I've Been Holding Out On You

There's not much point in taking photos to share if you don't share them, is there? I've been so Christmas obsessed lately that I totally forgot about wanting to show you Betty's Fruit Salad.

On the Labour Day weekend she had it off the frames and out at the cottage to show us. What. A. Beauty!

It's not bound yet, but it she did manage to snuggle under it on the hammock for a delightful nap. I think it passed the test.

Totally hand pieced and hand quilted, it is a work of art. She has used colour placement perfectly and you just want to keep exploring all of the different fabrics in it.

This is one of the corners - she's done them all in blue and it's a great combination with that fabulous red print that she used for the border.
















She worked with the floral design when laying down her quilting pattern in the border. It's almost like a kantha quilt -  intricately stitched with a little boho-leaning feel to it.

I could have taken tons more photos of it - you get totally drawn in by it. I did mean to get a photo with this one together with Jane's version that I showed you a few weeks ago so that you could see them side by side. I'll do that once this one is bound, and I'll also get a full view of it for you. In the meantime, enjoy this riot of colour....M

Backing It Up

Jane was on a roll over the weekend, moving lots of projects along to the next step in their process. One that I just had to share with you is the backing for her Fruit Salad.

She has had a strip of oversized triangles about 6" wide that echo the triangles in the quilt top ready to go, she just needed to cut her coordinating fabrics and put the backing together, and that's what she did. The top is all hand stitched, as is the triangle strip, but she decided to speed things along a little bit when attaching the two larger pieces and used the machine.

This quilt is so stunning and that strip of triangles is just the icing on the cake. The two pieces of fabric for the backing are very similar in colour, with the dots being a little more teal and the paisley a little greener.

Here's a reminder of some of the yummy fabrics that she worked into it.

She's toying with quilting it using Perle cotton and big stitches, which I think could be lots of fun. Stay tuned....M

I'm Not The Only One That's Quilting...

A short while ago Betty put this beauty up on the frames and is making great progress quilting it. To say that this is a work of art is an understatement. The colours are wonderful and rich and just pull you in for hours of gazing - truly spellbinding.

It's her version of Kaffe Fassett's Fruit Salad. Same principle of triangular pieces, but elongated into an isosceles triangle rather than an equilateral triangle (who says you never get to use your math?). The triangles are about 4" tall and about 2.5" at the base and totally hand stitched.

She's quilting it close to the seam lines. In the border fabric - that yummy, yummy red print - she's outlining the blossoms and the leaves which adds a nice organic touch compared to the structure of the centre panel.

How many times can you say you love something and still sound like you mean it?...M

Backing It Up

I know that last time I said I'd share the blues & greys that I was hunting for, but we spent Saturday with Jane at the lake and she made great progress on the backing for her Fruit Salad, so that takes priority. And, you'll be happy to know, this time I've got pictures that are focused!

She wanted to piece the backing so we drafted a plan where she inserts a vertical row of large triangles between two larger pieces of backing. After a little hunt through her fabric bins, she found the perfect fabrics - a paisley and a small polka dot.

She's anxious to get the backing done so that she can start quilting it so we set to work and drafted her triangle, and she was off to the races.

By the time we left she had most of the strip finished and I'm certain that it's all together now. It is stunning!

When I wasn't drafting a new version of Danuta's Garden, or doing a little klepto quilting hunting through her stash for light blues, I spent quality time supervising from the hammock; given her progress, I'd say I did a good job. :) ....M

A Little More Fruit Salad

Both Jane and Betty are making great strides with their Fruit Salad quilts and they are proving the point that two quilters can approach the same pattern and create two very different visions. Centres are finished and it's on to the borders.

Betty is creating a curved corner predominantly with blues that pull from the centre of the quilt and will sit up against that gorgeous red floral print. She created a pink and yellow/gold border using more of the triangle pieces to transition from the blues & in the centre.

I cannot put into words just how beautiful that red print is. Just stunning.

And Jane has been off to the races too. She's got more brown and turquoise in hers, but it is equally beautiful.

Unfortunately, this photo is not well focused but it does give you a good feel for the finish - some graphic Kaffe polka dots and flowers combined with a few paisley/eastern influenced prints in fushia and turquoise. I've been told that if you want to see if colours are working together you should squint. Maybe we'll just say that I was squinting for this one... :) M

A Done Deal

Over the long weekend we all congregated at Jane's cottage, stitching in hand, and Betty's mission was to put the finishing touches on her Fruit Salad top. Mission accomplished, and wonderfully so.

Before she left for home she laid it out in the garden to get a good look at it. All I can say is OMG! It is so fabulously stunning she will have a hard time closing her eyes to sleep under it. The pics are taken with her phone so they aren't that clear but I will have more as she quilts it - promise.

The transition to the border from blue & pink/yellow triangles to just yellow & pink worked beautifully and that border fabric is still as amazing as ever with it. In the dappled sunlight it looked even more so.

