Civil War Bride in Red

Happy dance time - started in September 2014 and now completed!

It measures approx 170cm (67 in) by 173cm and is hand appliqued and hand quilted. Most blocks are from the Threadbear pattern but I made some changes and substitutions, a squirrel here, a rabbit there and this fruit bowl block. 

I just  had to have that fruit bowl from the antique quilt so had a go at drafting my own . Here is a pic of the antique quilt that inspired us all (in the  book "Treasury of American Quilts") and the 2009 Threadbear pattern next to it. 

I also drafted my own border but included some elements from within the pattern blocks - like pears, birds and this nest. 

I really enjoyed the process of adding my own elements, but also loved selecting the fabrics from my substantial moderate stash of reds. See ...Stash Building has its own rewards! But I expect I am preaching to the already converted?

A couple of pictures that I never shared of the end process after quilting...

The scary part where the edges got measured, squared and trimmed. Imagine one slip and off cutting through the hand quilting - eek!

Attaching hanging sleeve and binding: 

And where is the quilt now? I have to admit to being a complete coward and not washing this one as yet (visions of all the reds running riot). I think I'll just enjoy it on the wall for a while! I had a reshuffle of quilts around the house and it is now hanging in a hall opposite Lucy Boston...

...and around the corner from my Folk Art Basket quilt...

...and others are now taking a turn resting here...

Talking of Threadbear patterns...I've just received Corliss Searcey's Celebrating Mary Brown pattern and keep looking at it. It is huge and so inspiring! Anyone starting it? Just asking ...

The Southern Highlands Quilters put on a great biennial show last weekend - a feast for the eyes and lots of good shopping. It seems to get better every time and so nice to have a Show that is local for once. 

Shopping tables

more shopping - Reece Scannell

Collages of different favourite quilts for judging in the Show - :

lovely Christmas craft displays

Gorgeous embroidered items

If I had another lifetime I would love to delve into embroidery. But this one is just too full of quilting!

Busy working on the learning curve

This month's SVBAQ block is the Tulip A-5

Not too tricky to applique and I love the pattern.

It set me thinking about the many skills involved in making quilts and the very many different ways we make them. Many learning curves that look a bit like this graph. The plateau is where we'd like to be - that comfortable spot at the top. Doesn't mean we are 'the best in the business' - just at our own 'happy' point.

(image borrowed from mind-muffins blogspot)

I'm on a comfortable plateau with hand applique - not perfect, but good enough to make it a happy process. Totally addicted to the process actually ! 

English Paper piecing (EPP) is another technique I love - never really had a 'slow beginning' phase - just charged straight on up that slope as the whole process suited me so well. My first project was the queen sized Cream Tea in 2011 (pictured in my Header). 

And hand quilting? Well I had a very, very 'slow beginning' phase that lasted about 20 years LOL!  and then last year I rediscovered it with new tools, different technique and hit the 'steep acceleration' stage in a big way. I'm now thinking I may have reached my 'plateau' and am totally addicted to that process too. It's not a judgeworthy plateau but it is my happy point.

We all have our own skills and different 'happy points' don't we?

As I mentioned in January , this year I'm hoping to hit that learning slope with American piecing ( as distinct from EPP or Foundation Paper piecing).  There are huge gaps in my knowledge in this area and that is why I signed up to Sarah Fielke's BOM. 

So - how's it going? Definitely on the 'slow beginning' phase but enjoying it. 

Sarah gave us a bonus video on making a block book - great idea and great tutorial. First to make a design to decorate the front of my book. I went with a combination of EPP, applique and quilting - staying in the comfort zone here :) 

And here's my book:

While I was motivated I also made a portable block pad too - to make sure my block pieces stay in the correct places while stitching. It is just a piece of strong cardboard and scraps of batting stuck on the front but very useful now:

Here it is in action with the 12 inch Churn dash block - first month's pattern pieces cut out (with great care) and laid out ready to stitch.

I decided to try hand piecing but how to mark the seams for accuracy? Rummaging in a drawer I found a handy block tool that seemed made for the job - don't know how many years this has been lurking in there LOL! It allows clear dots to be marked at corners with 1/4 inch allowance. Then I penciled in seam lines too - taking no chances here. The prep was slow but I think it paid off as the blocks came together quite well.

First month's work - a 12 inch Churn dash and two 6 inch stars - not bad for the Beginners slope?

I'm using a combination of solids, prints, toiles and some linen for texture. They're mostly from the stash but the beautiful Le Marais toile is a new addition. My colour theme is what you might call 'Antique English' - based on a Pinterest session where I pinned pictures of antique English quilts (with the look I liked) on a board. Here is a sample screenshot of my pinning.

Quilting on my Civil War Bride quilt is going surprisingly quickly - now I'm doing the background. Thanks so much for all your thoughts on what might work for the background fill. I decided a half inch cross hatch would be good. But when I started it (just a few diagonal lines) I loved the look of that and left it there! So the background to all the  blocks is now finished - 1/2 inch diagonal lines. And I am working on a double parallel line in the border. 

border quilting 

There are some larger applique pieces that need a little extra quilting too. I tried some stippling on a table cloth - just single stitches placed at random and carried through the layers:

...and some 1/4 inch parallel lines on a vase : 

...and this vase is about to get some curving lines. See the lines marked with the hera marker?

Phew - sorry for the long waffling blog post. Might be overcompensating for tiny snapshots on Instagram! 

Have a good stitching week.

Around and around we go...

I'm almost done with the hand quilting around every. single.  piece. of. applique. on this Civil War Bride. It really should be a winter project but we've had some opportune cooler days, and there is the pressure of quilts getting very impatient in the quilting queue. 

I'm so glad each block is different as it keeps it interesting.

Assessing the quilt top for the next step in the quilting - there are a lot of irregular, odd shaped background spaces between the applique. They are a bit bumpy and flappy and, in my humble opinion, need some quilting discipline. But the trick with irregular spaces - what pattern to use? 

Have a look at a few blocks - they fill the background very differently. This one fills the background almost fully...

Biggish spaces in this one...

 ...and odd spaces between the blocks too

I'm afraid it might make a 'dog's breakfast' of it with various sized quilting motifs.  Ideas?

• maybe some grid quilting or parallel lines - always looks good and gives uniformity across the background 
• maybe echo quilting - I loved it on my Auntie Green but my feeling is it doesn't suit this one
• maybe some little crosses stippled  - looks great in big stitch quilting but not sure here - might give it a try just to see...

Indigo Circles (my Quilty 365 sewalong project) - after feeling deplorably behind on this project, I am now quite well on target, having prepped up a storm. It's been fun experimenting on ways to be more efficient with the blocks. I tried out a Youtube method using foil to iron fabric around templates. 

I know one or two other Quilty participant have also discovered this method. 

I was originally using back basting prepared needleturn for my circles - no problem with that but I just thought this might speed up the needleturn. 

Circles do need careful needleturn to avoid those pesky unwanted points. I'm not sure this method has made my circles any more accurate but it is quicker!

Here are the latest 21 blocks. That makes a total of 37 so far.  

I've decided to stitch my 2" blocks into four-patch blocks as I go,  and mix them among the 4 " blocks on point - something like this picture. 

Another little efficiency measure has been the use of  my 4 1/2 " square ruler - to square up and size my finished blocks. I was thrilled to find it is just the right size and invaluable in checking the piecing of those four-patches.

 

So there we are - every new project brings a little more learning ... or some useful revision! I am sure there must be others like me - I even forget what I have forgotten...sigh.

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 :)