Monday 28 December 2015

After a storm comes a calm ...

Looking around at blogging Christmas posts it seems we all entered the 'storm' that was Christmas......you know the one - where the shopping and rushing around never seems to end and the kitchen bench looks permanently like this for several days ? 

It's nice to get the kitchen in order once the house guests have left. But it was a wonderful few days catching up with family, and I'm missing them and the bustle of it all. 

Now there is the 'calm' -  and a great opportunity to get into some trickier sewing.

Here are my last Benjamin Biggs blocks - completed bit by bit since September.

Block 22

Block 23

Block 24

Block 25
This morning I finally stitched them all together - determined to take advantage of the 'calm' to get started on the border


I knew the border was going to take some focus because I have made my blocks all 12 inch instead of the 16 inch size on the pattern. So everything has been 75% smaller. But would the border work at 75% smaller too?  I had put off exploring that question till a quieter time ...knowing how easily I can make a mess of the maths!

Gathering all the border pattern pieces (printed at 75% smaller), I calculate that my side border piece should be 60 inches long (if the pattern is 80 inches long), and 7.5 inches deep (if the pattern is 10 inches deep).

This is how the border layout should look (from the pattern )

So I cut some transparent bake paper to suit my dimensions, ready to draw on the pattern . 
The first thing to position on my paper border was the triple petal in the corner, and then to add the swag pieces either side - getting them to fit by elongating or shortening if needed. It all fitted surprisingly well and surprisingly quickly I had a pattern piece ready! It is just a quarter pattern of the border to be repositioned  around the quilt. 



Now I can cut the background fabric border strips and draw the pattern onto the back of the fabric. Then it will be time for some relaxed needle turn applique (with my usual back basting prep) - one border at a time - using a solid poison green for the swag and a red print for the petals and buds. Can't wait to start !

Because we enjoyed a few days of lovely (blissfully lovely) cool Christmas weather I was able to do some more hand quilting of my Civil War Bride during time out from all the preparations. I have been listening to a great audiobook - Watership Down by Richard Adams ( have always loved the novel) - about a colony of rabbits. Perfectly suited to this quilt - if you see what I mean?


I have now finished outline quilting all the outer border and am moving on to the blocks. This block is in the hoop right now:

I must show you a recent acquisition. Several blogs have shown off pretty trolleys on castors - perfect for moving quilty bits and pieces and projects from room to room. So when I spotted them in Aldi last week I couldn't resist - and I love the red. Of course it had to be a kit - but not a difficult build..

from this

to this
And here is some wildly uncoordinated Summer colour for you - from the garden, in petunias and roses:




Hope you can enjoy some calm sewing time too :)

30 comments:

  1. Lovely . . . lovely . . . lovely. . . and is that a completed Morrell hanging in the background of one of the pictures? I am way behind in my Ben Biggs quilt but that is because i decided to do it by machine. I think the hand work is faster because you can take it with you and work on it anywhere.

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  2. I love having everyone near for the holidays, the laughter, the food, and the traditions. The calm also brings a small let down feeling, but like you, a chance to relax and think. Your border for your lovely BB blocks looks like the perfect fit and Now you can move forward. Lovely colorful summer flowers. I could use some warm sunshine. Happy New Year!

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  3. Your quilting looks wonderful! I love your rabbit :0) Your blocks look beautiful! I especially like block 24. I'm so glad you were able to fit the border easily - enjoy the stitching. What a fantastic trolley - red is perfect.

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  4. the quilts and flowers look wonderful - we have had rain, and more rain - our daughter and her family will be leaving Wednesday morning then I'm back to my quilting life.

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  5. Sewing your Benjamin Biggs blocks together is like a Christmas gift to yourself. The border will be your New Year surprise. Such beautiful work.

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  6. Wonderful Benjamin Biggs blocks and the center piece is adorable. Good to see the Civil War Bride Quilt again, such lovely applique.
    Greetings,
    Sylvia

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  7. Love seeing your summer flowers. Like you I am enjoying the calm to get some thinking done on some big projects.

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  8. You are such an inspiration! Love all your blocks and other projects. And your garden too.

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  9. Such beautiful work. B. B. is wonderful and I too am looking forward to seeing your borders. I rarely use solids but I think the solid poison green will be perfect for this border. Can't wait to see it. Thank you for sharing your garden photos. Winter has finally begun just today with temps below zero. Our Boxing Day hike to the beach was nearly 50F. Way to warm for December! Enjoy your stitching.

