Love Entwined...the beginning!

I came across another lovely blog, Jane's Threads. Jane has made and is making so  many lovely applique quilts one of which is Esther Aliu's Love Entwined: 1790 Marriage Coverlet (there is a button on the sidebar that will take you to Esther's blog in case you are tempted to make this quilt). You can see some of Jane's Love Entwined quilt here.

Love Entwined

Bunny and Jane have given me all the encouragement I need so I'm going to dive in fingers first and give this quilt a go! If it is too challenging I'll just make the compass block and be done with it. The quilt is done in sections so really I can stop at any point! That makes the idea of starting this project a little less overwhelming.

For me the most challenging part is selecting the fabrics for the compass in the centre because it will be the focal point and set the tone for the rest of the quilt. Once the compass colours are set the scheme will flow from there and it will be easier to choose colours and prints. I really loved the border fabric from the Hexagon and Blue Star quilt and the leftovers have not yet been put away.

I only used the blue stripe so there are black scraps and they are sitting right in front of me. I'm going to use the black print for the four main compass points. I'll foundation piece the entire compass so here are is the black stripes fussy cut along with the foundation papers that I will use. I've drawn them on newsprint because it is a little lighter than 20lb bond so it will be easier to remove when I'm done.

The compass points are on the background fabric that I plan to use for this quilt. The instructions call for 7 metres of fabric. I had two pieces of a dirty grey white cotton and there is enough for this quilt! I've selected two prints for the other compass points, both of which are directional prints. I like directional prints because they add a little pizzazz!

The centre of the compass is a circle divided in four and made with two fabrics. I'm not sure if I will do that or fussy cut the centre from a single fabric. I picked up a fat quarter of fabric with a lovely floral print and it was sitting in from of me. There are many different flowers that could be used for the centre but I'm kind of partial to this one. I love the muddy colours.

The next step is to select the fabrics for the background behind the compass points and then I can dive into the piecing. Stay tuned and I'll keep you posted on my progress

The internet is a wonderful place to learn how to do things. The Girl has taught herself to knit and has made some really wonderful pieces. This lace shawl was made with baby alpaca yarn and it is her latest garment. The knitting is finished and next is to block the shawl.

She has been knitting for less than a year and she taught herself to knit by watching on-line free tutorials. I'm very impressed and while I knit for many years I never attempted anything this complicated!

Close-up of knitted shawl

 

Time to get back to the Love Entwined quilt so until I post again, happy sewing!