Quilts in Progress and New Fabrics

Progress on my Hexagon Charm quilt handwork project.....14 rows of 20 here with 6 more planned......400 fabrics.    Should have turned the second photo so that Lady Liberty would be right side up!  Handsewing is not Work for me....it is too enjoyable to be called Work!

On evenings when too tired to work, I can always leaf through the pages of a book of Quilts!  This one is excellent; I almost did not buy it, but now glad I did!  Phenomenal work from many quilters worldwide!

I just love this Lady of the Lake!

Long story about me and the Jane Stickle quilt.....mostly could not make up my mind about background fabric, do I machine-piece, hand-piece, paper-piece?

Really wanted to do all by hand but it is not possible.....am too slow at hand-piecing.  Soooo....I will do all 3 of the methods to be determined by each block as I get to it.  These two were by machine but #3 was done by hand (no photo yet). Will be working in order because that is the way I have to do it!  Back in 1998-99 I made up kits for each row and I still have some, but the reproduction fabrics have become so much better since then that I will likely not use many of them.  Tho sometimes it is hard to let go of an old Favorite fabric!!

Newly-arrived Today!!  Three great serpentines from a new company called Penny Rose!  Name of the line is "Civil War Times".  Only got these 3 bolts but maybe should have ordered the other 12 too?  I have So Much fabric and several lines are due in Spring.....starting with Jo Morton's "Hollyhocks" in February and "Mill Run Shirtings" in April.  "Union Blues" from Barbara Brackman.  "Bon Voyage" from French General.  Mill Book circa 1892 from Collections for a Cause.  "Sticks and Stones" from Edyta Sitar ("Laundry Basket Quilts").  And, 3 complete lines from Windham, "Tree of Life", "Ophelia" and "Edith"!  Whew....am I done yet?  No.....more from Judie Rothermel too!

This fabric came back-ordered and I want to mention that oftentimes

we find fabrics that Are reproductions but are not "marketed" as such!  The red paisley is from American Jane (who usually designs darling juvenile fabrics for Moda) and is a wonderful Paisley in Turkey red with the accent colors of yellow, blue, green and white.

Lots of photos of new fabrics coming up!!

This is "Community" by Moda's Collections for a Cause"and is based on a Diamond quilt from Maine circa 1840.

"Victoria Park" a new line by a new Marcus designer from Australia, Karen Styles.  Those Australians have such an adventuresome approach to quilts and fabrics!  Wonderful Jacobean-type designs with lovely coordinates!

Got this "Touch of Baltimore" by Little Quilts" just in time for making Prussian Blue Stars with Barbara Brackman's QAL that you will find here.

Now here are 17 bolts of "Judie's Album", a collection that is used in her BOM of a reproduction of an 1843 quilt........see photo in last blog post.

"Hannah's Heritage" also by Judie Rothermel.

"Petites" from French General for Moda.  Love these madder colors!

The stripes are just right to use for sashing in small quilts!

These are wovens from India that are of the same high quality as the old Roberta Horton plaids and stripes from 20 or so years ago!  Nice for backgrounds of both reproduction quilts and primitive quilts!

My Giveaway box is not yet full enough!  Needs to be so full that it is hard to close it!  Stay tuned for when it is Full!

Scrap Giveaways and Quilt Progress

First, I want to tell you of a Reproduction Scrap Giveaway being drawn this coming Friday, Jan 23 on Wendy's blog "The Constant Quilter".  All it takes is a Comment and you have a chance to win!!

Wendy and I are joining Barbara Brackman's "Stars In A Time Warp" QAL making 6" stars each week using reproduction fabrics suggested by her. Check that out here. Click on the red star on the left side of the page.

First week is Turkey Red.  And here is mine.  Had fun choosing which Turkey red to use and in fact, cut fabrics for  ManyMore in case I need them as I want to make a quilt about 84" x 84" which will take about 196 blocks.  Since I plan to use an alternate fabric for every other block, I need to make only 98 pieced blocks......which seems doable since I have been getting lots of practice while making the same 6" stars for my Colonial Medallion.  I needed 36 and made 57!  Like to have choices!!!  

The star blocks that did not make it into the quilt are below .....the second photo contains stars with backgrounds that I considered too light for the Medallion quilt, but will be happy to use in something else!!  

