Applique

Moving along with the Maltaville…

August 25, 2011 by Margaret

I can’t believe how much of a roll I am on with this quilt, I think because I am over (well over) the half way mark I feel like I just want to race to the finish line. That sounds just a teeny bit ‘sporty’ and I am not the least bit sporty…

I’d rather be sewing/reading/or having a tooth pulled than running with a ball.

I have completed a previously prepared block.

Block H7

The fabric in the Flowers and Berries is a favourite Mary Koval fabric which has been in my stash for several years.

I have only a small amount of the red but lots in the blue colourway.

Treasures Uncovered by Mary Koval pattern #25830

I do get excited when I see a very well done reproduction of an old fabric and the red is a brilliant example.

This one's the real deal

When I met Mary and we talked fabrics she told me that she does like to change things just a little sometimes to personalise it and you can see here she has changed a colour in the rectangle shape from blue to green and one pair of dots is black instead of blue. The scale is altered too (but not too much), but in essence it’s the same fabric. You can click all the photo’s to enlarge for a better look

The reason I chose this fabric for a Maltaville Quilt block, and I’ve got enough for a couple more blocks, is that it comes from a quilt made in 1848 (dated) so only a year after the Maltaville’s date.

The quilt, which that piece of fabric above comes from, is a signature hexagon friendship quilt from Shepherdstown, West Virginia and dated at 1848. The block above includes the inscription Remember me White cottages. The quilt forms part of the quilt collection in the American Museum in Bath, England.

I have drafted and prepped three more blocks.

The blocks which I can prepare in one hit are my favourite, I can zoom along with those, maybe take it to quilting and finish a block in an evening.

Block E1

I have introduced a new fabric in this block above …oh really, that’s not like you

The blue is an RJR Smithsonian fabric from the Rising Sun Quilt, pattern Woodlands # 2209-2 and the brown a Jo Morton fabric which I used in the tree trunk of the bird block.

Some blocks have to be prepped in stages and this is one of those, I do these ones at home in the evenings so I can sew a few leaves then add another layer.

Block C2

You probably can’t tell yet but it’s the Iris block. I have repeated the madder fabric used in the Saturn block A4 as I hadn’t used it again so far and it’s a fave.

Last but not least I have prepped H2

Block H2 in progress

With this block I am trying something new to me, the circle in the top corner will be a star. I just want to see if this method is going to work for me so only have one star attached at the mo.

The method was featured on Barbara Brackman’s Material Culture site a few weeks ago here and I am keen to give it a go, it seems a lot easier as long as we don’t get too hung up about ‘perfect’ stars. The stars in the original of H2 look like they were done sans template so it seemed the best block to try it out.

Yesterday I took a rare midweek day off, I was meeting an interstate cousin in Melbourne for dinner and decided it would be a good chance to do a couple of long planned city things beforehand. At the last minute I asked Jennifer if she wanted to come too as one of the places on my list was the Melbourne Museum and I know it was on her list too.

I took photo’s of the early 20th century Australian domestic handcrafts on display, and I was interested to compare them to the New Zealand items I have seen from that era, we were a patriotic lot with King and Country featured heavily on both sides of the Tasman.

I’ll prepare a post shortly about it.

I am going to Quilts in The Barn this coming Sunday and am looking forward to seeing Jo Morton’s quilts and catching up with friends, please say Hi if you see me.

1848 Quilt original fabric references sourced from: Classic Quilts from The American Museum In Britain, Laura Beresford and Katherine Hebert, Curators. Scala Publishers Ltd 2009 pp 52, 53.

www.scalapublishers.com

www.americanmuseum.org

Stop press:

Getting ahead of myself, Quilts In the Barn is not this coming weekend but the following one, the 2nd-4th September (thanks Irene xx)

7 Comments

Filed Under: Applique, Design, Maltaville Album Quilt 1847

Spring is getting ready to…spring

August 3, 2011 by Margaret

Some of my recent posts have made mention of the bleak winter we have had, well look now…

First blooms

I took a little stroll around the garden at lunchtime

(it’s warmer outside than in because I let the fire go out last night)

I have masses and masses of Daffodils but the first are just emerging now, give it a few weeks and my garden will be a blaze of yellow.

