Benjamin Biggs Block 3

First a thank you to all who expressed concern about my little dog Emma. She seems to be mending well and is getting back to her crazy, barking annoying self. I feel awful admitting it, but this dog is not my favorite. She has been difficult from the start with behavioral and physical problems but like any family member, we do our best to treat her well and accept her just as she is. Does anyone else have a dog that goes nuts with barking and running around every time they even suspect that the printer might be used? You can't even sit down at the computer without her going crazy and before surgery she would jump on the couch and climb on to the table to attack the printer. But, on the other hand, her antics make us laugh and she is a constant source of entertainment even if she does not like to cuddle and has such a strong startle reflex that she will attempt to bite anyone that accidentally disturbs her while she is resting. But enough, let's get back to quilting.

I did finish stitching the Soupçon but since it looks the same as the last picture there is not much to share there. But I did get my 3rd Benjamin Biggs BOM by Just Takes 2 finished. I am doing these blocks at 12 inches and that made the stems for this block really tiny. So, after considering several options, I decided to embroider the tiny cherry stems using a chain stitch and 2 strands of embroidery floss. The leaf stems are made with 1/8" bias strips and the circle is done with a 1/4" bias. I just needleturned the cherries but I had forgotten how unforgiving Kona solids can be when using them for appliqué. Something about the weave and heaviness of the fabric makes it difficult for me to get nice curves. And then I made it worse when I pressed the finished block. Oh well, keeps it looking antique. I should have used the perfect circle technique but I actually enjoy just needleturning circles. Maybe next time!

 

 

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LE center complete and a bit more stitching

Last week I spent lots of time prepping blocks for appliqué. But for me that is a daytime job so the evenings were spent stitching and I finally finished the center of Love Entwined. I am so much happier with my color choices now that the center is all together. I am now thinking about my approach for the borders but first I am basking in the glow of the center!

Here is a close up of the final corner vase. If anyone is working on Di Ford's mystery from Quiltmania magazine, you will notice that my broderie perse is done using the same fabric that she selected to use. I had planned to purchase a bit more if needed but now, due to the excitement over her mystery, it is sold out where I purchased it. So I will make do with what I have and hope I have enough to add some of the flowers to the border vases. I do love Di's quilts and hope to make the mystery quilt myself but I will be selecting a different fabric as my starting point.

I also stitched the second block in the Benjamin Biggs Quilt BOM. I am really enjoying these simple green and red blocks.

Now that all the pomegranate blocks are prepped for my Jacobean Elegance quilt, I could not resist stitching the first one. While stitching I realized that I am no longer intimidated by all the tiny curves of the leaves. In fact they were really fun to needleturn. I think the tiny details in LE have helped my appliqué!

And finally, for a bit of quick machine stitching, I put this block together for the Quilt Doodle Designs BOM. I did simplify the construction of the block due to my use of more modern fabrics. The original design is rather scrappy but I am liking this look with my bright colors.

Still no house sale so I will be back in the sewing studio this week. Trying to save money means no fabric store trips, no eating out and no excursions that are not free. So happy that I have a large stash, free online patterns and all my blogging friends to keep me busy. Thanks to everyone who stops by, you really help to brighten my days!

 

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Soupçon part 3 and more Benjamin Biggs

I spent the weekend doing a little stitching. Once the mess that I showed in the last post was cleaned up, it was hard to getting back to prepping appliqué. Seemed a shame to mess up that room again. Sadly the people that viewed our house are not interested so it will be a mess again in no time! The first thing I stitched was my first Benjamin Biggs block.

I am happy with how it turned out but after stitching someone posted on the FB group that in the first pattern the buds are going the opposite way as in the quilt. Well, if I had more carefully read the instructions I would have seen that as it was clearly mentioned. But I did not as I was so excited to get this block ready for stitching. No problem as I now know I just have to reverse them for the rest of the blocks and I did realize it before I prepped this next one. I decided to add a bit of solid into the quilt as I think the only fabric I will have enough of for the swags is a solid and I think that solids would have been mixed in at the time. I am treating each block totally separately, not trying to match the bud fabrics as I am imagining the original to be an album made by many people using their own fabrics. I found a few more reds and greens in the stash today so I feel confident that I can make this whole top from my stash!

I also finished part 3 of the Soupçon Hexagon mystery. I am having such fun with this mystery. Each part has been able to be completed in a few hours, that is once the difficult task of selecting fabrics is complete. So far I really like how this is looking. Wonder what will be added next?

Well, time to get back into the studio for a little more prep work.

Happy stitching!

 

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Benjamin Biggs quilt and more

So, I I know I have way too many projects on the go but on Tuesday things seemed so quiet that I started looking at all the great pictures of the Benjamin Biggs blocks that people were posting. Big mistake. Well not really but I did reconsider my original position, which was that I would not start this project. I investigated my stash and discovered several reproduction greens and reds that were just waiting for the right quilt and found some background fabric which meant I did not have to purchase anything. OK, it is only one block a month, I am in! I did decide though that I do not need a huge quilt so I downsized my blocks to 12 1/2 inches. Less fabric and a smaller quilt, perfect. I also saw that several people had changed the block slightly and I followed their example by redrawing the center. Hard to tell in this photo as no stitching has been started. But I am prepped and ready to go. Yay!

It has been a long time since I posted about my Birdsong quilt. I did show a bunch of leaves awhile ago and I finally finished them so that I can start putting this together. Here is the center on my design wall and I have just started the sewing. Once this is sewn together there is a whole row of those leaf blocks used as a border. Hopefully I will get this sewn this week!

I mentioned in my last post that I like to just do whatever I am in the mood for and this week I was feeling the urge to get more appliqué prepped. Once we finally sell this house things could move quickly and I want to make sure I have lots of handwork to take me through the transition time. I have several Rachel Meyer blocks ready but there are quite large so I wanted something a little more portable at the ready and started prepping these Pomegranate blocks from a pattern in a 2006 McCall's Quilting magazine. One of the great things about buying nothing new is that I have been looking through my old project boxes and rediscovering some treasures (and some duds).

I was hoping to finish prepping these at a leisurely pace this weekend but instead tomorrow I need to clean this mess up in time for a house showing. Fingers crossed!

Finally I have been stitching away on the last corner vase on LE but I think I will wait until it is finished to share a picture. And today I realize that the lull is over. New releases for Friendship of the Flowers, a new part of the Soupçon Hexagon QAL, and tomorrow both a new Benjamin Biggs block and the second part of the Quilt Doodles QAL means a busy week ahead.

 

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