I Made It to Arkansas

I made it to Arkansas! Arkansas Crossroads has been in my sights for the last couple of weeks and now it has moved over into the finished column. Yay!

It's a pretty little quilt, but I am genuinely surprised at how light in colour it is. Not that I mind, but I thought that the grey corners in those Xs would make it much darker. Definitely what I would call a 'summer' quilt.

Such a dreamy palette; it's filled with a number of calicos that I am trying to use up, particularly the peach floral, which I think might be a VIP print. That's going waaaaay back. I think only one piece was completely used up but at this point I couldn't tell you which one.

The secondary pattern made with the grey corners is very effective but after sewing three or four quilts this winter/spring with stitch-and-flip corners it's time for a break from them.

The brighter hits of turquoise and mauve give it a great little bit of interest throughout.

I thought that I had a photo of the entire flimsy but apparently not - I'll try to remember to take one for you. 

This is another one for Quilts for Survivors; it will be interesting to see how they quilt it....M

Oh Canada!

Without a doubt our national anthem will be ringing out from coast to coast to coast today as we celebrate an extremely hot Canada Day; we're looking forward to enjoying fireworks over the Ottawa River this evening.

I always like to see if I can showcase a little red and white stitching in honour of our national celebrations and this year it's a selection of the scrappy nine-patch blocks that I am hand piecing.

They aren't pure red and white, but close enough to count.

I'm trying to force myself to create combinations that are a little outside of my wheelhouse.

This is my inspiration. It's from Linda at Koka Quilts and I was really taken with the border of larger blocks inserted amongst all of those scrappy nine-patches; mine would measure 3" finished. Subtle, yet effective. She has such a fun sensibility to her quilts!

I've got about two dozen nine-patches made right now and think I need about that many again to make a QFS flimsy approximately 48" x 64". I'm planning for 30 blocks in the centre (she has 25) so I will need to adjust my math to make things work. I might also switch up that border with a single wild blue/green print that I have but I'll play with that once things get to the wall.

Happy Canada Day everyone!...M

I Spy Flimsy

It didn't take very long for our quilters at the church to get the I Spy flimsy for Poppy's new little brother-to-be together (see my last post for details).

Once we landed on the pattern everyone just made up a bundle of blocks using whatever fabrics they had and there were lots to choose from. We used 42 in this one and there are 30 leftovers, so I suspect that we'll make a few more blocks and then have ourselves a second flimsy to quilt.

The blocks are all so different, and SO cute!

Some really adorable prints for little ones out there, aren't there?

Here's a little behind-the-scenes snippet for you...the kitchen island in the church hall is ideal for cutting our batting/trimming up quilts and also proved to be ideal for testing a layout. After this photo was taken, we received two more bundles of blocks so a few changes were made to integrate something from every quilter. All of the extras have become the start of the next one....M

Plucky Little Polka Dots

We had a busy weekend but I still managed to get a binding made and attached to a little girl's quilt. 

Her mom is expecting their second child in about 6 - 7 weeks. Apparently Poppy, the little girl, isn't very keen on having a baby brother (actually, after having mom and dad to herself for 6 years she doesn't feel that a baby girl is necessary either...) so our quilters thought a new quilt might help ease the transition to 'big sister'.

Jan made this one from coordinated jelly roll remnants before she moved and we've just recently finished quilting it, so I brought it home to find, make and attach a binding. 

There's lots of sweet bunnies, trees, ducks, flowers, and piglets to help capture her attention.

I landed on this tiny turquoise polka dot which goes equally well with both the front and the blue and turquoise plaid flannel backing. Hopefully it will work its magic and help make the transition to big sister just a little more manageable.

We're also making an I Spy quilt for baby, the beginnings of which I will share shortly....M

Getting Close to Arkansas

Slow and steady is getting me closer to having the blocks for Arkansas Crossroads completed - just three more to go.

I've run hot and cold on this one but the more blocks I make, the more I like it. It's taking me about half an hour to make a block so I'm finding bits of time to run downstairs for to keep the progress going. When I have all of the blocks together everything will get a good press.

Each of the white and grey blocks are made with stitch-and-flip corners and when I stitch them I automatically stitch a second line to create a bonus/remnant HST.

Hence the wee mountain of small grey and white HSTs growing near my machine. Heaven knows what I will use them for but I just can't bear to toss them....M

Spring Buttercups

Things are starting to bloom in the garden, particularly my peonies and irises, and Buttercups are in bloom on my sewing table.