Violets too…

I wish you coud smell these...heady.

I look out my window to potted Hyacinths… but I will plant these out in the garden when they die back.

ooops...Spot the spray starch through the window, this is my workroom.

And just to illustrate that here in Australia we know we really shouldn’t moan about cold winters, hanging on all through winter are two roses still in bloom…a bit ratty looking but they’ve seen more than a few frosts.

Dublin Bay, a (usually) very gorgeous climber.

I have been very productive on the Maltaville these last few weeks, drafting and prepping.

But before prepping comes auditioning the fabrics.

The Prussian Blue is a given, and the Red. At this stage I’m going with the fabric on the top right hand side for the arcs.

Some fabric choices fall in to place so easily and these next two I’m really happy with.

I ‘m really pleased how close these fabric choices are to the original…maybe the best so far.

Block D1

Block D8

I never did get any little yellow check of the right scale or shade for a few of the blocks so I have

repeated a light cheddar (or a dark butterscotch yellow)

which I have used in another block for this next one.

Block D3

Time to light the fire again, I have another Maltaville block partly sewn which I want to finish

this evening and I need to make sure the living room is

Toastie.

til soon…

2 Comments

Filed Under: Applique, Maltaville Album Quilt 1847, Musings, Reproduction Quilts

An Ohio Star Strippy, more Maltaville …and something modern, eeeek.

May 16, 2011 by Margaret

Friday was bleak here in Central Victoria and moving my sewing stuff out of the studio and in to the living room in front of the fire seemed a very inviting proposition.

I cut and sewed like a woman posessed and finished this….

I am really pleased to get this finished (well the top)

You may remember it in progress from here

Just to re-cap this quilt came in to being because I needed to make a quilt based on the Ohio Star block for the Vic. Quilters Showcase in July this year where my local quilt group is being featured.

Originally I had planned it to be a straight set quilt ~ maybe with a narrow sashing in the plain white ~ but it has morphed in to a strippy.

Forty blocks, some of the really fave reds have two blocks and some just one.

On Friday (when I moved in to the living room) I had all the blocks already made,

it was the 400 half square triangles that have taken the time.

I thought it might be quicker than making more blocks.

Jury’s out on that one.

Now that the Ohio Star is as good as done I can get back to concentrating on the Maltaville Quilt centre block.

The vine is all sewn and I will prepare more of the applique pieces this week.

A friend and I are going to the Phillip Island Quilt-in this Saturday and I want to take this with me to work on.

I have chosen the next four blocks for the Maltaville mailout this month…

Block A8

Block A2

Block C1

Block C5

In this bottom one (C5) I have sewn it like the original with its little mishap… I like it this way but have no idea if it was indeed a mishap for the original maker or if this is how she intended it to be.

Last week Jennifer kept me company on a trip to one of my suppliers.

It was her job to find a couple of quilt shops we could visit on the way and she found shops specialising in more contemporary fabrics.

I bought these…

Contemporary and Snazzy

…had to get a Paisley in there didn’t I?

When I was in NZ last month, good friends gave me (and DH) an unexpected and fabulous gift so a quilt idea has been buzzing around in my head in the last few weeks.

A traditional, antique style quilt is just not going to be their ‘thing’ but I think they will like these fabrics and I will have fun working with these.

Not at all what I usually buy, but I really like them.

9 Comments

Filed Under: 1800s Reproduction Fabrics, Applique, Design, Maltaville Album Quilt 1847, Prussian Blues, Reproduction Quilts, Smithsonian Fabrics, Turkey Reds

Maltaville Album Quilt ~ I’m ready to start the centre…

April 29, 2011 by Margaret

image of Maltaville Album Quilt centre block pattern

I can’t wait to start cutting out fabric…

It seems to have taken so long to get to this stage.

For a long time it has been only in the first rough draft stage.

Just a basic outline with some very general placement to judge the spacing but this stage allows me to see how the shapes will fit and the scale the individual pieces need to be.

However straight away I wasn’t happy with the vine.

It was too uniform because I had used a compass to put the margins for the inside and outside of the vine, which is well and good for reference points but it needed to be more free-form.

Many versions (and days) later I had this -above- which I am happy with but all the shapes are hand drawn so they are not exactly the same…way too many templates.

