The Farmer's Wife Meets Jane - revision?

I'm putting together part of Stars for a New Day, the block of the month from 2009 at the Quilt Show.  I didn't start it till last Spring, so in my mind, I'm not that far behind!  The way that this quilt is set has highlighted, to me, the flaws, for lack of a better word,  that I was aware of with the Farmer's Wife Meets Jane quilt.

There really is not much at all wrong with the FWMJ quilt..,.but it could have been set in a numerous ways.  I played with many different fabric ideas for the setting triangles in the middle border, but I felt that with all the prints and proportions of the blocks themselves, a plain fabric would be best - this leaves me with having to do some pretty fancy quilting in these spaces (ack!).  Overall, I feel that the quilt is dark..more brown than I really wanted.  And, I think I did make the last border too narrow.  The Stars for a New Day uses lighter fabrics overall, I had long ago purchased some pretty florals for the setting triangles...and most importantly, when I designed the FWMJ quilt I did not realize that Stars for a New Day had a similar setting in one of its borders which will always make me think that I could have improved FWMJ.

I think this will bug me enough to wish I had re-set the FWMJ quilt.  I think I will re-set it.  Something like this - once I can purchase new fabric for the setting and borders.  The fabrics shown here are ones I picked from the EQ fabric library.

Finished blocks for new 2011 Blocks of the Month

Consider the Lilies is a wall hanging size series designed by Val Laird.  The theme for the quilt, and the introductory Bible verse, is one of my favourites.  A wallhanging size is a nice change from all the large quilts I've been sewing, and as a bonus, I was able to dig up enough scraps that might just last through the series. (Oops, I just realized that I forgot to embroider the stems on the leaves!)

Jewels in the Crown is a b.o.m. by Reeze Hanson.  I had a set of fat quarters - 2 each of several colours - that I had bought recently as a bargain on EBay and I think they'll work well for this quilt.  I have no idea what I'll do about the pieced sashing and borders, but I'll figure that out as I go along :)  This is one of those pictures that really do not show true shading of the colours.

Roll Roll Cotton Boll

Not a top yet, but all the units are finally made!  And all the string pieced blocks, and six of the pieced blocks. 

I never made a Bonnie Hunter mystery before, and never made a quilt with so many scraps of planned colours!  So so much sewing!  I had started out making all the required units in parts one and two, knowing the quilt was going to be bigger than I wanted.  When she got to the assembly instructions, I found I could easily make a 20 block setting instead of a 30 block setting, so from there I cut down on the amount of required units.

I usually make my quilts in parts, spread out over a period of months, as that way I can enjoy a variety of sewing - a what do I want to sew today?  But I got so hung up on the units of the Cotton Boll quilt, it was a mission for me to at least complete the units - I thought I'd be sewing for forever.  But finally today I can take a pic of some of the quilt to be, and all the parts are ready to be sewn together when I'm ready.  All I can say so far about what it looks like, umm, interesting.

Henrietta Whiskers....or Feathers?

I fell in love with the squirrel in Anne Suttons new free b.o.m (Bunny Hill Designs), and also the quilt home that Henrietta the squirrel lived in.  I quickly went through my stash and found all the fabrics that I would need for the quilt top, made the first background block, then looked again at Henrietta.  Oh that squirrel is so cute!  But really, do I or anyone I know need or want a squirrel on quilt or wallhanging?  Hmmm....  I thought flowers, and baskets, and any number of things that I could applique.  Then I remembered a bird that's just as cute as (well, almost) Henrietta.  This bird is from the book Stitch Raw Edge  Applique by Sue Nickels and Pat Holly, in the pattern "21  Birds".  I decided to machine appplique the pieces, and used a 30 wt black thread on all motifs - I'll continue this throughout the quilt.  I do hope I can adapt the rest of Henrietta's designs to my little bird.

P3 Designs 2010 mystery

Pearl P. Pereira has offered a free mystery block of the month for the past two years.  I very  much like how she plans her sewing instructions so that the quilt is assembled as you go along...so, I had the center finished at the end of month 9.  The directions for all months are still available, just click on the Forum link from her website and follow along from there.

  This month is the final month, and she's given us templates and directions for a very nice applique border.  However, this quilt is already about as big as I'd like, 51" x 72" - perfect for a couch quilt!  The borders are 7" wide, so the quilt would end up quite a bit bigger.  So now I'll do some thinking on how I want to finish it.

Honouring Emma (variation) and Open Window

The applique blocks in this quilt top are from a pattern called Honouring Emma, by Lori Smith.  The blue and yellow fabrics (Whisperings by Alex Anderson) were so pretty, I decided to set pieced blocks in the centre. EQ7 to the rescue, again! If you look closely at the enlarged photo, you can see I mitred the borders, and I think I did a pretty darn good job!!  The finished quilt top is 55" x 68".







 
 
 

This quilt I'm calling "Open  Window"  The mini churn dash blocks that make up the centre of the blocks set in this quilt had so many time outs as orphan blocks, and many settings in EQ7. I'm glad that I pursued a setting for the blocks and I very much like how it turned out - the brighter colours are change of pace for me.  I was thinking of my teenage niece when I did the setting - she has a physical handicap which means she as a very small frame. I wanted the quilt to be as narrow as I could while still using the blocks I had, that's why the strippy borders are only on the top and bottom.  Finished quilt top is 55" x 65".