The French Connection

 

I’ve been watching Adrian and Carole restore Chateau de le Ferte on YouTube.  Adrian and Carole are amazing:  motivated, disciplined, no job is too big or small for them to tackle.  From plumbing, electrical, painting, refinishing floors, landscaping and yes mucking out a stable, they do it all.  Chateau de le Ferte was built in 1854 and no one has lived in the Chateau for 20 years.  Restoring it is a massive undertaking and they are doing an amazing job.

Watching them select paint colors and fabrics and visiting brocantes has influenced me.  I purchased the Marie Antoinette panel several years ago, because I loved its whimsical nature and I have quite a stash of French General fabric.  AppleJack’s granddaughter visited France in the spring and I thought this quilt would be a nice reminder of her visit.  

French General fabrics are rich in color and design and am going to try to make the fabric do the work in this quilt by fussy cutting.  

Lady of the Lake

 

                                                                 Lady of the Lake

                                                   54” wide  x 73” long without border     

One of my 2023 stitching goals has been to finish big projects.  For me a big project is one which is large in size, $$$ investment, time needed to complete or the space it occupies in my craft room.  Lady of the Lake has been a WIP for a long time (more than three years).

If you like making HST’s (half square triangles), this is the quilt for you.  With the exception of the wide border, the entire quilt is HST’s.  If you do not like making HST’s, this is not the quilt for you.  There are a total of 781 HST’s in this quilt.

In her book,  Remembrabces’, Jo Morton has included this quilt and calls it Peaceful Time.  Jo did not make HST’s for the right side of the quilt or the bottom.  She was either in a deadline to have the quilt finished for a market or she got tired of making HST’s.    I wanted my quilt to be symmetrical and made HST’s for both sides of the quilt and top and bottom.  The wide border was added to give the quilt a drop and to use up fabric in my stash.  Gulp, I purchased the border fabric several, several years ago.  Note to self:  stop saving fabric for that special project.  

It’s a great feeling to finally have Lady of the Lake pieced, now to get an appointment with the long armed quilter and call her a quilt.  

Sad irons

 Antique shops, consignment shops, second hand stores, Goodwill are some of my favorite places.  Oh the treasures which can be found there.  I go with an open mind, no list and no expectations.  Some trips I walk away with treasures, other trips I walk away empty handed.

My last adventure, I saw these irons and they were called sad irons.  I had never heard them called that name.  Decided to do a little research, since laundry and especially ironing is one of my least favorite chores, I figured they were called sad irons because the poor laundress would be hot, tired and sad after doing the ironing.  Nope, they were called sad irons because sad came from the English word for solid.  The irons come in different sizes and weights.  When heated, the temp had to be just right:  not hot enough would leave wrinkles and overheated would leave scorch marks on the clothing.  The laundress would spit on the iron to gauge the temp.  

Two of these irons have been in my family for years.  They were passed to me because everyone knows my dislike for doing laundry.  Hmm, might just be the beginning of a whole new collection.