At that point I was really itching to get the fabric out and start the block.

I thought “I can work off this drawing and make a good master copy later”.

I just wanted to start sewing.

But I controlled my natural impulsiveness and stayed focused…

I’m glad I did because I altered the stems again for the better, changing the way it branches off in to the corner roses.

And made templates for the shapes so that there won’t be a million different templates.

I figure that with the stitching little variances will occur anyway.

and fiddled about with the spacing again.

I think this way it will work well, there is a frame work there but still scope to place the flowers and leaves randomly.

I’m tossing up whether to add something to the middle (optional of course)

I could…

add an inscription or poem

applique something ~ bird? Not more grapes!

Or have it perfect for some intricate quilting.

Any suggestions?

3 Comments

Filed Under: Applique, Design, Maltaville Album Quilt 1847, Reproduction Quilts

Morrell and Valdani…and a new studio space

April 26, 2011 by Margaret

After my last post Kathie said she’d love to know what I think of the Valdani threads so I had a quick rummage around in the sewing room for something to have a little trial with…

A Sarah Morrell block in progress using RJR Smithsonian fabrics, from the Rising Sun Quilt collection... the chintz is Potpourri #2200 in Purple and the small print is Teardrop #2207 in Plum.

…then remembered this nearly finished bit of Broderie Perse for my Sarah Morrell quilt.

I had been using one strand of DMC for the stitching and had been around all the raw edges except for the purple roses because I didn’t have the right shade of purple in my DMC threads.

The Valdani ‘Antique Violet’ #P-10 was a perfect colour match even though in the photo it appears to be closer in shade to the pieced fabric…because of its variegations it blends beautifully (is variegations a word?)

I am a quilter who refuses to obey the rules and I cut my thread (but not DMC obviously) longer than fingertip to elbow…always have… and sometimes/frequently I am sorry I did that, but like Homer Simpson I keep doing it. But this thread didn’t tangle or knot, it didn’t shred -granted it is meant to be stronger than DMC- and because it’s a bit thicker it gives a really nice edge to the Broderie Perse.

I like it a lot.

If you click on the photo it will give you a close up view, then click again on the green arrow to get a bit closer still…all the purple is Valdani and everything else is DMC -single strand.

I was so inspired I added two of the border strips – all four have been made for ages – but I won’t make the corner pieces just yet as I am concentrating on other projects. So this block will go away again but it’s slowly progressing on its journey.

Very soon everything in my sewing space will be turned upside down and inside out because it’s moving to a new home…

Yes...at last !!

…I know, you can hardly see anything but I had to do some major photoshop cropping because I am embarrased about the weeds.

My gorgeous son told me 6 weeks ago that he’s got his own place and I have been counting the days until he vacates the little cottage at the bottom of the garden..and that day is Friday.

I will love having my own “I’m off to work now” space because it’s so easy to get distracted when working from inside the house even though I do set myself quite regimented working hours. The cottage has a little kitchenette (more ette than kitchen) but it’s big enough for a fridge, a couple of cups -for visitors – and a coffee machine, it has its own loo and even a shower so I may never need to come out. I’m planning on moving my computer and printer over there too so I will have my design space and office under one roof.

Pictures from the inside coming soon-ish

6 Comments

Filed Under: 1800s Reproduction Fabrics, Applique, Broderie Perse, Sarah Morrell Album Quilt 1843, Smithsonian Fabrics

Maltaville countdown

February 11, 2011 by Margaret

Finished Maltaville Blocks ...or nearly finished

I know you’ve all been so patient, waiting for news of the Maltaville Quilt~ Block of the Month patterns.

I’ve been drafting and stitching madly for the last few weeks and learning all sorts of things about computer stuff (retaining some of it is proving harder than I thought but never mind…practice makes perfect) and thank you to everyone who wrote with paper sizes.

Apart from being indebted to Jennifer at 5foot1quilts for all her techy help I am also grateful to Michele at Betwixt the Betweens who patiently printed off the same appliqué pattern over and over as I tried to clarify in my mind how to write instructions to make sure the pattern pages aren’t shrunk to fit printer margins. It took a few goes but we got there

The release of the Block of the Month is virtually ready to go, I just need some final assistance in adding the shopping cart to this website (and that is this weekend’s job) so if all goes according to plan I anticipate the release of the pattern by 22nd February which is a little later than I had hoped but I under-estimated how long it can take to get all that other stuff ready.