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  10. Such lovely work Hilda. I enjoyed seeing your red CWB again. I still have the last three BB blocks to stitch plus the border. Work for next year. Wishing you a wonderful New Year with lots of stitching.

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  11. Your red and green Benjamin Biggs sparkles! I admire the size you have gone to - mine is at the original 16" block size and is a lot of quilt top to handle. But it is for our king size bed. Glad you showed images of your border prep - I started to set mine up on freezer paper. Not having much experience with applique borders, I had started drawing in the center of each strip. I like your corner petals approach much better and will redo. Thank you for sharing the great photos.

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  12. Your BBiggs quilt looks fantastic all together!! Way to persevere all the fiddly pieces.

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  13. I love your fussy cut flowers--so pretty! And that border is going to be fabulous--a perfect ending. Enjoy the calm!

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  14. I like your "calm", wonderful result :-)
    Best wishes for 2016,
    xx

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  15. What can I say about your BB blocks that I have already said ? It will be a masterpiece ! I'm impatient to admire your border and be sure the poison green will be perfect !
    Enjoy Hilda, every stich !! :)

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  16. Every one of your posts brings such inspiration! Thank you, once again, for a peek into your sewing room, garden, and life in general :) Best wishes for a wonderful and fulfilling new year.

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  17. The quilt top looks beautiful!
    Now the border, hard to make it right
    Greetings,
    Floor

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  18. What a feast of stitching!
    I'm going to have to buy more red fabrics, yours have inspired me lol
    Love the trolley - will need to check out our local Aldi (UK) more regularly!!

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  19. I am new to your blog and thrilled to have found you. Gorgeous quilts and photography. Inspiring and calming. Thank you!!

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  20. I am hoping some calm sewing time will arrive for me tomorrow. Almost finished putting the tree away and doing all the washing from a mere three days away. In the meantime, a visit to your blog is always so calming and inspiring.....I am simply in awe of your needleturn!

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  21. Beautiful as always. Thanks for sharing your border layout. Interesting that you quilt the border first and work in. I always start from from the center and work out :)

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  22. Your beautiful Benjamin. Briggs looks very Christmassy in all its red and green glory and it was so nice to catch a glimpse of your Morrell again. We have become Aldi converts this year and it's quite amazing what you can pick up in their weekly specials. I love the calm after Christmas when you just sew all day.

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  23. I got this same trolley from Ikea...in fact, I got 2 of them in two different colours. Love them! I love that you can easily wheel them off into hiding when people arrive.

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  24. I was very interested in seeing how you prep your border. Beautiful blocks and thanks so much for sharing. Also loved seeing your flowers. Mine are now today under 18 cm. of snow which is a late start to winter for us here in Ottawa, Canada.

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  25. I am playing catch up Hilda and had a thoroughly enjoyable time reading through recent posts. All your projects are delectable but Auntie Green is magnificent. You look fabulous in your wedding photo as does the bride. Happy New Year to you and here is to seeing more of your stitching.xx

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  26. Oh Hilda, your blocks look so lovely and I'm so pleased for you that the border turned out to be such an easy task to trial before starting on the fabric version. I love my trolley and your red one looks fab. Beautiful flowers - so cheering in the hot weather.

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  27. Congratulations on the completion of all your Ben Biggs blocks!
    They look spectacular all sewn together! This quilt will be another beautiful treasure!
    The quilting on your Civil War Bride is looking exquisite.
    Such a wonderful Red Trolley too!

    Wishing you a very Happy New Year!

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  28. Happy New Year! All of your projects are so lovely. Red and green looks quite festive for the holidays.
    Wishing you and yours all the best in 2016!

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  29. I like everything about this blogpost! I love that you shared your figuring out the size of the border. Nice pictures of your blocks, also. This week I had hoped to do the prep work on then next border of my AuntieGreen, but it's such a big task, now I'm inspired by this post! Also, being in the winter in Canada, it's lovely to see your flower pictures. Thanks!

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  30. Happy New Year! I am new to this blog, and am facinated by all the beautiful quilts you are making! Obviously, there is a lot to learn from you, I am going to explore more in all your posts now :-)

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