These little buds will be added to the orphan blocks going to Quilts for Survivors in the fall (yes, I know specially made isn't usually how 'orphans' come to be, but it is a great excuse to try something new without committing to a larger project).

The blocks are 6" finished and sweet as can be. They would be lovely on point scattered across a quilt top in various shades of pink and green or worked into a border.

You can also make the block with a stem but I prefer the openness of the block without it....M

 

A Garden of Possibilities

Jane is a gardener and loves surrounding her cottage with a riot of herbs and blooms every summer. Now she's got a textile project that reflects her passion. 

Recently, she was gifted this handmade and quilted jacket by a friend who had picked it up at a thrift shop and ultimately decided that it didn't do much for her. Seeing the potential to bring those mossy greens to life, she has set about making a garden of it, adding large blooms overtop of the greens.

She's undertaking her own version of broderie perse (French for Persian embroidery), the only difference being that her background is pieced rather than a single piece of fabric. Historically, this technique used Chintz fabrics which, in the early 1900s, were very expensive. To make the most of the Chintz, elements such as flowers and birds were cut from it and arranged on another piece of fabric either as a central design or for borders and appliquéd in place.  

All of Jane's flowers were cut from a Kaffe Fassett print that's been in her stash for 20+ years; the scale is perfect.

And the butterflies that she sourced from a second fabric add an additional hint of whimsy.

Love how this posey is popping up out of a pocket!

She's attached them throughout the jacket with fusible interfacing and is now contemplating her next steps. The plan is to embellish the edges by hand with various colours of embroidery thread and, who knows, possibly the odd bead or bauble. 

It's going to be a beauty....M

My Reign Continues

These last few months I feel as though I have been crowned Queen of the Flip-and-Stitch Corner and, with my latest Quilts for Survivors flimsy, that reign continues. 

Those corners just seem to be prevalent in every project that I work on lately. First there were Scrappy Stars, then all of those delicate Snowballs, followed by Friendship Stars. Now I've started a quilt called Arkansas Crossroads. At least that's what I think its called. I've seen a version made with smaller blocks so I'm going with that.

The secondary pattern created by the white crosshatch blocks is really what captured my attention. Years ago I noticed a brightly coloured version of this pattern on the Missouri Star website and chalked it up to a 'some day' project; I guess 'some day' is now.

Mine is made using mostly delicate calicos that I'm very keen to try and move along to a good home - I've been looking at them for too long. Happily, my persistence is paying off as I'm getting to the end of a few pieces.

Just to keep things interesting, I've tossed in a bit of dark turquoise and deeper mauve, but the overall feel is still quite soft.

These are 16" blocks so I only need to make 12 of them to get me to a 48" x 64" flimsy and I'm half way there, but at times I get impatient with those grey corners. My kingdom for a batch of quick, straight seams! Just need to slow down and enjoy the process a little more....M

Simple Summer Stitching

I've been searching for an easy summer hand stitching project and finally decided to try and tame my supply of 2.5" squares and make scrappy Nine-Patch blocks.

Easy peasy, if you pay attention. Somehow I managed to fold this square back onto itself and stitch it down 😉.

Guess I was distracted by the view.

The squares seem to be multiplying in their storage container but surprisingly it's not always easy to find either four or five of the same print.

So I'm good with staying in the same colour family so that I don't end up cutting more squares. The idea is to use up as much of what's already cut. Works just fine....M

Friendship Stars and a Tiny Rabbit Hole

The opportunity to donate orphan blocks in addition to the larger 16" blocks, flimsies and quilts that we will send to Quilts for Survivors this year is proving to be a bit of a distraction, but a fun one. Enter my Friendship Stars.

Of course 'orphan' blocks' tend to be those leftovers from projects started and abandoned but after I culled my bags and boxes to see what I could find I've been using it as an excuse to try out blocks on my 'some day' list. And lately, my 2.5" scrappy squares have been my accomplice. 

It's been fun to dig and see if I can find enough squares of the same print to make a block.

Sometimes making the centre square different helps me squeak one, like this...

Or this.

Just love the bees and this chartreuse together.

When that fails, I settle for monochromatic. It's interesting to see their distinct personalities.

Because the HSTs are being made with two 2.5" squares using the stitch-and-flip method I'm ending up with a batch of even smaller HSTs from the trimming that I can't seem to ditch. You know where this is going, right?

Of course you do. Even tinier stars! The original is a 6" block and the smaller version will be just under 4". Borderline crazy making, as so many rabbit holes are, but oh so cute!...M