A little more applique

I’m happy to have made some progress on the applique cradle quilt which I started back in October.

It’s inspired by an 1826 Cradle Quilt from New Jersey in the collection of the Michigan State University.

I know it was October because I wrote the date in the book.

A very good habit to get in to.

See where I’ve written ‘started with 75cm’ of the Windham True Madder.

mmmmm… it’s not really very much is it.

In my defence I often start quilts in this way, I just want to get going and worry about minor details

like having enough fabric!

later on, if and when it becomes a problem hurdle.

Anyway once the quilt got to look like this

I started thinking I’d like to try and get some more of that madder if possible.

The range is a few years old now and I haven’t seen any on the local shelves for a long time,

but Laptop quilts in the US came up trumps with the last piece, possibly.in.the.world, just shy of a yard.

Had to make the postage worth it of course so I also grabbed 4 yards of another oldie but goodie.

Phew, just in time for Christmas.

While waiting for my fabric to arrive I had ummed and aahed about what to applique in the setting triangles.

From the start I had planned to do something different to the three tulips which are placed in each corner of the original quilt.  I had some ideas which were discarded then replaced with other ideas, which were also discarded.

Then I got to thinking there would be a reason the maker had put tulips in her quilt, don’t know what it was of course but I’m sure she had one.  Maybe she had several reasons.

And I hadn’t come up with a better option so one night about two weeks ago, with an hour and a half before a movie I wanted to see started, I came over to the studio on a mission.

Paper-cut a tulip and see if I like it as nothing else is coming to mind that I can settle on.  And it’s only paper…nothing lost.

I had to paper-cut two tulips to get one I was happy with

Yep, that’s good… a single tulip in each corner.

I had time to prep one tulip and baste it to the background in readiness for watching my movie,

Vicki, Christina, Barcelona

but the picture shows a couple of days later with two tulips sewn

I prefer to applique the pieces on to a square to avoid stretching the bias.

I’ve finished that part of the applique now and they are ready to be cut apart and sewn to the centre block.

So it’s coming along nicely.

til soon,

Margaret

PS Jenn has darkened the dark grey text to almost black here, and knows the yellowy colour and the deep red need work, we may even change the colour completely. Please continue to bear with us, it takes a bit of diary negotiating to fit in the time neeeded to do it.