Sunday, February 19, 2017

Spring Bling

All over town the daffodils are blooming, it is February 19.  There are many days and nights when the temperature is barely above freezing.  The calendar says it is still winter and there is a chance of snow.  There have been years when the daffodils were blooming and there was snow on their blooms.  March 20, one month from now, is the first official day for spring.

Winter is full of browns and grays, but Spring dips into her magic box of 120 Crayola crayons  and paints the earth with dazzling yellow daffodils and forsythia, bright red tulips, chartreuse green of tender new grass, red velvet leaves on Japanese maples and sweet pinks of flowering crabtree trees, magnolia and redbuds.

In celebration of spring, I decided it was time to add a spring quilt to my little quilt/tabletopper collection.  My quilt fabric stash has many Civil War reproduction prints and I just received 26 fat quarters from Jo Morton for the LWC 16 for 2017.  There are a few 30's prints which would work but the fabric winner for my spring bling quilt is from Joanna Figueroa and her fig tree fabric.  One day while I was shopping in my LQS, her fabric caught my eye (no small feat when there are hundreds of bolts of fabric).  The fabric seemed to embody the colors of spring.  A bundle of fat quarters founds its way into my shopping cart.  

Martingdale released a new book called I Love Churn Dashes.  Jo Morton has a really sweet church dash set on point quilt in this book.  One of the patterns in the LWC 16 for 2017 is a church dash.  Ahh, the elements are coming together--fabric, pattern.  I have been reading, studying and watching You Tube demonstrations to improve my quilting skills and have added a new ruler to help with accuracy.  The church dash blocks are 3 1/2"  

I will enjoy the daffodils while they are blooming and the colors in the spring bling quilt when the cold winds return.


Saturday, February 11, 2017

This and That

Nickyscreations
April Bunny
Stash Linen (Lakeside? 32 Ct)
NPI silks

In my endeavor to stitch more seasonal pieces, I have chosen April Bunny by Nickyscreations for a spring piece and sweet pinkeep for the old dough bowl.  In my linen stash was a piece of soft green--bunnies enjoy tender green grass.  NPI silks has a brown range of fibers called Bunny Brown and this seemed a no brainer choice of color to stitch the bunny.  The chenille trim is from R & R Reproductions, it is called Kelp.

Blackbird Designs-Home for the Holidays
Poinsettia Stocking
Stash Linen

The Blackbird Girls, Alama and Barb released a book at last years Nashville Needlework Market called Home for the Holidays.  Four of the designs inside the book are sampler stockings.  Yes, it is February and if I start now, I might actually have at least one of these stockings finished to add to my needlework tree.

The Poinsettia stocking is stitched with Cherry Bark, Brick and Baked Apple--a wonderful blend of colors.

The backing for the stockings is French General fabric--I found this is my stash and it is under consideration as a possible backing choice.

Prairie Road Designs
Whale
Wool stash

A couple of years ago, I saw this whale at the Beat the Heat Wool Event in Clarksville.  I thought he was really cute!  The designer has a whole menagerie of animals.  

Jo Morton fabrics for LWC 16 for 2017

There are no LQS hosting a Jo Morton LWC so Jo Morton offers the patterns and fabrics for sale through her blog.  I am such a sucker!  


I have been reading and studying Jo's techniques and tools and am going to put on my patience cap, steady my best quilting skills and attempt to make more of Jo's LWC's