This one either, though I think that any of the three would work.

Initially, I was looking for quilt patterns where a fairly large square could be incorporated but when I came across a set of star potholders that have been sitting in a drawer I shifted gears and downsized my initial plan. They can always use potholders for the craft table at the Holly Bazaar and it would scratch my itch to do something with this print.

I downsized the Flying Geese just a little so that each potholder will be about 7" square.

The turkey ended up being a little awkward to fit into the star. Ideally, the pumpkin would go with him but the centre square just wasn't large enough to accommodate both, and he looks a little clunky on his own.

After a little bit of playing with it I decided to sidestep him this time around because of the size of the block and just focus on the foliage bits. It feels like a completely different print when the turkey isn't the focus and I love the airiness of it.

I've got them quilted and the binding sewn on so this will be today's hand stitching. There lots more fabric so I wouldn't be surprised if another set comes to life soon. This was a helpful exercise in terms of trying to figure out a pattern that works well with this print - more thinking to do!....M

The Carp Fair Raffle Quilt

I have been meaning to post about this quilt since the spring but for some reason it keeps getting lost in the ether.

Remember last spring/summer Betty and I were helping our friend Jean work through the details of what the Carp Fair was going to do for their annual quilt block competition? Well, the fair was held in late September, as usual, and by all accounts was a raring success - the best attendance ever. We didn't make it this year but I did help Jean with pulling together all of last year's blocks into this year's raffle quilt.

It was an interesting process because I tend not to make sampler quilts, but I was up for the challenge.

There were 25 blocks so I landed on placing them all on point creating a little more interest. I needed more blue for the border but was working on assembly a good six month after we'd bought the fabrics for the blocks. Fortunately, was able to pick more up at the same shop.

This was Betty's block.

And this was mine. Until I saw these pics again I'd forgotten that I'd use the narrow grey sashing and dark blue cornerstones to set the blocks.

I think that this was the only block to include a bit of applique.

And this beehive block was a lovely homage to the blue bee print included in the fabric package. Sweet. I think that those bees were included in everyone's block.

Roberta generously donated her time to quilt it, along with the backing, and she nailed it with rows and rows of beautiful feathers, a lovely nod to this handmade tradition.

It looked equally nice on the check that we used for the backing which had a nice agricultural feel to it. 

Jean was thrilled. Red, black and white are the fair's colours so many of the previous raffle quilts were made using this palette but she wanted something a little different and this fit the bill nicely. 

In the spring Jean took it to a few agricultural/seed shows as a way to sell tickets and generate interest in the fair, and it looked beautiful when it was hung. This pic makes it look square but it isn't - I made the top and bottom borders deeper than those on the sides.

She  asked if I could also make a lap quilt using the same fabrics to accompany the fair quilt in the hopes of encouraging folks to sit for a bit and quilt a few stitches.

I landed on the 54-40 or Fight pattern. Roberta has long had a beautiful version of this quilt on a wall in her quilting studio and it has always appealed to me. 

It was a great pattern to work on and I would definitely make it again.

Jean is not a quilter so I drafted a suggested quilting pattern and sent her ideas for items to include in a sewing kit that could travel with the quilt, which she really appreciated. Last I heard, there weren't as many takers as they would have liked; I'll have to check and see where things ended up with it.

These two quilts were a big project and consumed a fair bit of last fall/early winter, but I was happy to help a friend out....M

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends! We have so much to be thankful for, including the ability to enjoy time in our stashes and create to our hearts' desires. Also thankful for Jane's beautiful hand crafted card in this pic.

We enjoyed our family feast last evening - turkey with all the trimmings - so I am looking forward to enjoying leftovers for dinner tonight. Love leftovers.

Before then I'll be playing with hand stitching the bindings for the Holly Bazaar Christmas stockings, and maybe even a table runner or two. Have a wonderful weekend....M