Catherine's May Block

The first of the month already!
Of course I posted the Catherine Gardens BOM file early, and of course many of you already found it...HERE

Here is a variation I made on April's block.
Rather than applique all of the stamens on the orange set, I used an embroidery chain stitch for the side two.  I little french knot at the top finished them off.

I am loving all of the color ways.  I have several finishing ideas - unique for each of my versions.

The dotty set got some fussy cutting.  I decided I wanted my stripe petals to all orient in, so cut each separately.  A little more work, but in this case worth it.

This 'stamen' print is also making an appearance in several leaf blocks.  I love it!

The green is an Art Gallery fabric from their Paradise Collection.

In other blocks, I took some liberties fussy cutting rather than layering up colored circles.

This oval is from one of my favorite Kaffe fabrics that has been printed in numerous color ways.  'Milleflore'

Excuse my design wall.  The flash caused the printing on the foam board to show through.

This is my yellow ground set.  They won't be set this way.  I still have not decided on the ground fabric.  I know it will be green.  All one green?  Scrappy green?

Another stitcher started a yellow set, she found a wonderful Moda Bella solid called 'Mustard'.  It is beautiful!

So many great choices!!

Since I decided to make several color ways of the blocks, I'm not caught up on the second and third colorways.

This is the dotty set.

I pulled these out of the notebook just for you to see.  I have several basted up and ready for summer travel.

I'm using, blues, pinks, turquoise and a wonderful lime green.  Also switching up some of the color placement in this set.

The orange set I went crazy basting on all the blocks and skipped around through the block sequence.  I have some basting done on every block, I just didn't pull them out for you - yet.

Have you seen Karen's set?  HERE, she posted all of her pink and brown blocks.  She also has her ground pieces in place so you can see the flowers 'anchored'.
Lovely!

Have a great Week!
Dawn

Block files are available HERE.

Spinning Ball Quilt

I rotated the hanging quilts.  I thought spring was a good time to bring out The Spinning Ball.
The quilt is hand pieced and hand quilted.

Brackman #3535 credits the pattern to Hall.
Of course I had to pull out my Kretsinger/Hall book.  Plate XCVI shows a red and green Spinning Ball quilt (in blank and white).  "Made of green and red calico in Kentucky about 1850 by Mrs. Mobala Logan.  It is made and quilted with hand spun linen thread made in the Logan home.  The colors are clear and unfaded".

This Spinning Ball example is not as old, probably 50 years newer but still could be 100 years old.

This is the quilt hanging.
The maker pieced the ground fabric of multiple similar prints.

There are 56 spinning balls, most are made from two prints, but a few are multiple prints.

Some are appliqued to the ground fabric, some are inset.

Most of the purples have faded.

Not all of the 'blades' are placed in the same direction.

Facing edge flipped back over a
black and white Spinning Ball block

The quilt edge is finished with facing. Obviously not a technique "invented" by art and modern quilters.
I love this edge finish technique and plan to try it soon.

This facing finishes at a little under 1.5" on the back.

All of the hand quilting is completed with white thread.

No batting is used in the quilt.  When held up to the light, flannel stripe scraps were used as filler.  The quilt is so soft and cuddly.  I can see why it was used.

Here are a few more spinning balls.


Another scrappy one - four prints asymmetrically placed.

Here you can see the ground stripe doesn't always go on the same direction.

The balls aren't all perfectly round - I love that!

This one ball is a wonderful combination of blue chambray with a black/red print.


On the left and right side you can see the seams where the circle was inset.

This ball shows one of the changes in the ground fabric.

Another oval 'spinning ball'.


Tiny hand quilting stitches.

This block is at the edge.

Partially inset and partially applique.

The maker just improvised!  Part of what I think makes this a fantastic quilt.

You can also see the background fabric change in this block.





I hope you like this quilt as much as I do.
Have a great week!
Dawn

Progress Report

Machine Pieced - Hand Quilted

I am pleased to report the hand quilting is well underway on The Graduation Quilt.  Thank you for your inquiries, it helps keep me on track!