The release of the Block of the Month will contain all the BOM program details… Cost, Time Frame, Block Placement Map, Fabric Scans to help with your fabric choices and Instructions for signing up to the Maltaville Album Quilt blog. I have been busy over on that blog too adding extra pages but they’re all hiding in the wings waiting for the pattern release.

It would be an understatement to say I’m thrilled to have now sewn fourteen blocks and have a further four drafted.

Tomorrow it is the Castlemaine Appliqué Group (CAG) and I have a Maltaville block basted and ready to sew, it’s the first CAG for the year so it will be lovely to see what everyone has been doing over the summer hol’s and to spend a relaxing day with friends.

I hope your weekend is a good one too…

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Filed Under: Applique, Maltaville Album Quilt 1847, Quilt Patterns, Reproduction Quilts

Maltaville Album Quilt 1847

January 15, 2011 by Margaret

Well I’m hurtling along with this, especially after Jennifer suggested I ought to be a dozen blocks ahead just to be safe…thanks Jenn I know you’re right.

I have spent some time drawing up a plan of the whole quilt to clarify how many different types of applique blocks there are (wreath/lone flower/four elements/eight elements/symbols etc) and how many are variations of the same block or are exactly the same. I’ve also been mulling over ideas of how many blocks per month will work etc and how best to select what participants get each month (some easy/intermediate/complex for instance) so that still has to be finalised but I’m making notes of all my ideas.

However, more importantly I’ve finished stitching the Saturn block, drafted and stitched an Oak Leaf and Reel block and drafted and nearly finished stitching a Starburst block and drafted another block ready for fabric choices tomorrow. Phew…I need a drink and a lie down.

Oak Leaf and Reel block using two Smithsonian fabrics; Little Sister's Quilt, pattern Maze in Grass Green and Copp Quilt, pattern Willow in Terracotta.

I love the Oak Leaf and Reel pattern, my DD is named Ayla which is Hebrew for Oak Tree and it’s on my ‘long term list’ to make her a quilt using this pattern…one day.

Stitching late in to the night...

I decided to use the Back Basting method again… a little bit of work before hand but I like the method for these *cut as you go* blocks.

Starburst Block,

After drafting this block there was a little bit of tweaking to get the scale right, you can see I had to take just a whisker off before I was happy with it.

This morning I decided I had better cut all the background squares (in the past I had been fighting with 6 plus metres of fabric whenever I made another block)…perfect opportunity as DH and DS were out for the dayand I needed to take over the dining table for this job.

All the background squares cut, the centre square cut and (LtoR) Starburst, Saturn, Oak Leaf and Reel, Peacock and Feather Blocks.

Oh, while I think of it…6.9 metres of background (plus binding) needed if any of you are getting your supplies ready in advance. I used a Kona plain/colour Bone. I really like the quality of the Kona plains, it’s nicely woven to provide a good base for applique.

Two nights ago my DS (nearly 22) brought in to the house a quilt I had made him years and years ago (he lives in a little s/c cottage on our property so sort of still at home but ‘out of the house’) I spotted a veritable stash-full of Smithsonian fabrics in it and when I looked at the label I had started it in 1997, say no more…actually I am ashamed to say I had made the label out of Smithsonian fabric too…What was I thinking!

So I need to am going to give it a wash before I photograph it and show it to you but it got me thinking about my other quilts which have a fair share of these most beloved of my fabrics. Here’s one for today…(I have quite a few and I’ll try to show you one every few days)

Fair Isle

Fair Isle is so named because it reminds me of the Fair Isle knitted jerseys my mother knitted for me. (translate…Jersey is a New Zealand word for Pull-over/Jumper/Sweater)

Mum and her older brother (was she knitting for him too) about 1948

My quilt label says 2004 but that would have been when I finally finished the hand quilting (a job which took several years of intermitent quilting) I started this in 1997 when the backround fabric was released.

