Just a couple more Gypsy Wife blocks made today. I added a bit of black to the mix and I think it is just what I was looking for to make things pop. What do you think?
I hope to get a few more of these done tomorrow and then will be spending 4 days watching the grandkids while Mommy and Daddy are away. These two are the sweetest little ones but it is exhausting for Grammie and Paw Paw to keep up with them. Wish us luck!
This week my SIL and I started and othe Quilt Along. We live hundreds of miles apart but both share a love of quilting and for the past year or so have been quilting together via the Internet. Sometimes we find a free online mystery or QAL but recently my SIL discovered this quilt pattern and we agreed it would make a great project to do together. The pattern is The Gypsy Wife by Jen Kingwell and I was able to order the pattern from Sue Spargo's online store. It is an Australian pattern and I love its wonderful use of color and different blocks in a fun, unusual setting.
As usual, we are each doing our own version and it is so fun to see how our different fabric selections come together into our own quilts. Here are the fabrics I started with, lots of fabric from two different lines of Lily Ashburyy fabric by Moda.
And here are my first 4 blocks.
From the beginning I wondered if I might want to add some black into this mix. Any thoughts? I have pulled a few fabrics with black and will probably try some in the next block. I am thinking that it may well make the quilt a bit more exciting.
Hopefully my SIL won't mind if I post her first 4 blocks. Aren't they great!
Generally we text each other pictures, comments and questions as we ago along and It really does add to the fun of a project. We may not live near one another but I am so happy that we can still quilt together.
And finally the next 2 blocks for the Austen Family Album quilt.
I was happy to be able to add a dancing scene in the center of this block. Makes me think of the many balls in Jane's novels.
I am all caught up with the Austen Family Album and can now relax with just one block per week. I really like the addition of the lighter fabrics and am enjoying each of these blocks. This week I finished 2 more. The first is called London roads and I was excited to find a suitable road fabric in my stash for the center. I am not thrilled with the second block but am at least pleased to be able to use more sampler fabric.
And I finally decided to get started on Part 3 of the Di Ford Mystery quilt in Quiltmania magazine. This part is made up of an appliqued border that includes regular appliqued leaves, broderie perse flowers and some EPP hexagon flowers. Since I am using my own fabric selections, rather than buying a kit, I have had to make a few changes in the broderie perse as I do not have as many different flowers to choose from. As a result all my borders will be the same and I am pleased with this layout.
Ready to get stitching!
Today I made 3 more blocks for the Austen Family Album quilt and I am almost caught up! Once I made the block using the medallion of the woman that I showed in the last post, I was inspired to add a few more Jane Austen inspired details.
In this block's center I used a piece of fabric that looks like some stitching that Jane or her sister might have done.
This block includes a background fabric that looks like a stitched sampler.
And this block uses a fabric with script writing reminding me of how she would have written her books by hand.
Each block seems to be more fun than the last and I hope I am able to find other interesting fabrics in my stash to continue to add little details. Such a perfect project to ease back into sewing.
Back in March, when I was still living in Florida and wondering if our house would ever sell, I read that Barbara Brackman was starting a new blog Austen Family Album to host a block of the week featuring Jane Austen and her family. I am a bit of a Jane Austen geek and knew it would be a fun project for me. I pulled all the fabrics and was excited to begin when our house sold just as the first block was released. As I was unpacking my sewing room I discovered all the fabrics I has selected and decided it was not too late to join in. Here are my first 5 blocks.
Just 4 more and I will be all caught up. These blocks are released each Sunday on the blog and you can start anytime as the instructions are included in the blog post as well as some historical information about the Austen family. I know that the woman in the last block is not quite from the right time period but she reminds me of Jane and I could not resist!
At last I am back to sewing. This is just my temporary sewing space but it is finally organized enough that I can get back to some fun. Every time I change spaces I think long and hard about how to make the space work for me using some configurations that were working in my previous space and trying something new in other areas.
You might notice that I love using furniture from IKEA. The tables are sturdy and super lightweight which means I can move then around if necessary. My main piecing machine is in a Horn sewing table and I can slide the IKEA table up to make a large table surface. With all the appliqué prep that I do a large table area is a must for me. This time I set up an L shaped space with an IKEA cube type shelf behind me in my appliqué prep area. It is also near my light box and copy machine both of which are in constant use during the prep work.
Here is just part of my stash stored in these wire baskets, again from IKEA. Unfortunately they recently changed the design of these baskets so I won't be getting any more. :( I previous areas these were stacked 3 high, but due to the sloped walls in this space they can only go 2 high. A quick trip to Home Depot and I had a 4' x 8' laminated board cut to fit the top and I was able to add a shelf for all my Longaberger baskets. I have had these for many years and I use them to hold projects, supplies, scraps of fabric etc. I also think they add a bit of a decorative accent in this space.
Based on some previous comments, you might wonder why I consider this space temporary. Amazingly I have lots more fabric that does not fit in this space, a longarm machine and I can't set up a design wall in here. I still can't find several things which must be in other boxes in that unfinished basement, but I can sew again which makes me happy. This morning I even made May's block from Quilt Doodles BOM.
I see it has been over a month since I posted about our house sale and move. It has been a very busy 6 weeks but we are finally into our new home. We are excited to be just 5 minutes from the grandchildren and are happy with our decision to downsize into a "forever" home. If you have been following my blog for awhile you might remember that we have moved several times over the last few years and after this one I truly pray that I never have to do this again. If you have ever downsized, you know it is pretty tricky deciding what to let go of, what to keep and how to fit it all in. We are fortunate to have a basement to put the overflow in right now but hopefully the basement will be finished in the next year into a great sewing studio. In the meantime I am dealing with this mess.
This is an upstairs bonus room with an additional weird finished closet like area.
Right now DH is starting the huge job of shifting things around to make some sense of it all and because of my back I can only give directions. So it looks like a few more weeks until I will be back into sewing mode. We have only been here just over 2 weeks and the main floor is coming together. DH has already painted both the diningroom and kitchen and hung pictures etc. our boxes were not well marked by the movers so we still have lots of things to find but it is so nice to make things feel like home again.
I can't wait to get stitching again but almost dread sorting through the boxes as I unpack. Let's just say the movers were not careful - they forgot to shrink wrap some of those wire basket units and tipped one into a flower bed. And that was the one with all my LE fabrics! I could go on and on with moving horror stories but I think it is time to focus on the positive and get my sewing room in order!
Happy Stitching!
Posted with Blogsy
