Grasshopper

Whilst my other two projects were in time out, I have been quietly appliquéing the other Sarah Fielke 2018 BOM 'Grasshopper'  This quilt was designed as a lesson in hand piecing and appliqué.

I really loved the folk art style bird appliqué centre,  and unlike the other quilts I knew exactly which fabrics I wanted to use. I belong to the Queen Bee Quilters, so I had to use this fabulous bee background :)

 I also wanted bright happy flowers in yellow, orange and coral with soft green

 I started to piece the outer border of sampler blocks, but after the first couple of months I felt they were too busy for what I wanted; the centre square is about 56" square already, which I felt was large enough.  I turned the blocks I had made into a charity quilt for Project Linus (it's not really that wrinkly!)

I added a little aqua blue for the birds and I am really happy with how it turned out

I plan to hand quilt it with aurifil 12wt thread, I have a nice selection of colours leftover from Happy Days and I bought this variegated beige/taupe for the background.

I have made a rough plan, the background (on the bee fabrics) will be a hexagon grid and I will probably use this stencil to make a feature of the outer plain border.  I have a striped fabric for the binding which should work well to tie it all in.

I embroidered this bag a couple of years ago from a kit and have never used it, it's just the right size to carry all my hand quilting supplies.

I just need to sort out my backing and batting and get it basted!

Same Pattern, Different Fabrics...

The other project that has been sitting in time out for the last few months is Sarah Fileke's 'Simple Folk'  you may remember how much I enjoyed stitching Happy Days and Down the Rabbit Hole, both BOM patterns from Sarah.  You can see those posts by clicking below.

Happy Days
Down the Rabbit Hole

When Sarah showed the sketch of her 2018 BOM Simple Folk I immediately signed up, I loved the Folk Art feel and was really looking forward to stitching another of her designs. I didn't have a colour scheme in mind, but I was keen to start and was persuaded by a 1/2 price deal on a FQ bundle of Nordic inspired red, white and blue fabrics.

Almost as soon as I started I knew I had made a mistake! I tried adding some other fabrics to the mix and stitched the first few appliqué blocks.

These are really not my colours and while I like these blocks, I knew I didn't want a whole quilt.  I put these in the orphan box and I will use them for something, the fabrics have gone into stash (I never cut a whole project at the start as I often change my mind!)  I already have a plan for the blues - a charity quilt for a late teen/young man so they won't be wasted.

I thought about starting over a few times, especially as I started to see finished quilts popping up online, but I wanted to be sure of my choices.  This week I finally started again.  One of the things that draws me to Sarah's quilts is the chance to use fun modern fabrics and bright colours.

I had several yards of this small pink pindot fabric and some of this aqua green, so I decided to start with these.  I then pulled scraps and leftovers from stash and I think I have enough to make a start.

I have made a few 9 patches and prepped the first couple of appliqué blocks - yes I think this will work!

Same Fabrics, Different Quilt

I mentioned before that I started a Template of the Month design by Jen Kingwell 'Golden Days' I really struggled with the colour choices for this quilt, Jen's style is very scrappy/multi coloured and I didn't have the confidence to try and copy her look.

I decided on a palette of Purples, Green and Yellow with some Ivory for background, again not my usual colour choices but I wanted to challenge myself 😀

I made the first few blocks...

I then decided that I really didn't like the Spring Green and was having difficulty in visualising the finished quilt.  It went in time out for several weeks.

I then discovered that Rachel from Stitched in Color is hosting a QAL for another of Jen's patterns 'Gypsy Wife'  you can find all the details here:
https://www.stitchedincolor.com/blog/2019/1/7/the-2019-gypsy-wife-quilt-along

I have the pattern book and decided that this would be a much better fit for my scheme.  The quilt looks quite busy from Jen's example

But looking at the line drawing, I can see that it will work for me, I plan to make all the blocks in shades and tones of purples with a little yellow for accent, and the background stripes very pale with maybe a little green.

This is my rough plan, the green is actually low volume with with a small amount of green and I will mix in different creams, whites etc to make the background very subtle.

I have made the first few blocks, I won't keep pace with the QAL but I don't mind I am happy I have a plan for these fabrics.

I have an idea for the appliqué blocks I have already made and I still have all the templates and pattern for Golden Days, I just need to think how I will make it, I think maybe I have a two colour quilt in me blue/white or Red/Cream, it needs some thought!