It is pin basted and I'm using a hoop.  My floor frame still has my Harrison Rose on it.

I am outline quilting 1/4" from the  edges of each piece, removing pins as I go.  I will then go back and add the detail quilting.  Each fabric gets unique quilting.  I also plan to quilt our names and dates in the blocks.
This very light section is the center.

Read more about this quilt HERE.

This is the second time I've made a quilt like this.

I say, "like this" because I misplaced the first set of templates I made for quilt 1.  No worries!
I just made a second set.  I like using template plastic I can write on for fussy cutting.  I use pencil and wipe of the registration lines for the next cut.

The layout on the first one is rather random.  I also used more feminine fabrics; florals, toiles and pastel lights.

Velma came running for the photo op.

"Have you earned quilting time today?"

Velma has decided she needs to keep the quilt safe and warm when I am not quilting.
She is usually buried underneath the quilt layers.  Today she slept for over two hours on top of the hoop - until I got the camera out.

Of course, I need to thank her for two hours I worked off the to-do list of chores.  Much more productive to finish spring cleaning.  I have until August to finish it.

She must know 'The Graduate' has a cat.

Side by Side 

I decided to put the two quilts together.
The Graduate Quilt has a look all its own - masculine colorful fabrics, a light to dark layout and uniform setting fabrics.

That's the way it should be - a gift quilt custom made for a very special person.

I am often asked the size of the hexagons - I finally measured - 4" a side.

Kim McLean Cover Quilt

My inspiration was a quilt I saw in Houston in 2004.
It was featured on the cover of Quilter's Newsletter Magazine in 2005.

I wanted to pull a chair over and sit and stare at the quilt in Houston.  I loved everything about it - 100's of reproduction fabrics, the layout - what's not to love?

My blocks are bigger, the finished quilt smaller and I played with the color layout.

The pattern was published in the 2005 Quilter's Newsletter Wall Calendar.  I don't have the calendar to see how the measurements compare to my blocks.





Here are the details on the inspiration quilt from inside the magazine.

I also like this detail picture because you can see some of Kim's quilting lines.  I'm always curious how the quilting is done.

Who knows, I may make a third - some year...

Have a great week, I hope it includes some stitching time.

Regards,
Dawn

Other Sewing Finishes

It was a special day today, hand sewing with the extraordinary Chintz Chicks.  I remembered to ask permission to share some of their projects.

This pair of purses is only one of Deanna's finished projects.

The pair of hexagon purses are from Brigitte Giblin - digital patterns found HERE.  Deanna modified the tops to work with readily available metal purse frames.  The top shape isn't exactly like the pattern.

Wonderful fussy cutting and flawless assembly!  The hexagons are hand pieced and the bag portion is hand stitched to the purse frame.

They look great with the toile print chair.
So far she hasn't used the purses.  She's enjoying them on her sewing room shelf.



Another great finish Deanna shared is this basket quilt made from 4" basket blocks.

Fun fabric combinations.

Started in a Jo Morton club several years ago a while back, it is now finished.  Sorry the pattern name and year details aren't currently available.

We admired her beautiful machine quilting.





The alternate blocks have delicate feathered wreaths.  Yes, that's right - feathered wreaths to fit in a 4" alternate block!  They are perfectly executed.

The quilt has not been washed.  I love it as is!  She is planning to wash and dry it to give it even more texture.

I should have taken notes - she used an invisible poly YLI thread for the wreaths.  The border stipple is stitched with cotton YLI.

The Honeybee quilt has a longer story I will share in detail in a future post.  Do you like it?

With permission of the owner of the antique top, our small group reproduced this queen size quilt.  We hand appliqued all 972 leaves, using a beautiful variety of reproduction fabrics.

The quilt will be auctioned at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum live auction in May.

It is a beautiful quilt!!
It was a day filled with inspiring projects.