Strawberry Garden

Well, I have two of my Morrell blocks done, and will post them this weekend, but I just had to show you the newest BOM I joined. It's called Strawberry Garden, and is based on a quilt in the collection of Terry Clothier Thompson.





I've only seen pictures of three of these quilts, and I find them fascinating, as it's a pattern rarely seen, so when Common Threads Quilting announced they were starting a BOM for it, I couldn't sign up fast enough. I got my first shipment today.

I was ready to do another broderie block for my Morrell, but I may have to squeeze this in first. I'm still trying to keep current with a BOM past the second month, but it may be a lifelong quest for me! The good part about Common Threads is they post a picture of the current month's block to use for reference. Here's the first block.

Here is another version pictured in the book Glorious American Quilts by Warren and Eisenstat.

And a third version, which was formerly in the inventory of Legacy Quilts.

To read more about these quilts, see this post from Barbara Brackman.

Morrell Begins!

I've been busy with computer and other woes lately, but I'm ready to go full steam ahead now. After the background fabric I ordered turned out to not be suitable, I had to start over again, and this time got swatches first, something I highly recommend! I settled on a Benartex vine print, and I'm really pleased with it. It arrived yesterday, and I got the first Broderie Perse block prepped and ready to go.

I just don't like using fusible on my quilts, but I could see something was needed to prevent fraying, so I prepared mine using Misty Fuse. I may eat my words and end up using fusible, but so far, so good. We'll see how it holds up once I start buttonholing the edge.

The second block is a pieced windmill block, and here is the fabric. I haven't decided weather to overdye it or not, but I think I will go with it as it, since my backing is so light. Maybe I'll have to try dyeing a swatch to make sure, though. I'm so anxious to get started I just want to dive right in, but you know the saying - never time to do it right, always time to do it over, so I want to get it right the first time.

It's been so much fun tracking down fabrics for this, and I had plenty of time waiting on the background fabric, so I may have gone a bit overboard. You've already seen a lot of my chintz and floral. Here are some of the others I've found.

Some Carriage House, Treasures of York County, and Antebellum.

Charleston and Cambridge.

And some Sturbridge Scarlets.

I'm still searching for some yellows and golds I'm happy with, but I have enough to keep me busy for a while. Now to start sewing.

Cats and Computers

Since I've been on vacation, I don't have much for show and tell, but in my eternal quest for new projects, especially cat related ones, I bought and downloaded the class for the Cat Sack. It's a pattern by Michelle Verbeeck. She used to teach on Joggles, which is a great site for just about everything related to dollmaking, but now she sells her patterns on Etsy.

I've wanted to make this since I first laid eyes on it, but having to use the sewing machine for it was, of course, a problem. Now, since I've gotten my feet wet with the Galloping Pony Tote, I'm going to see if I can do this, although the free motion quilting scares me to death! I bought nothing but batiks for years, before I switched over to reproduction fabrics, so I have quite a stash to choose from, but, of course, that doesn't mean I couldn't use a few more!

I got back from vacation to find my computer on life-support, and after two days of trying to save it, I finally had to take it in to be repaired. I'm stuck with the laptop for a few days, minus all my photos and files. Wouldn't you know it, my back-up drive was defective. Hopefully my stuff can be recovered. The problem with using the laptop is, the kids are on it constantly. ;)

Well, back to trying to get caught up with Lisa's Garden. Week 5 just got here, but I have a few blocks to finish before I'm ready for it. I should have pictures in a couple of days. I'm loving these small wool blocks.