The final three blocks for The Empire Quilt

Today I'm sharing the final three blocks that will make up my hexagon quilt that I call The Empire Quilt. There will of course be some filler bits to fill the gabs but they don't involve much in the way of sewing. Without further ado here is the first block.

The star in the centre is English paper pieced and then simply appliqued to a background. I like to repeat some fabrics in blocks to give a quilt a more unified look. The fabric in the centre of the star was used for the broderie perse in some of the bird blocks.

The leafy fabric was used in the kingfisher block below. I added the leaf at the top, the leaf below the branch and the blue flowers at the left end of the branch. They all come from the same piece of fabric.

They were also used in this bird block. I tried to select background fabrics that were similar to the background in the floral print so that the broderie perse applique would blend in.

Here's a close-up of the broderie perse. For a more detailed explanation of what I did you can read this post.

Right, back to the blocks I am sharing today. I also made this eight point star block. I English paper pieced the eight point star made of diamonds and then appliqued it to the background. The print I used is quite large and I've struggled with what to do with it. It has been in my stash for many years. I finally decided to turn it into what I call a sacrificial yard of fabric. I cut into it to make this star and have decided that the entire yard will be used for fussy cutting. It will eventually look like a slice of Swiss cheese but that's okay because it will be used to make beautiful things. The first cut is always the hardest but now that it has been done it will be much easier to cut it up! I really love the look and feel of this block.

The last block is an applique block that features an owl and again I used my floral print to do some broderie perse applique. I chose a background that worked relatively well with the background on the floral print so that the broderie perse just blends in nicely. The pieces for the owl and branch are relatively large and very easy to applique. The talons were embroidered with a chain stitch. I figure if something is too small for my fingers to applique I'll just embroider it!

This is one of my favourite blocks in the quilt. I like it so much that it is inspiration for another quilt that I plan to make. It will be a variation on The Empire Quilt. I've sketched it up and will eventually start working on it. For now it is just on the drawing board but when I get started you know I will share it with you!

That's it for today. Until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H

Swaps, treasures and quilting Africa!

Well I signed up for the Secret Tote Bag Swap and one of the things you have to do is make a photo mosaic of things you like to give your partner inspiration. Lest you thing I am adept at using the computer let me set the record straight! I am a picnic when it comes to the computer (problem in chair not in computer). I've tried making a mosaic and it generally reduces me to tears in a matter of only a couple of minutes so I decided I'll just throw a bunch of things I like on the wall, take a picture and call it a mosaic. So that's what I did and it worked!

The owl is a wall hanging I made last year and I call it Owl at Night (you can see the whole quilt in my Gallery). I hung four fabrics I really like at the bottom and on the left is a bag pattern I like. So if you are thinking of signing up for the swap but the mosaic thing is holding you back, just take a photo of things you like!

There was a yard sale on the weekend and I picked up two little treasures to add to the curio cabinet! The first is a cute little wooden house. I measures a small 4" tall! This is the front door with a path leading to it.

On the back are two people chatting.

I had no idea what it was but played around with it and discovered that the house comes off the base. It is a little treasure box! Wonder what I should put in it?

The second piece I got is a little cherub riding on a shell! Cute little vase!

I continue to work on Mom's African quilt. I removed the row of stitching above the fraying and did some jagged edge quilting instead. I am much happier with the hut now. The base of the hut is quilted with straight lines going back and forth.

I've quilted a square type of motif for the ground and will now have to think about the sky. Something simple but dense. I like the quilting in the red bands. I think it fits well with the "Africa" theme!

And here is a shot from the back. I love the way it is looking!

Time to take the cats to the vet for their annual exam and jabs! Until I post again, happy sewing!

Turning the ordinary into the extraordinary

Fussing cut fabric makes an ordinary block extraordinary. The entire block can be fussy cut as in these examples

 

 

or just one component of a block. A piece of fussy cut fabric strategically placed will create an impressive block. The two examples below are very pretty little 3” nine patches but the one on the right is in my opinion a little more charming because of the leaf in the centre, or more or less in the centre! I don’t worry about images being dead nut centre but rather more or less somewhere in the vicinity of centre! Once the block is in the quilt you won’t notice that it isn’t centered!

There are several blocks that are fussy cut in my quilt There’s a Snail in Grandma’s Flower Garden (see my April 5 post for a full size image of the quilt). This is the snowshoe fabric that was fussy cut. The showshoes measure just under 1".

 

And here are some of the hexagon diamonds with fussy cut snowshoes!

I also used the snowshoes to make the dragonfly wings!

Quilting Gallery’s Show and Share voting is open until Monday at 6:00 pm EST so if you would like to vote for my quilt There’s a Snail in Grandma’s Flower Garden I hope you’ll pay the site a visit and cast your ballot here.

Lastly here is little curio from my collection. I have no idea what it is but I suspect it was made in Hungary. The label on the bottom is in rough shape but I can make out the word “ALAJOS”. The crest of the owl can be removed and it has a long dipper. Clearly something is missing; the little bit of chain at the front should be attached so something but what? I wonder if this was some sort of little oil lamp. Does anyone have any ideas what this is, where it was made and when it might have been made? If so leave a comment or send me an email; I would love to hear from you!

Well that's about it for today! Until I post again, happy sewing!