This is my Colonial Medallion before adding the star border.....

And here it is with the star border!  One more plain blue border to go and then Lots and Lots of Flying Geese!  Kinda large ones at 3" x 6" so they might go fast once I get in the groove!  Need to start pulling more fabrics.....don't want much duplication if I can help it!

 

Until next time............should not be too long......already took the photos of the new shop fabrics.......lots of new fabrics!!  Hard to resist!!

Happy New Quilting Year

This is the Palampore Panel from the "Tree of Life" collection by Mary Koval for Windham Fabrics due in April.  Measuring 50" x 90", it will nearly cover the top of a bed!  The rest of the fabrics in the line can be viewed at WindhamFabrics.com   ....click on Fabric Gallery.

Years ago I made my own bread and one Sunday afternoon recently I decided to try it again.....not as pretty as I remember but did taste wonderful!  Plan to do it again soon!

Remember the Roberta Horton plaids/stripes from many years ago.  I made this quilt several years ago and recently unearthed it so I thought I would share it.....fabrics were so soft and nice to handle and the colors were varied and wonderful.

This is the center panel for a quilt reproduction called The Southcott Quilt by Andover Fabrics.  Based on an 1808 quilt made by Joanne Southcott.  One of the next items to work on from my list of many!  I have the center and first border ready.  

Wish they had made yardage of this "Chinoiserie" fabric from late 18th, early 19th century.  No one that I know of has printed yardage and I think someone should!  This tiny bit is just a big Tease for we who love the Early fabrics!

Here is picture of the reproduction quilt from the Andover website.

New fabric arrivals include "Heart's Content" by Edyta Sitar for Moda.  I have the entire collection (brown large floral sold out but I think I will re-order...it's my Favorite).

Lovely fabrics in lighter colors, including one "shirting".

Paisleys are alway a Favorite!

And check out the Dots!  One of the reasons I got the whole line!

Caswell County by Jo Morton for Andover.  Jo has Pre-cuts now!  5" squares, 10" squares and 2-1/2" strips!  

One of my current "Leaders and Enders" projects.....will produce lots and lots of small 1/2 Square Triangles for some as yet undetermined project.....but I just know I love quilts made from Scrappy Triangles!!

This applique block from Edyta Sitar's (love her fabrics, patterns, books, everything!) Elegant Garden series of 24 blocks.  This is block #9 ....embarrassed to have only 9 done when the BOM ended a long time ago.  I got hung up on the little brown "teardrop" shapes......didn't like doing them!  After I finally finished them, I looked at the pattern and found I still had Lots of Circles left to do!  Those do not bother me so got done pretty quickly!

And, I have decided to work on my Jane Stickle quilt again.  Two blocks using the new background that I love.....an old P&B that Wendy is using in her DJ also.  She did all the center blocks in 5 months in "potholder style".....check them out here on her new blog.

At this point I should tell you that I started my DJ back in 1998...stopped after nearly two rows of blocks because I began to fear the muslin I was using would not hold up over time, tho it felt nice to work with!  Start #2 ended when I decided I really wanted to do all the blocks by hand.......this was probably 3-4 years ago and I really sew by hand too slowly, tho I Really Enjoy doing it!  These two blocks are machine-pieced (some paper-piecing of the flying geese).  A3 Hunter's Moon is my next block (I Have to work in order)it is tricky and will be hand-pieced as my earlier one was.  I was looking at my stack of completed blocks today and will not let them languish....will use them in a small quilt...........one of those "someday" projects!!!  

And, yet another project!  I am doing the "Judie's Album Quilt" BOM based on the quilt pattern book she published many years ago, "Reproduction Quilts from the Civil War Period 1850 - 1865".  The pattern maker for the BOM changed this first row from the "Chimney Sweep" pattern to a 4patch/9patch combo....and, I just wanted mine to look more like the original.  Am using more fabrics for the variety I prefer (all Judie's tho!).

Here is a photo of the original made by Lizzie Jones in 1843 that now resides at the Smithsonian.

That's it for now.....Very Cold here in Maine tonight....time to sit by the woodstove and read!!!  And, oh yeah, almost forgot!   Am going to try to do a Sawtooth Star block a week from Barbara Brackman's Civil War blog.  Check that out here!