Friday, October 31, 2014

Stonefields quilt has begun

This week I gave myself permission to begin my Stonefields quilt by Susan Smith. No I have not yet finished the border for Sampler Magic but it is cut out and I have started sewing the HST. I really did have good intentions to finish it first but once I had the fabrics pulled for Stonefields I could resist no longer. Since I purchased the pattern from Susan's website, I am not getting the pattern as a block of the month but have the whole pattern. Frankly, I am thrilled that it is not a BOM as I don't have to wait between parts and this is a very good thing considering the mess the jumble of fabrics is making in my sewing room. The first blocks are these little stars. I am machine piecing when possible so these were quick and easy.

Here are the first appliqued blocks. Orange peel.

Next up are these cute Pomegranate blocks. A good chance to do a little fussy cutting.

These circle blocks were fun. Based on some pastry that I have never heard of so now I can't remember the name. I changed the positioning of the little circles to keep things better balance. I planned to use this fabric for the circles in the green one and noticed on Instagram that someone else had the same idea!

These whirligigs gave me a chance to use a larger print.

And finally part one finishes off with this little posy pot. I think this is my favorite.

I have spent quite a bit of time with this quilt this week and just thought I would share a few thoughts on making this special quilt. First, it is by far the most fun I have had in a long time and I am thrilled to be using up scraps of old fabrics. Truly addicting! They are pretty quick to sew but getting the correct balance of fabrics and colors is a much more time consuming than I expected. In looking at pictures of the original and lots of other pictures on blogs and Instagram, I realized that the versions I like the best are filled with little surprises and lots of fabrics. That might mean fussy cutting or a pop of an unexpected color here and there. To help me stay on track I put a pillow and piece of decorator fabric near my design wall in fabrics that are inspiring my color palette. I think I need to add a few darker touches!

 

 

16 comments:

  1. Your blocks are looking lovely. I see your red as being dark among the other fabrics. How dark do you want to go? I have Susan's Little Sparrow pattern and it is very pale, which I know will cause me problems. Looking forward to seeing your choices.

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  2. Your blocks are looking lovely. I see your red as being dark among the other fabrics. How dark do you want to go? I have Susan's Little Sparrow pattern and it is very pale, which I know will cause me problems. Looking forward to seeing your choices.

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  3. Love all blocks and your fabric choices. This is going to be a gorgeous quilt

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  4. Lovely work! The fussy cutting is so much fun for this project.

    Hoping part 2 will arrive today.

    You are lucky that you can just keep going.

    Enjoy!

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  5. Your blocks are lovely. I also found that getting the fabrics right is quite time consuming, especially the light/dark balance. you have made a wonderful start, I look forward to the next lot!

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  6. Your quilt wil be a soft quilt - colorwise - You are correct in stopping and selectig fabrics at once. I prefer patterns too rather than BOMs.

    Are the blocks 6" - think the quilt size is 96 x 96. You will have a winner with this one!

    Looking forward to your progress, and you will be happier by taking a break from your sampler quilt border.

    Happy quilting Nanette

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  7. Love it! Another stunning quilt in the making.

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  8. Nice start, good idea to place the pillow and fabric for reference. I love this pattern also and told my husband it is my Christmas list-- making it easy for him- I just want this pattern. So I will probably be good and have him wrap it for Christmas and I will not see it til then. Happy Stitching.

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  9. These blocks are so pretty and so delicate. Your fabrics are devine! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE keep sharing your blocks with us!

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  10. Gorgeous blocks and you have done a lovely job of fussy cutting. Love the colour choices you have made. Had a bit of a giggle when I got to the picture of the last block - I have 3 of the fabrics in that! Saw the bit you used for the pot first, then the others. Then I went back and checked the other blocks, but don't recognise anything in them.

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  11. Oh my goodness, this is gorgeous. I'm going to love watching this one grow.

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  12. They're beautiful Heather! This quilt is definitely on my wanty list!

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  13. Gorgeous! Love the fabrics you've pulled for it.:)

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  14. I am just today starting my Stonefields Quilt blocks. I am doing it as a BOM through Homespun Hearth but find it a bit daunting already as there are no real measurements associated with the pieced squares, just the notation "Make 4 of these" and a line drawing. They did include 2 little acrylic templates that are triangles. I can only assume so much in starting with fabrics I only have bits of as it is a BOM. Did your pattern have more detail in the measurements? I did see that Susan Smith's pattern called for 6 1/2 inch blocks to be cut in advance so I guess I will try for that as my finished size. Yours is truly beautiful and I admire you picking your own fabrics. Thanks, Pam

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  15. Can you send me Susan's website? I'd love to buy the pattern but not bom.
    Plums@comcast.net

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