I wiped away the weeds & foam. / I fetched my sea-born treasures home... Ralph Waldo Emerson







Monday, March 6, 2017

Fall Festival Quilt Part 2, Westering Women, Wild Geese updates



Hello! It's the first Monday of March--already! Time for some sewing updates.



Fall Festival is a sewalong with Lori on Humble Quilts. Despite February being a short month, our assignment was BIG! Very diverse blocks  We did all the patriotic blocks, plus the oh so adorable Turkey.


I needed hand sewing to sit out with Mo on the [frigid] deck, so I did Turkey first. Very fun.




Flag..getting good at Flags, we've made a bunch by now. Though why we have the flag of Texas in the quilt remains a mystery to me. (Ok  I looked it up, the flag of Texas is different! But still....)


Then these Stars. big stars. Big pieced Stars. Made in an odd manner with freezer paper and ''eyeballed'' seam allowances.  I was crafty, and cut all the outer seam allowances XXL, so mine worked out okay.


Can't wait to see what we'll so next. Pineapples, anyone! [symbol of hospitality.] Not even gonna put the Baskets on my To Do List, probably save them for a lovely summer day, since I do all hand applique.



Yes, upside down. I know.

....
Last night I made my first extra block for Westering Women. My block is called "Prairie Queen".



It's a modified Churn Dash with Four Patch, very humble for the queen! It represents my young pioneer woman in my imaginary travels west. She has used her favorite fabric scraps here, her practical brown dresses and  a pink apron stripe; a bit left over from a Sunday best white polka dot shirtwaist bodice.


Today I was going to make my next WW block, ''Corn and Beans''. But I couldn't face all those half-square triangles today ...


and instead made a bunch of Wild Geese spacer blocks for When the Wild Geese Fly.



The  blue shirts' worn soft fabric is harder to work with than the new cotton prints, I found. I expected to like the blues the best. This is the blue that inspired me to make the quilt, a gorgeous soft French blue.


The wild geese blocks are made in sets of four. Neither fast nor slow, but a workable method from the internet, also being used currently on Temecula Quilt Company's blog.  here
The sewed blocks are overlarge and require trimming, a quilting method that chafes my garment making soul and habit, where a pattern had to fit and fit together  perfectly before being cut. But it does make for neater quilting pieces, I suppose.


 48 Geese done, 100 more to go.
.......
On the home front, we had a huge change of weather~and howling March gale winds. Power outages even, though thankfully brief.



Brrrr. 

My pussy willow catkins are flowering.


And I taught myself to make origami boats, for my next beach walk! I was so proud, even though I have no understanding of what made this work. I'll fold some tiny boats with real origami paper, and have them in my pocket for my next ''spring'' walk to the beach.

cute but only 2 dimensional

3-D, site suggests pebbles 'or shells!] for stabilty.

Have a great week. Other quilters' Fall Festival blocks can be seen on Lori's blog HERE  Be sure to take a look!

love

lizzy

gone to the beach.....


 ...






13 comments:

  1. You've created a very classy turkey!! Love the red wing and tail feathers!

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    1. Thank you! Your Turkey is my favorite, I love the fabrics you chose!

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  2. I like how you focused a leaf print for the turkey wing. Creative. Your stars turned out well. Good idea to cut the outside pieces larger and trim to size after sewing in place.

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  3. That turkey makes me happy! So cute!

    The Prairie Queen block is pretty, and the phrase corn and beans, for some reason, tickles me :)

    I had heard winter had made an appearance. Brrrrr. Good thing Mo is there to keep you warm!

    Should have guessed we'd see origami from you. Happy sailing.

    Kel

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    1. Warmer today, but dark and grey...

      Corn n beans is, in my imagination, both the dried foods my pioneer woman has in her wagon--for preparing meals each day---and also as seeds for her family's first crops once she arrives in California.

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  4. 15F ?????????

    I love the turkey. The colors and everything are perfect. And the stars? I've pieced stars, but this technique is fascinating.

    Your boat is wonderful. I'm going to try to fold a couple this week and see what happens. I've never made a boat before.

    I hope you have a wonderful week. Thank you for sharing all the beautiful quilt squares. I'll live through your work while I keep making my 300+ ravioli. lol

    Hunter

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  5. My goodness, you have have been very, very, very productive. :) Mo is so cute in his sweater. My boy in Albany NY sure isn't enjoying the crazy back and forth weather. He's not a fan of cold and snow either, just like his mama. Ha! Cute little boat. I must try some and then take a trip to the sea. :) have a good week.

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  6. I like the colors you are using for your Jan Patek quilt--the turkey is cute! My weather app said 50 degrees today, but with the wind blowing across the frozen lake , it sure didn't feel that "warm"!

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  7. Winter is back in Central Oregon as well! I love your Fall festival blocks! The baskets would be good for Easter, wouldn't they?? Your other blocks are pretty terrific too. I love pink and brown.

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  8. I LOVE the blue of the Flying Geese pieces! I'm not surprised it's harder to work with, tho, as it's probably been washed enough to be soft. Maybe try spray starch?

    Your boats are cute, I hope you get to 'sail' them. I still say you ought to spray-paint them so they don't dissolve too quickly!

    Sent you a screen-capture of our crazy windy weather here today (plus one of our *3* weather alerts). Even for Kansas it's nuts. Makes it hard to open doors, or keep control of them once open!

    Take care, and let's hope the weather calms down a bit soon!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks. I always forget about using starch.

      I want my boats to disintegrate if they float away, tho the folding sites say Do Not Litter, so I may have to attach little threads to reel them in. Judging by the paper that washes ashore on the beach, paper is sturdier than we might think.

      Hope the tornados and hail missed you!

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  9. I always look forward to seeing your fabric choices. Looking so good and you have a lot going on. I just got caught up on Fall Festival and I too am happy we are doing the pineapples next!

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  10. I love looking at all of your fabric choices and the way they all work so well together!

    ~Lisa

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