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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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)

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.

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

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

Thanks for visiting…