Fair Isle close-up. Background is my fave pink. I have heaps of the Green Smithsonian left; Copp Quilt pattern Berry Leaf in Avocado but would give my eye teeth for more of the red.

Like the Welsh Quilt I got my inspiration for Fair Isle from a British decorating magazine.

They're probably telling me what bedside lamps to buy but I only noticed the quilt...sorry about the sticky tape through the page.

10 pm, time to do a little stitching before bed.

Thanks for visiting…

15 Comments

Filed Under: Applique, Design, Fair Isle Quilt, Maltaville Album Quilt 1847, Reproduction Quilts, Smithsonian Fabrics

I’m off to ‘quilting’

January 12, 2011 by Margaret

Do you just refer to your local quilt group as Quilting… I just yell to DH from the door “Ok I’m off to quilting…see you” even though I don’t actually quilt there. I belong to quite a few different quilt related organisations and always refer to them by proper names, it’s only my fortnightly Wednesday group (The Goldfields Quilters) that has lost its moniker. Do you do the same?

Anyway tonight is quilting, the first one after the Christmas break, and even though the rain is pouring down (and thunder has just started) and the roads will be yuk I will be steadfastly going because I can and many of my quilting comrades in Qld and NSW can’t go anywhere due to devastating flooding, so I’m going for you guys and will encourage everyone to go through their stashes to help you replenish yours.

After my last post a couple of you asked about the Maltaville Album Quilt being a kind of quilt-along or pattern.

Well, Jennifer (my technical support and 5foot1quilts ) had suggested just that very thing last week so your queries were very timely, thank you.

After talking with Jenn about it again and working out how best to do it, I can say that yes I will be doing a pattern which people can join in and download the patterns each month.

I do just want to get another block or two ahead before I start though and I’ll have to spend a little time learning how to do downloadable patterns etc, and there’ll probably be a blog to go with it that participants can post their blocks on too. Stay tuned and I hope to get it happening in the next few weeks.

In the meantime… I have spent the morning preparing some hand stitching ready to take to ‘quilting’ tonight and my next Maltaville block is one I’ll be taking.

Maltaville Album Quilt ~ Saturn Block

This is now all tacked and glued down but I though I’d show you some of the process. What I needed was something 5 1/4″ round to trace around…you know how hard it is to draw a circle. My Perfect Circles templates don’t go that big so I started hunting around the studio then the kitchen where I spotted these…

Gotta be something close in that lot

Perfect...it is 5 1/4" exactly.

Choosing the fabrics

At the last minute I decided to make the little moons out of three different Smithsonian fabrics for a bit of tonal variety so the bottom fabric has been joined by two more. I’m really happy with how it’s looking and this one won’t take long to stitch (I hope).

However as this is going to now be a Quilt-along it may have been smarter for me to start with the centre block (doh). At present I’m just doing them in any order that appeals but I should probably start thinking about a more orderly approach.

Connecticut Quilt

I spent a blissful Monday and Tuesday further planning and sewing on the Connecticut Quilt. I have added the small Ohio Stars to ‘square up’ the quilt in readiness for the next border (red and cream squares).

I stared gung ho by making a little block and then rejected it

I really like this striped fabric and it certainly ‘went’ with everything else around it but when I put up on the wall with the quilt centre it lacked definition…

That’s better against the baskets.

These blocks are tiny…3 1/8″ finished, so it was easier to make the units oversized and trim them down.

And the light fabric is very fine so starching it helped to stabilise it for such small pieces.

I prefer the Best Press on the left (no residue) but had to resort to Crisp when I ran out

And just because there’s no time like the present to start playing around with something new (I am still en vacance after all) here’s another little bit of hand stitching I prepared this morning.

French Quilt

18 months ago I bought some very gorgeous fabrics when I was holidaying in the south of France (from Les Olivades in St Etienne du Gres near St Remy de Provence) and have been pondering possible quilts to use them in. Last week I found a pattern for a variation on the Double Wedding Ring, the pattern was by Deb McArdle who is a designer and tutor from Ballarat (Deb was one of the quilters whose work I noticed and enjoyed early in my quiltmaking days and in November I had the pleasure of being a judges’ assistant to Deb when she was one of two judges at the One Step Further Exhibition in Melbourne)

Deb has come up with this really interesting way of creating a Double Wedding Ring using a square and bias strips.

