Deacon Blocks 5-8

The next four Deacon blocks are done. 

This time they are from the lower right corner. 

I had a good dark green fabric for this block so that's where I started.  

What a different palette--soft hues in pink, blue and brown. I copied / traced the pattern to my background fabric with a Frixion pen.

My first attempt at making this cross block but I wasn't happy with it. Too brown and too gray. So . . . 

. . . I made it again. I bought a fat quarter of this eccentric black fabric as a long shot that it would work. Then I had to find a light blue for the large triangles. After much searching on the internet I ended up going to Hobby Lobby and found a few blues that I could use including this white dot on blue even though it appears gray.

I'm much happier with this one :)

Block#8, of course, was a repeat of the one I made last month that was too small. I enlarged the pattern to 103% on my printer and that seemed to do the trick. The finished block will now be 9" not 8.75". The blue fabric is a Fabric Traditions from 2006.

Here they are in the order of the original (I apologize for the poor photo). That cross looks kind of dark but I'm not doing it again. The next set becomes available on Thursday and I can't wait to see which blocks Gay at Sentimental Stitches has chosen :)

Have a great week. Stay warm!




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Copyright 2019, Barbara Schaffer


 

Back Up 2 Weeks

I wanted to share some photos of The Serenity Garden that I took a couple of weeks ago. The garden is located in the middle of nowhere about 1/2 hour from our cabin. My daughter and I had stopped on our way to buy Honeycrisp apples at a local orchard :) 

This garden is amazing. It's a place to reflect, paint a rock, leave food, or take what you need. 

 

It's near a pond with a swan decoy :)

There are beautiful plantings . . .

 

 

. . . stone pathways, terraced gardens, and gorgeous mums.

There's also a birdhouse . . . 

. . . and lots of stones where people can be creative and paint whatever they like.

 "Paint only on this wall. No spray paint. Thank u." 

I'm so glad we stopped. It's truly a special place :)

On another note . . . 

On a clear day you can see the skyline of NYC from the 9-11 memorial at one of our NJ county parks :)

This statue is dedicated to the Search & Rescue Dogs of 9/11/2001. 

The bees were certainly busy on this beautiful sunny day!

Thanks for stopping by! 




__________
Copyright 2019, Barbara Schaffer




 

October Mini, Avocado Dye and Snow

Even though I'm not participating in Sentimental Stitches' Cheddarback quilt SAL I couldn't resist making one of the blocks for this month's mini.

It was similar to this Delectable Mountains Variation in my favorite book, Calico and Chintz.

My initial thought was to make a table runner but after making 4 individual blocks I decided to add a hst border and finish it for October's mini.

I ended up hand quilting it at the cabin. 

The backing is from the Henry Ford Archive for Windham Fabrics. Make sure you hop on over to Wendy's to see more October minis :)

On another note . . . 

Ever since I read an article in this magazine about using avocado pits to make a beautiful blush pink dye, I couldn't wait to give it a try.  

I started saving pits and kept them in the freezer until I was ready. Then I put them in a pot filled with water and let them simmer for 2 hours. 

I had an assortment of items I wanted to dye including fabric scraps, paper, shipping tags, trim, etc. 

I couldn't wait to see the finished product but was a little disappointed to see that the color wasn't as strong as I had hoped. It was a fun experiment though and I have no idea if I will ever do anything with these pieces :)

A few more autumn pics:

This is our driveway in full autumn glory. So beautiful!

Yep! That's snow on Whiteface Mountain!

Another view :)

Have a great week! I've got plenty of projects to work on, do you?

__________

Copyright 2019, Barbara Schaffer

 

First 4 Blocks Deacon Quilt

I jumped right in as soon as I downloaded the first 4 blocks of the Ella Maria Deacon quilt that are being offered by Gay at Sentimental Stitches.

 Gay started in the upper left corner . . .

. . . and I started with block #2. I'm using Moda Bella Solid Off White for the background. That tan/beige is an oldie from the Oakland Museum. 

Then I made this red/green Chimney Sweep.

And onto block #4. So far so good!

I left the challenging #1 block for last. Chose my fabrics, appliqued the white arcs and hand-pieced the rest. I took a chance making this block even though my printed 1" guideline that Gay provided to gauge the size of the finished block was a hair shy of 1", I didn't think it would make that much of a difference. I learned my lesson! The block finished at 8-3/4" instead of 9". 

So this month I will have a chance to make another because the next set has the same block in a different color combination. I'll get it right the second time around, lol! 

Enjoy your week!




__________
Copyright 2019, Barbara Schaffer


 

Peak Colors!

One of the first things we did at the cabin was go for a drive to see the foliage. Enjoy! These were all taken near Lake Placid, NY.

 

Whiteface Mountain

Wilmington, NY

 

Here are a few 'fall' quilts I've made in the past. I know you've seen them before but hey! it's that time of year :)

 High Peaks 
2014

 Autumn in the High Peaks 
2012 

made for my brother's 75th birthday

 Falling Leaves 
2013 

That's all for now . . . 

Have a wonderful week!

__________

Copyright 2019, Barbara Schaffer

Dear Daughter and More

I started making Dear Daughter blocks over a year ago and decided it was time to put them all together and finish the top. Why? Read on . . . 

These are some of the blocks that were being offered by Gay at Sentimental Stitches. I focused on the ones that were signed by New Jersey quiltmakers in 1852.

The four that I featured in the center were the most difficult to applique but I found those birds to be absolutely charming. They make me smile. 

There is only one pieced block and that is the one in the upper center. 

Many of the original blocks were made by members of the Dunham family in Piscataway, NJ, like the one on the lower left . . .

 . . . and the quirky floral bud stem above. 

We arrived at the cabin yesterday afternoon and I brought my Dutch Panel quilt to work on.

I'll do simple cross-hatch quilting on the entire piece . . . 

. . .  and outline the large rosette and quilt in and around each small hexie. It's moving right along.

The leaves are turning and we saw some pretty spectacular colors once we got off the Adirondack Northway. This is our everyday view :)

We're babysitting our granddog for the next 10 days. She is such a sweetheart!

So here's the real reason for assembling the Dear Daughter top . . .

I'm ready to join in on the fun of reproducing another NJ quilt--the Ella Maria Deacon quilt that was made in Mt. Holly NJ in 1842. And once again Sentimental Stitches is offering the patterns for ALL 85 of these blocks. Check out the first set here. 

More to come :)

Enjoy your week! 




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Copyright 2019, Barbara Schaffer