Old Voices New Impressions

I made my way to the dreaded fabric shop this morning - wink, wink .  To my surprise they were in the middle of a shop hop.  I am not much into shop hops but today I found it helpful to have so many ladies available to give opinions.

It wasn’t easy finding a little corner to lay out fabrics but I managed to find a place and get in just the right number of peoples way to be a nuisance.

 I did get a lot of helpful advice.  Most said the pink was too overpowering and distracted from the applique.They thought the green was too busy.

The majority opinion was the blue seemed to draw your attention to the applique and be calming. 

There were  other fabrics I might have used  but sometime when I have too many choices I just get confused so I stuck with three.

I decided to go with the blue because I absolutely do want the applique to be the focal point and I can almost always  use some calming.

Until the next time,

Nancy

SVBAQ Quilt Month Five - Old Voices New Impressions

Block A5 Yellow Pink Tulip

What a fun quilt this is turning out to be.  I really enjoy watching each block come alive and following along with all the other quilters.  Seeing their fabric choices and how each quilt is turning out so different even though we are all using the same pattern.
You can go HERE or HERE to see all the other blocks or to purchase the pattern from
The Virginia Quilt Museum.

I have also completed all the blocks for my Old Voices New Impressions quilt.

Karen from Log Cabin Quilts started this sew-along last July.  The quilt is from a Jeana Kimbell book by the same name and several ladies, like Cathy have already finished their tops.

This is the version of the quilt I am making.  I don’t have any fabric in my stash that would work for the sashing and borders so I guess I am going to be forced into making a trip to the quilt shop.  
Oh dear, oh dear, what ever shall I do.
Until the next time,
Nancy

Shenandoah Valley and 1718 Coverlet Quilts

Shenandoah Valley January block Star in the East.  I believe it’s the 4th block in the

 sew along.  There have  been so many beautiful versions of this block posted here.

I have also been trying to catch up stitching  my 1718 Coverlet quilt blocks.  This is such a weird quilt most of the backgrounds for the 4 1/2” blocks are made up of lots of little pieces .

When I first started I tried to make every block just as the original.  I soon gave up on that idea and have now chosen to make the backgrounds a little simpler.

I don’t think it has changed the overall look of the quilt and it has sure has made life simpler for me.

On another note.  It’s been freezing here and yesterday we had a light dusting of snow.  Now it’s pretty sad when your Grandchildren get this excited about this much snow.

We really need to take them somewhere so they can experience the real thing.

Until the next time,

Nancy

Allietare

Finally I got all the little bits for the center of Allietare sewn together and this is the result.

Everything went together well except the final rows.  I did end up having to twist some of the seams on the four patches to get them to nest together.  Considering how many seams there are in this quilt I can’t complain and Bonnie did say all of the seams would not nest.

As hard as I tried I still missed matching some of the points exactly but hey I don’t care.               

I really like the colors she chose for this years Mystery Quilt and I suppose that’s why I decided to make it.  Bonnie’s quilts are alway different and special but they are also very labor intensive and the mystery is  at a very busy time of the year for me.  So I hope if I ever decide to make another one someone will remind me of  this.

The borders are going to be scalloped and I will have to purchase fabric for them because I don’t have a piece of black large enough.

It is doing to be a beautiful quilt and if you want the pattern it’s still on Quiltville here for you to download.

Happy stitching,

Nancy

December Summary

Christmas is over and It’s almost a new year.  Things have been really busy but I thought I would take a break  and post a little about my month.

I did get this months block for the Shenandoah Valley quilt stitched.  Not my favorite block from the quilt but not a difficult one.

"Classic Santas" is finally quilted. This is a Sue Garman pattern.  I stitched the blocks years ago when I first started appliquéing.  It’s needle turn which I seldom do anymore.  If you are not familiar with Sue’s blog you should check it out here.  It is just full of wonderful pictures.

Finished up a couple of little Christmas gifts just in time to gift them.

I have also been working on the new Bonnie Hunter mystery “Allietare" from Quiltville.  

The first three clues are stitched but the 4th is waiting until after Christmas.  The fifth came out today so I know what I will be stitching this week.

I am also secretly hoping no one offers a free BOM applique quilt this year because I have no will power and I already have several that need finishing.

Here’s hoping everyone's  Christmas / Holliday was as wonderful and blessed as ours .

Shenandoah Valley Quilt Along Month Two "Blue Flag"

I am late again posting about my block for this month.

My Blue Flag block is not blue as you can see.  I really didn’t want any blue in my quilt but I did want to add something other than red, pink, yellow and green so I chose violet.

My blocks so far.

It’s been fun working with these colorful Kaffe fabrics.

If you have the time and would like  to see all the  beautiful interpretations of the blue flag block go here. 

Now back to cleaning and cooking for Thanksgiving.

Until the next time,

Nancy

Old Voices New Impressions

I haven’t posted an update on my Old Voices New Impressions blocks since July and I am not really sure how many blocks we are supposed to have stitched so I thought I would just post pictures of the ones I have so far.

The blocks stitch up quickly since I have them already prepped .

I  never really cared much for birds in applique until I stitched these but they are so cute who wouldn’t like them.

I am happy with my decision to use batiks for this quilt.  The blocks are turning out so bright and cheery.

All my blocks so far.

Until the next time,

Nancy

Virginia Quilt Museum's Shenandoah Valley Botanical Album Quilt

It's the 15th of October and time to post my first blocks for the Virginia Quilt Museum's Shenandoah Valley Botanical Album Quilt Sew Along.

This month we were to stitch the Pineapple block.

I am making the 16 inch block because most of my fabrics have large prints and will show better on larger applique pieces.

There are three pineapple blocks in the quilt.  I have chosen to make my quilt using Kaffe Fassett fabrics since I have a nice collection of them.

My background is a Moda Bella soft butter color.

I still haven't decided if I will ink the names of the blocks on my background.

 

 As far as what technique I will use well, I am a starch and turn girl so I will stick with this method.

There are so many different ways to do appliqué and we must pick the one that works the best for us.
In my opinion there is no right or wrong way just what works for you.

We have two very talented ladies leading this Sew Along :

Dawn from Collector with a Needle http://collectorwithaneedle.blogspot.com

Doreen from Aunt Reen's Place  http://auntreensplace.blogspot.com

The sales from this lovely pattern are to  benefit the VA Quilt Museum  http://svbotanicalquilt.blogspot.com

There is also a Facebook group you can follow  https://www.facebook.com/shenvalleybotanicalquiltsewalong

It's never too late to join the fun.

Nancy

Log Cabin First

A few months back I sewed a bunch of wonky log cabin blocks to make this quilt.  Not being sure what to do for borders I asked here and got several good suggestions one of which was to add a white border.  So I did, but it still looked like it needed something more so I fused a bunch of free form flowers and leaves here and there.

Not wanting to take the time or effort it would involve to zig zag around them on my sewing machine I decided to just finish the edges with my long arm while I was doing the quilting.

After all the other quilting was finished I went back and sewed the edges of the flowers until I thought they were secure.

I wasn't sure how this would turn out so I washed the quilt a couple of times.  Nothing fell off  and there is only a little fraying around the flowers.

Now don’t look too closely at those feathers because this was my real first attempt at stitching  so many and they are far from perfect. I also needed to stitch them out into the border someway.  Funny how you don’t notice  things until you take a photograph .
I am linking up with A Quilting Readers Garden Wips -be- Gone 

Until the next time,

Nancy