Page Text: Julie Johnston
Well, Followers, I suppose you expected to see perhaps a new card, or maybe some canning, or perhaps even something to do with birds. Nope. Not today. Sorry to disappoint, but, dear Followers, read on. You might be surprised.
I think my headline, or whatever it is called, says, ‘ creative endeavors’. That was intentional to include all the creative things I like to do. Since Covid 19 and all its variants arrived, I have done a lot of reading and not much creating. Why? I really can’t say, but I have read MANY books.
Yesterday we had snow all day and overnight as well, so this morning I had lovely drifts everywhere. Reports are that we received 10″ of snow. Great day to stay in and put together a quilt and read another chapter or two.
Now, I am back to cleaning my house and making things. Late last summer, or early fall perhaps, I was in a little quilt shop in a tiny town in South Central Iowa. The town is Lucas, and the shop is Quilt With Us. There was a notice of an upcoming quilt retreat featuring a Block of the Month quilt called ‘Fair Isle’.
This is a design I really liked, so I signed up for the retreat which is held over 2 weekends, one in January and one in February. We worked on the first 6 months (this is really a Block a Month pattern) the first weekend, and in February will finish (?) the quilt. I am loving the techniques used and the pattern as well. I love traditional star quilt patterns, however, I am not a fan of square quilts, so will add a border at top and bottom so it will better fit a bed. Maybe a row of stars, or extra flying geese?
The pattern calls for 17 different fabrics, which for the first quilt I chose 17 Batiks in Navy and rust colors, with a neutral off white background. I am already thinking ahead to making one from scraps in greens and purples. We’ll see how THAT goes. I am not sure whether the pattern will lend itself to scraps. Gotta finish this one first. Here are some of the components for the Fair Isle.
I am simply amazed at how well the points of the various parts came out. This is probably the first quilt I have ever done so precisely.
This is one quarter of a block
This is a 4 1/2″ block
I also started piecing (from scraps) a Bonnie Hunter design called Rhododendron Trail. It is a mystery quilt with only one or two components featured on her blog each week for 8 weeks. Here are some (90) of the 2 1/2″ hourglass blocks for that quilt.
90 of the 216 required
I will keep you informed of the progress on these quilts. I am still making cards, though I haven’t done as many as I need to do. Next week I will get back to doing more of them. Last week I was chosen as secretary for a group to which I belong. That means I have to keep track of everyone’s birthdays and anniversaries and send cards. Great excuse to make more cards! Now, will someone please add more hours to a day??