Making Bias Strip using fusible paper

Super quick and easy.

Now I’ve just got time to tidy up the mess I’ve made in the studio after all this morning’s activity before organising dinner for the family and heading out the door to Quilting.

10 Comments

Filed Under: 1800s Reproduction Fabrics, Applique, Connecticut Quilt 1865-1890, Design, French Fabrics, Maltaville Album Quilt 1847, Reproduction Quilts, Smithsonian Fabrics

To -do lists

January 9, 2011 by Margaret

Happy 2011 everybody.

I didn’t intend to have such a long hiatus from blogging but my little holiday break seemed to lapse in to a bout of computer laziness.

Christmas day here was lovely with family and good friends in abundance…and thankfully my children have reached the age where they can allow me to sit back (just a bit) and enjoy the day.

DD, slicing and dicing; Mumsie no where to be seen but no doubt enjoying some of that Champagne.

DH and I had a couple of nights in South Melbourne at DD’s place early this week (cat and house sitting) so we got to do a few city things… balmy Melbourne evenings/sitting on the upstairs balcony/relaxing/restaurant dinners/G and T’s.

And during the rest of the summer break (which still has a week to go for me) I have thoroughly enjoyed taking the time to get back to some projects and to-do lists.

One quilt (top) I am really pleased to have finished is the Nebraska Basket Quilt.

You may remember this pic from an earlier post

Work in progress

Well now the top is finished and ready for quilting.

Nebraska Basket Quilt circa 1854

This quilt is one I started a couple of years ago. My inspiration was a quilt by Mary Novotny Lahowetz (1835-1907)

Mary and her quilt are featured on pages 20 and 21 of the book

Nebraska Quilts and Quiltmakers;

Edited by Patricia Cox Crewes and Ronald C. Naugle, University of Nebraska Press (1991)

Mary’s quilt features this unususal basket block whereby the piecing of the basket extends into the space usually left open below the handle.

Does spotting an unusual block variation get you rushing for graph paper and pencil too?

I have drawn up another block for the Maltaville Album Quilt 1847 and managed to get that sewn over the break.

I decided to have a go with the ‘back basting’ method which I have seen on various blogs over time…I thought it would be perfect for this Scherenschnitte type block.

Back-Basting in readiness for applique. Dargate Prussian Blue C. 1830, patt # 24413 by Margo Krager

Back-Basting, reverse side shown.

Then I cut the fabric a little way ahead and unpicked just a basting stitch or two ahead of where I was sewing…
…turning the seam allowance under as I went.

I found the method worked very well, thank you to those of you who have shared it before.

Voila…

The Maltaville Album Quilt (1847) is in the Smithsonian Institute.

It contains 61 applique blocks (one large central block surrounded by 60 smaller blocks) and now I have finished two with another nearly drafted and ready to go.

The original features a lot of Prussian Blues so I am enjoying trialling different options from my stash.

The other bit of ‘whimsy’ I’m frittering hours away on is my Drunkards Path. I’ve no idea what this will end up as …a whole quilt or just a border for something, but in the meantine it’s a bit of enjoyable evening hand stitching or something to take to ‘quilting’ if I haven’t got anything else organised.

Drunkards Path Blocks

I’ve been cutting 5″ squares out of my stash including bits of Smithsonian, I need to add some Prussian Blues though.

Okay, one week left of the hol’s…Focus,

Connecticut Quilt, you’re next.

9 Comments

Filed Under: Antique Quilts, Applique, Design, Maltaville Album Quilt 1847, Nebraska Basket Quilt c1850, Prussian Blues, Reproduction Quilts, Smithsonian Fabrics

why, oh why, do we keep starting new things?

November 27, 2010 by Margaret

Hope you didn’t get a shock… I just wanted to make some changes.

My studio space and office table have been a hive of activity this last week or so.

What started the office activity was me deciding I really needed to finalise my new business card design because I wanted a more consistent ‘look’ to…well everything. So with oodles and oodles of help from my Design and Technical Support Team Jennifer (5foot1quilts), an image has been designed and colour theme chosen.

