WIP and A New Hanky

I have been motivated to get some work done.

I have been making Esther Alui's new pieced quilt Little Hazel. She is now on Facebook and we have been sharing photos of our progress. I am using reproduction fabrics in red, indigo, and ivory. I thought it would be much harder than it is! The star was done last month. This month we are doing the two concentric circles.

 The leaf vine strip fabric is better than I imagined! I love what it does!

I finished the last side of the first border on Love Entwined and am eager to get it finished! I sewed the first solid border and the top and bottom borders together. You can see how wonky my appliquéd zig zag borders turned out. I have finished the last border and just need to complete the corner blocks!

And I have been preparing appliqué blocks for the reproduction 1857 Sampler from Gay Bomer of Sentimental Stitches. Some gals are using such wonderful creative color and fabric choices. I am using colors similar to the original quilt. Interestingly, the quilt is similar to the Houseman Quilt in Florence Peto's article is shared here. Both have blocks with various appliqué' motifs and leaf shapes in the corners that make a secondary design.

My quilt guild has a challenge: a 24" x 24" quilt showing your favorite season. I used printed fabric to creative a 'typical' Michigan autumn scene. I need to quilt and bind it before May.

My Fox quilt is stopped until I find the right fabric for the fox. The trees branches and leaves part is done.

I bought a Faith Austen handkerchief of mushrooms. So cute! I organized my collection and counted over 1,000 handkerchiefs. About 200 are designer/signed hankies.

It has turned bitter cold again. Our doggies have been sleeping in. They don't want to get up in this weather. But just wait until it turns warm, and Kamikaze (White Dog) will be barking at 5:30 eager to enjoy the day!

Perfect weather to stay in and stitch.

Love Entwined Update

So many little pieces! I am finishing the fourth border and started prepping the corner blocks. I am determined to finish this section of the pattern! Well, some time this year!

The pattern includes two more appliquéd borders with even more little pieces! Quilters have actually finished the entire quilt! Hats off to these intrepid quilters! Each is beautiful. My workmanship is primitive in comparison. I am sure this border is my final addition. At this point I can't face all the little pieces in the next section. (But if my husband has his way I will trudge on.)

In 2013 Esther Aliu announced her pattern Love Entwined, based on a 1790 coverlet she found in Averil Colby's book Patchwork. Working from a black and white photo she drafted a detailed and complicated pattern. Read about it at her blog: http://estheraliu.blogspot.com/2013/06/introducing-love-entwined-1790-marriage.html

Esther continues to design new patterns which can be accessed for free, now on her Facebook groups, and later may be purchased.

Quilting Projects Going Slow...

I have my 'Green Heroes' quilt on the quilt frame but have hardly touched it all summer. The frame is set up in the dining room, which is basically my husband's home office/open area since we gave away our dining room set before we moved. It never fit in in the mid-century parsonages with no formal dining rooms. There is a radio, but no television. I could use books on tape while quilting, but listening to reading out loud puts me to sleep. And I am disgusted by my quilt stitches. Its been too long since I used the frame, and my fingers are not what they used to be. I am quilting a background to the portraits that represent their areas of interest.

I have been working on a difficult hand applique project started by Esther Aliu on her Yahoo groups page. Love Entwined is Esther's pattern based on a quilt pictured in Averil Colby's book Patchwork Quilts, a 1790 wedding coverlet. You can find out more at her blog: http://estheraliu.blogspot.com/2013/06/introducing-love-entwined-1790-marriage.html

I have done a lot of applique over the years, and prefer the needle turn method. Perhaps because I am basically lazy! I know how to use freezer paper templates, or how to do any number of applique methods to create perfect pieces. Still, I persisted in going along in this disorganized way and the piece looks too embarrassing to share with the hundreds of gals world wide who are making this quilt. The photo gallery is full of amazing, and amazingly different, interpretations of this pattern. I chose a great green background, and am using bright fabrics from my stash, many with a polka dot theme. I may finish the center piece and then start over, doing things the right way this time. Next up are floral baskets in the corners. Then there are seven borders, four with applique...What was I thinking?

Life has been throwing me curve balls lately, plus I started the etsy store and am trying to prepare more patterns for sale. I have books and collectibles I need to sell or get rid of, as part of downsizing to fit into our retirement home. And I am working with a contractor to upgrade the energy efficiency of the retirement home, which means lots of research about things I never knew about, or had to know about since I have spent my married life in a church parsonage! So instead of playing with fabric, I am learning about hot water heaters and fiberglass entry doors! Plus my husband had a bacterial infection, with 40 minute trips to town to see the doctor. The doctor gave him an antibiotic and he soon was  feeling better. And then I found our dog had fleas! This is a BIG house with all carpeting on both floors! That is a lot of vacuuming.

I just want to go into my sewing room and play. I have some great handkerchiefs I want to make into my collage wall hangings. At least I am good at that. I need a confidence booster right now!And most of all, the regenerative peace and strength that comes from the creative process!

Choosing embellishments for this basket of flowers hankdkerchief I bought recently on eBay. Sigh. Must get back to it.