That behind us... what have you been doing since February? I have not been nearly as productive as I should have been, but here goes.
I have been working on the papercut blocks I started earlier in the year. I am really enjoying them. What is it about papercuts? Obviously, many people share this same attraction. Here is the first one finished.
People asked me if I painted in the tatting. No, I didn't. I probably should have! Those are all Colonial knots in two-ply silk floss. It took a lot of silk floss! Or should I say a lot of knots!
Here is the second block of four.
I want the four blocks to look like they go with each other, but not to be the same. Thus, this one also has lace and embroidery, outline stitching, beads, and colonial knots. I am keeping my color way very tight to maintain the integrity between the four blocks as well.
Here is the start of number three.
The blocks begin on the soft aqua green and one sews back to the other fabrics. This one is slightly different, in that it has the cut-out appliqué flowers that are being placed on top in the center as well. The pattern for the center of this block is from Margaret Docherty's "Little Brown Bird" quilt. I made it smaller so it would fit in my center.
Then, a funny thing happened to me yesterday. My local quilt guild's quilt show is this weekend. Last night was the presentation of the awards and the preview for members. I entered three quilts, as we are all encouraged to support our local guild. Did you ever have the feeling that you received the wrong invitation? It felt like everyone else had prepared a Bach invention while I showed up playing Bartok. Then as luck would have it, the judges were terrific Texas gals who just loved patchwork with that down home feel. (Bach, not Bartok.) I felt like a fish out of water. Here are my entries.
And here are some close-ups...
I think the judges were wondering what planet that nutcase's quilts had arrived from. Well, what is a person to do? I wanted to secretly take my quilts down and sneak home, but I think someone might have noticed the blank spaces. They just looked like they were hanging in the wrong hall. Poor babies and their crazy maker. What gets into her?
I have also been slowly working on my New York Beauty. (I don't think I will show it ever!) I added some houses and have started some embroidery.
In the second photo, you can see where I have started to add Colonial knots along the points of the star. I am trying something very different with this quilt. First, I am hand piecing the whole thing. Second, I am using one large piece of fabric for the background. This is because I want to embellish the background, and so want to eliminate as many seams as possible. We'll see how it goes!
Last, I made three log cabin quilt tops for sweet friends. These are comfort quilts for my dear friends who all need something to wrap up in now and then!
I added borders to the two smaller ones. They are ready to go to the quilter! Always a happy day around here!
Back on the quilt wagon and writing, too! Happy quilting!
cynthia
My husband and I attended an auction. I asked for this if no-one bid on it! It went for over $12,000!!!! Quite obviously, she went home with someone else! I think she is absolutely lovely, don't you?
