The Pumpkins of Versailles

Let me start by saying that I have absolutely no idea if there are pumpkins at Versailles. But, I've been playing around with a pumpkin pattern and it has ended up with a really French vibe (at least to my mind), so meet the Pumpkins of Versailles.

It's that time of the year when I start panicking about meeting Holly Bazaar deadlines which is held in early November, so I've been pondering small projects that would work up quickly and hopefully be a hit on the the craft table. I don't have a firm date to work with yet for this year, but last year they hosted a very successful remote version of the bazaar so I'm going to jump in and make a few things so that I'm not caught scrambling more than necessary if it's a go.

I've been working from a booked called Witch's Night Out by It's Sew Emma and was keen to make a version of the Starlight Pumpkin Block.

I like the ribbon stars but wanted a pumpkin with just one star. So I played around with a couple of the dimensions and gave it a go, giddy with the fact that I'd found this grey and cream toile in my stash. 

With the block made the next question was what to do about a stem and those corners. I opted to go with a 'stylized' pumpkin and forego the stem, and was undecided if the cream snowball corners were a good idea or not, so I slept on it.

With the addition of a border the cream corners seemed to work best, so it was on to finding a backing. How about a little black and white pinstripe?

And maybe the same for the binding? Yup.

I tried using a double thickness of batting for a bit more protection because I find the purchased filler for potholders loud and crinkly, but that wasn't going to work - too puffy and the quilting was a mess - so I spent a little quality time with Jack (the ripper...).

A few vertical lines of quilting and they were ready to bind.

I've just finished the hand stitching for the bindings and love them! Tres chic, if I do say so myself. They finish off around 8" square, which is larger than some like for a potholder, but I like one that gives me good coverage.

It might not be readily apparent to anyone else that these are pumpkins, but that's okay, I love the look. Which means, of course, that I need to make another pair as these babies will be staying in my kitchen!.....M

Graphic and Gorgeous Little Trees

Sandy was in town for a visit a few weeks ago so I was lucky enough to see her Little Trees in person. Just gorgeous!

Her palette and fabrics lean more to the contemporary side with wonderful graphic elements (including black trees!) and it really works.

She's got all of her trees together and to assemble the flimsy she is sewing together 'blocks' of 18 trees, numbering them as she goes, and will then sew the blocks together. Since it's being stitched by hand this helps her to work with smaller sections and avoids having to deal with the bulk of a growing flimsy. Clever girl.

And, she found a few great fabrics for borders and backing. Don't you just love the Christmas bicycle print? It's for the backing. 

Those baskets are filled with mistletoe (or is that a tiny tree?) and a lovely stack of prezzies is balanced on the back fender. Apparently she scored a great deal at her local Fabricland; I went looking for some in town, but no luck.

The red pinstripe will be for the binding. Very candy cane!

All told, five of us will have made Little Trees when all is said and done and I continue to be intrigued with how the different approaches work up in the same pattern. So looking forward to seeing how this one evolves....M 

Last, But Not Least, Huddle

We're coming to the end of the pile of my recent finishes.

This one is called Huddle and I was drawn to it by the placement of all of the light blocks in the centre of the quilt framed by a border of darker blocks. It's all the same block, just positive and negative versions of it. It reminds me of a woven coverlet.

My favourite niece gifted me the pattern a few Christmases ago and I am so happy that it didn't take me 20 years to get to it! Four or five, maybe, but that's a short timeframe in my quilting calendar 😉.

Roberta suggested quilting it with a really dense feather pattern and she wasn't wrong. It's beautiful. Just row after row of lovely, wavy feathers. Appropriately, it is called Abundant Feathers.

Here's a closeup of the backing fabric - a nice biscuit coloured print that plays well with the assorted colours on the quilt top itself.

There are several reds in the quilt and I chose yet another one for the binding. It's not bright and flashy so it doesn't affect any of the blocks and the beige in it works really well with the backing.

Like most of my quilts, there tends to be a little bit of everything in this one, but that's how I like them. Now to get back to that TO DO list....M

p.s. If you'd like to order the pattern it is available from Eye Candy Quilted. I added an extra row to mine.

God's Green Earth: Number Two From the Finished Pile

Second in the lineup of recent finishes is God's Green Earth. This one just checks so many of the boxes for me - lots of variety, just a little bit of everything - and I loved seeing it come together. To me, this is a shining example of how you can take a simple block like the Bowtie and create a rich and sophisticated quilt.

Despite it's name, there are a variety of other colours in it - red, black, purple, brown - and they all play well together.

The neutrals in it are equally varied.

These little mice are a fave. I picked this fabric up on a getaway to the States a few years ago and am wishing that I had bought more so I use it sparingly to help round out as many quilts as possible.

A little bit of the 'anything goes' approach carried over into the binding, which consists of two different prints - a deep plum and a rich coral. LUV.

And I used two different prints for the backing too, more by necessity than by design as I didn't have enough of either one to make it work.

To me, that 'make do' approach to quilting is where the real magic happen....M