Lucy Boston finished

My version of Lucy Boston's Patchwork of the Crosses is all done! - quilted (on my domestic sewing machine) and bound.

Hanging

Folded on a bed

After deliberating about the quilting I just stitched a double outline in the cream. I am pretty happy with how that looks - still puffy but also helping the blocks stand out. Thanks for comments received - all helpful and much appreciated :)

Thought I'd show how I edged/bound the quilt as the pattern has no actual border finish instructions. A couple of options - you could applique the outer English Paper pieces on to a strip of fabric, or you could just chop off through the outer EP pieces to make a straight edge ...  

How I did it?...the pictures tell the story :)

Stitching on the binding strip

Ready to mitre

Mitred corner binding

English Paper pieced squares sewn into binding 

Those squares now trimmed 

Binding pinned ready to hem the back

Some of the quilted blocks:

Now  just a couple of garden photos to show that summer is almost over - and autumn ready to move in (can't say I'm sorry):

Sedum - pops up every year, end of summer

Windflowers - cue autumn

Next post there will be a new project - yippee!

Fabrics in my Stars

Here is my paper pieced "Mary Leggett" so far: 

 Carla suggested showing the fabrics I used to fussy cut these stars - good idea I thought !?

Can you spot the star made from this fabric (below)? It is close to the top right of the quilt photo. 

The more complex stars have two fabrics joined together. So here are some photos of these stars next to the fabrics from which they were made :

So... no magic there ...it just changes the way you look at fabric! A lot of the fabrics chosen have a definite stripe or line in them. This is handy for marking the border join between two fabrics. It also means you can form a hexagon shape in the middle of the stars. 

I noticed that the original quilt had a quite a few of the stars pieced in such a way that there was this hexagon fabric-patterned into the middle. So that is what I have aimed for in a lot of mine. 

It echoes the shape of the brown hexagon joiners - clever woman that Mary! 

Rosebuds ...with whiskers

While adding embroidery (as per pattern) to my Baltimore Album blocks I was wondering ....what are these whiskers on the end of the buds?  

So (being a bright spark) I looked in the garden where roses are in flower now. Of course, the whiskers are simplified sepals

While I was out there I checked the Iceberg roses down the driveway ...

...and picked a bunch ...and here are the same sepal whiskers again. Good to know!

It is a nice time for roses at the moment. These large apricot/ yellow ones (Dame Elizabeth Murdoch - an Australian rose) smell divine: 

Back to quilting...

Some more stars for the Mary Leggett Star Bouquet - having fun fussy cutting these: 

Here's a comparison of front and back - hardly recognisable! The papers are still in  - not to be removed until they are securely sewn together with the brown hexagon joiners: 

You'll be getting sick of seeing these soon/already - but it is a fairly slow process. At least I am enjoying the journey :)

Progress and a win

Here is the latest progress with three projects....has been a little slow as I have been working full time for a couple to weeks to relieve at work - always seems to mean less sewing time :(

Baltimore Album block 17 with it's funny little bug in the middle:

Mary Leggett's Star Bouquet: some more stars and hexagons and it is getting slowly bigger: 

Here is a collage of some of the new stars in the quilt:

Had fun cutting and piecing here

And lastly ...some domestic machine quilting progress on Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses:

 

Looking nice and puffy because so far I have only outlined in the ditch around hexagons and squares - not across any of them.

Close up to show the quilting 

Closer still...

Because all the piecing was by hand - every little square and hexagon English Paper pieced together - I think it is important not to lose sight of all those little pieces by machine quilting all over it. So I am tempted just to outline, and keep it looking "hand made" rather than "machine made".

On the other hand I think it might be nice to make the coloured blocks stand out from the cream background. So I have been deliberating whether to stipple quilt in all the cream   ( I quite like stippling but there will be a lot of it!)

The original quilt was just a coverlet of course...not quilted at all. 

                   Hmmm .... any thoughts?

And now for the "win": 

I've had the amazing good luck to have won a quilt kit from Sue at I Sew Quilts blog. Such a generous giveaway  - many, many thanks to Sue and her gorgeous (and highly talented I might add) granddaughter Abigail. And it is not just any kit, but one in a line of fabric that I have loved for ages - Froncie Quinn's "In the Time of Toile".

Picture from Sue's blog post giveaway

I'm really looking forward to making this quilt - and especially looking forward to the centre basket - looks like  broderie perse flowers ! 

Will keep you posted (hoping desperately I don't make a mess of it ) and many thanks again Sue :)