Feb Mini and Aconite

It's that time of the month again. The days just fly by, don't they?

I had a head start on this month's mini by using one of the first Deacon blocks I made that ended up being too small.

I'm trying to keep all Deacon block cutaways and trims under control (we'll see how long that lasts!) and had already made some 2" hsts which I then added to the corners. The border is 2-1/2" and the piece is hand quilted--nothing fancy. 

I found this toile in Natalie's stash that was just the right size for the back. Don't forget to check Wendy's website with links to more minis :)

On another note . . . 

Winter Aconite is in full bloom in my garden :) I just love seeing these early spring flowers.

Can you guess what's going on in our house??

More to come . . . 




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Copyright 2020, Barbara Schaffer

 

Deacon Blocks 17-20

Here they are . . . 

Four more blocks in opposite corners of the quilt.

17. Reel block from Mount Holly, 1842. One fabric used throughout. I appliqued each piece by keeping the freezer paper template on top.

I was pleased with the way it turned out.

18. The easiest of the four, this block was foundation paper pieced. It's attributed to Sarapta (?) Wills, Mount Holly 1842.

19. Orange Peel signed Samuel J. Deacon 1842. This was some serious applique work, lol!

 
20. The center was appliqued after the block was pieced. The original was attributed to Ann R. Coles. 

Here's what my design wall looks like at the moment. I'm filling in the blanks :) 

On another note I've been cleaning out my sewing room which is no easy task, lol! More to come.

So many birds! Hundreds, maybe thousands, appear every February in our backyard. They certainly make a racket when they're in the trees. 

That's it for now!

Enjoy your week!

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Copyright 2020, Barbara Schaffer

 

 

 

Marbles and This 'n That

Four years ago I kind of jumped in on the Quilty 365 SAL. I say 'sort of' because I didn't make a circle a day.

Instead I cut as many circles as I could from the hand marbleized fabrics I had made many years ago. The solid colors were mostly my mother's from the 1960s but check out the polka dots below . . .

In 1965 (!) I made this blouse and had saved the leftovers and scraps. Would you believe there was enough fabric to cut strips for the first border? I was 22 at the time and my son was 2-1/2.

Not wanting to buy any fabric to finish this top, I had a piece of blue / pink
chintz that seemed to carry the circle theme and worked just fine. I'm calling this quilt "Marbles" because I loved playing with marbles when I was little :)

I published my 2019 blog book at Blog2Print.com. Now I have 6 years' worth. 

The printed photos are true to color and that makes me very happy.

My current evening project is quilting Dear Daughter. I got carried away with this block and decided I went way overboard! So now I'm doing 1/2" crosshatch in the others :) 

Enjoy the rest of your week!




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Copyright 2020, Barbara Schaffer