Of course, a certain someone had to road test it to confirm that it was bed ready. I think it passed the test - those eyes are looking pretty sleepy.

She also snapped a shot of a collection of potholders that Jane has made - she has lots of fun with these....M

Lush!

Jane and Betty were in for dinner on the weekend and Betty brought Fruit Salad - not for dessert, but the quilt that she started last spring. She's been adding yellows and pinks to the edges of the rows to create a transition to the border (whatever that will be) so they laid it out and we had a bit of a quilt therapy session.

This one is going to be so spectacular - words escape me every time I see it.

I love the occasional little triangle that's made up of 4 specs of colour - they are like little gems scattered throughout.

After much deliberation (actually, not really that much) she's decided to make the pink & yellow edges a couple of pieces wider for more impact. Then she'll trim it so that the edge is a straight line rather than following the picot that the triangle create, and she needs to make it a few rows longer.

The part that had us all delirious was when we decided that the border would be this red Philip Jacobs print called Waltzing Matilda that I had picked up last year. Isn't it just perfect?!

The border will be about 10 inches wide and she's thinking that when it comes time to quilt it she will quilt within the flow of the pattern.

Jane happened to be browsing through  Kaffe Fassett's Quilts of Provence as we were doing this and came across a profile of Philip and this particular print. This is how he describes it: "It has such movement I named it after the Australian song Waltzing Matilda since the flowers really dance to my eye". Enough said.






Of course Baylea had come to dinner too so, designer that she is, she needed to get in on the action too.















I think that she must be related to Picasso...M

Jane On a Roll

Jane is a quilt commando at the best of times, and our weekend at the cottage was no exception. We spent a lot of time rummaging through her stash and when we came across fabric that she had been looking for to bind a Christmas quilt that she had made several years ago (7, I think) she pulled both it and the quilt out to finish it off. She made the binding and has started sewing it on. It wasn't finished when we left the cottage but it will be soon. I'll have to get a pic of the entire quilt for you.










It is a beautiful Log Cabin in rich deep greens, reds and golds. The blocks are placed on the point and the border triangles are alternating velvet solids in deep burgundy and green; it is backed (and will be bound) with a beautiful huge hydrangea print. She was quite excited with the progress on it and is anxious to get it finished and into the quilt closet to use.











She also pulled another pretty one that she and Linda are making for a friend and selected more fabrics to add on to the centre panel that she has sewn. It's done in delicate floral prints and looks like a Snowball but the corner blocks have been appliquéd on instead of stitched in.



The 9-Patch blocks that you see in the bottom right corner will be used in one of several borders.

She also wanted to incorporate some Flying Geese so I gave her a quick tutorial on making 4 at one time and she was off to the races.

In no time at all she had about 50 made.

















I can't help but wonder if this is the secret to her success...
















And just because you can never be working on too many quilts at one time, she pulled out the pieces for her Fruit Salad and sewed several rows together.

This is the same pattern that Betty started working on last summer. They are using fabulous, rich colours and I have no doubt that they will be amazing....M

Fruit Salad, Anyone?

One thing we do very well when we are at the cottage is eat. I think I have savoured some of my best meals lakeside, including my wonderful 50th birthday dinner a few years ago. Is it the result of culling what everyone brings with them that turns into such wonderful menus? I think so. And this time was no exception. Betty made fabulous chicken on the BBQ in her cast iron fry pan - perfect seasonings and a white wine reduction. Yum.

I made Summer Fruit Crostata from a recipe by my patron saint, Ina Garten (aka The Barefoot Contessa). I LUV this dessert and make it several times once peaches and plums come into season. Not only is it great for dessert it is wonderful for breakfast with plain yogourt.





Unlike most of the recipes that I like this one doesn't have that much sugar so the fruit really shines through. And the rustic, free form crust makes it easy to whip.







But I digress. I'm really supposed to be sharing quilt tales with you, aren't I? In keeping with the fruit theme it seems the perfect time to share Betty's amazing Fruit Salad quilt that she started working on last fall.









The inspiration came from Kaffe Fassett's pattern in Quilts en Provence. Anne gave me this book last fall and I have to say that with the exception of Fruit Salad (which is on my TO DO list) and maybe two or three other patterns, I wasn't that impressed with it. I have several of his books but this one just seemed like it was a rush job to meet a printing commitment.

Anyway, the pattern is based on equilateral triangles but Betty has elongated hers and gone with a deep, rich blue/organic palette that is just amazing. It is a feast for the eyes. Her triangles are about 3" at the base and about 5" long.

The individual strips are gorgeous enough in and of themselves but when they were all laid out together it was a true feast for the eyes.

Now she is going to add golds & browns to the ends of the rows to create a bit of a border and then we'll see where it goes from there.

I left the cottage on Sunday but rumour has it that Jane was so inspired that she started cutting fabrics for the same quilt in a very similar palette. Great minds think alike. At the speed she moves she's probably got it half finished by now!...M