This has brought about the new colour for my sidebar and tabs which I am hoping you will see as a 19th century Cheddar and not a 1970s Burnt Orange!! It did have to be mellowed a bit for the web though so as not to be too hard on the eyes. Then of course the photo clashed so that had to be changed, this new one will have to do (even though it’s a bit greenish) until Jennifer has time to make the logo fit in the space without being pulled out of shape. There are still some changes I want to make but I hope they will be minor (and so does Jenn!!!). I’d welcome any comments about whether you like it or not, truly…be honest.

My Prussian Blues which I ordered from the States a couple of weeks ago arrived yesterday…please, whoever is filling the Aussie dollar with helium, you can stop now- I am going broke.

Dargate Prussian Blues by Margo Krager for Windham Fabrics. L to R. 24413-1, 24412-1, 24411-1, 24408-2

These are ‘oldies but goodies’ I found and had to have, I blogged about the other Prussians I have over at What Fabric is That.com

True Madder from Windham Fabrics #20327

This one came in the same parcel and was one I was down to the last little pieces of and was happy to be able to get more from www.laptopquilts.com

The activity in my studio was prompted by my forward planning for a little time off over the Christmas break, I got to thinking about a UFO or two (3,4,5…) I could get finished and pulled out this as a posibility…

Nebraska Basket Quilt c 1850

I have 30 basket blocks sewn and have several ideas that need finalising before proceeding…

…but I needed wanted a little hand project to do at the Love and Friendship meeting last Saturday so ‘whipped up’ another Morrell block to work on. I don’t actually require any more Morrell blocks I just felt like incorporating some Smithsonian recently added to the stash, you know how it is.

Sarah Morrell block using RJRs Smithsonian ~ Rising Sun Quilt 'Potpourri' #2200-1

And then, as often happens when idling around the studio on a wet day, before I knew it I had started planning a new quilt…

And then started drawing, choosing, oh-oh cutting and …might as well go with it, stitching.

Inspired by the Maltaville Album Quilt 1847, Smithsonian Institute.

The Maltaville Album Quilt is one I’ve admired for ages…I’ve still got the embroidery to do on this block, but am planning the next block already, those Prussian Blues are going to come down off the shelf.

And finally…yes there’s more

Ohio Star Variation

Inspired by Kathie over at Inspired by Antique Quilts (yes Kathie I’m enjoying watching the progress of your Red and White quilt) I made a quick trip in to Threadbear this morning to grab some Kona Plain (bone) because I wanted to make a start on this Ohio Star.

In my defence, the Ohio Star is being made for a reason (well, a reason other than I just felt like it…which is plenty good enough reason), next year The Goldfields Quilters (my LQG) is being featured in the Victorian Quilters Showcase and about 18 of us have commited to each providing a quilt to hang in the Exhibition. In order to make a cohesive display some of us are doing Ohio Stars. Mine is going to be different Turkey Reds and plain White…I wanted a more solid look, hence the variation to the traditional colour placement, then I wanted it just abit more open so added the applique circle. I think I’m happy with it but I may make the applique circle a bit bigger, that will mean another quick trip to Threadbear to buy the bigger set of Mylar Circles…

And of course I didn’t just leave with the Kona plain this morning did I…

Garibaldi #7017-8 by Sara Morgan for Blue Hills Fabric

Why do we start new things? I don’t know…but a few in blogland have been pondering over the same thought recently.

Is it because if we start it, it’s now something tangible and therefore can’t get lost or forgotten.

Or do we just need to keep on creating…and creating…and creating.

All I can say is I’m glad a vacation is coming up, I’m going to need that time.

Ciao for now…

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Filed Under: 1800s Reproduction Fabrics, Applique, Design, Maltaville Album Quilt 1847, Nebraska Basket Quilt c1850, Prussian Blues, Reproduction Quilts, Sarah Morrell Album Quilt 1843, Smithsonian Fabrics, Turkey Reds

Moving along with the Maltaville…

Spring is getting ready to…spring

An Ohio Star Strippy, more Maltaville …and something modern, eeeek.

Maltaville Album Quilt ~ I’m ready to start the centre…

Morrell and Valdani…and a new studio space

Maltaville countdown

Maltaville Album Quilt 1847

I’m off to ‘quilting’

To -do lists

why, oh why, do we keep starting new things?

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