Thursday, February 9, 2017

January + snow = quilting

1st photo


I have put some of the blocks together on the design wall to see how "Sleigh Bells" looks.  I see some things that look great and some things I want to change. I pinned the red floral house block over a pink house that just didn't work.  I'm still deciding if the red floral works.


2nd photo


I decided that I want the deer block up higher so I'm going to take out the row with the angel (1st photo of design wall) and put it under the deer block.




I finished the little block with the kids in snow suits.  I remember those snow suits.  We used to stuff our full skirts (with full slips underneath) inside those snow pants to walk to school.  Do you remember those full slips from the 50's?  They were so much fun to wear and play dress-ups using the elastic waist as a headband around your head and letting the full fabric drape down behind your shoulders like really long hair.  Tell me that I'm not the only one that used to do that?




I'm working on the fourth large block (above and below).  I'm hoping to get it done today.  I've got the trees and the night sky done.  I just need to baste the house and swiftly (ha!) stitch it down.







I haven't had a chance to work on the Peppermint Quilt very much.  There are only so many hours in the day to divide between all my projects.  But I did finish the crosshatching for the basket above



This is a picture of the two blocks I have finished.  There are only four blocks so I'm halfway.




I made another 'Rising Sun' block, left.  I'm hand piecing so this is a project with which to relax.  (I didn't want to end my sentence with a preposition.)  Those Jr. High English teachers just stay with you, don't they?  I'm thinking about adding black to some of the blocks.  But then, it wouldn't be true to the original painting.  The block on the left is much nicer in real life.  The photo makes the small sheep print look very dull.




My granddaughter had a wax museum program at school.  The children wrote reports, made posters, and dressed up like the person they had chosen.

Posing





There was a button taped to the floor and if you pressed it then each child would tell you who they were and a quick piece of information about them.

We got to see Abraham Lincoln, Pocahontas, Jackie Robinson, Kid President. . . lots and lots of historical persons of interests.



 Look!  We even got to see Frida Kahlo!!!

Have you seen the new program 6 Moda designers are presenting?  Go check in out here.  It's called BLOCKHEADS and its a 48 week BOW.  The blocks will be 6" finished and each designer, in rotation, will present a block each week.

I ordered this;
called "Hope's Journey" by Betsy Chutchian to make the blocks for this block of the week program.  I'll use some of my reproduction scraps too.  I think it's going to be a fun and fairly undemanding in the time department.  (Don't you love those greens?)

If you stayed with me down to this point - I thank you for enduring.

Hope you have a great day and can sneak some stitching into it.
Robin

7 comments:

Janet O. said...

My goodness, Sleigh Bells looks like a big quilt! You seem to be making great progress.
I wasn't in school in the 50s, but rest assured, I recall doing that with the big, fluffy slips we had in our dress-ups. : )
The quilting on your Peppermint quilt looks really good!
Love your Rising Sun blocks. My "junior high English teacher" was my Mother. No, she didn't teach junior high English, but she had been an English major in college, and she is the one that tried to keep me in line with my sentence structure.
I recall going to a grandchild's wax museum night last year. That was a fun twist on the traditional "Famous Person Night" (not what they called them, but I can't remember the name at the moment), where they dressed up and had a display and we had to ask them questions and guess who they were.
I have actually been toying with the idea of this BOW. I have sworn off of them for a couple of years, but this one looks SO tempting--and I love the fabric you bought with which to play along. : )

Karen said...

Jan Patek has used those snow suit kids in a few quilt designs. And Minnick & Simpson used them in a quilt design too. Love them! I did Minnick and Simpson's design and one of Jan's that used the snow suit kids.

Nancy said...

I think Sleigh Bells looks great. There are several things that I noticed and like a lot: that you used a different black on one of the bigger blocks, and that your colors all work so well together. I don't remember the pink house but I can't imagine it working in this quilt. However, I do like the red floral house. I think its color works well for this quilt. (Just my uneducated and personal opinion, of course.) ;-)


I remember those big slips and stuffing them into snow pants but I don't think we ever put them on our heads. (My mother would never have put up with such play.)

I love, love, love your Rising Sun blocks. I have to find that pattern!

Your little granddaughter is so beautiful. I think it's interesting that she chose Coco Chanel. How many children her age know who Coco was, anyway? She must be mature for her years. Or maybe interested in fashion design? I love Coco's quote: "To be irreplaceable one must always be different."

I'm thinking about the Blockhead blocks. Maybe I will get myself together and make the blocks, too. I always hesitate with mysteries because I'm not sure I'll like the finished blocks/quilt. But maybe I'll do this one. Maybe....

Deb from frugal little bungalow said...

I LOVED 'enduring' :)

The granddaughter being Coco Chanel was just amazing / adorable! :)
Well she stole the show :)

You are so right about there only being so many hours in a day for this or that project but you have so many lovelies here / wonderful progress.

I do remember snowsuits for me and even my boys when they were growing up. Going to school as I child I remember 'leggings' in grade school. Heavy woolen overpants of sorts to wear under your dress on a very cold day / remove when you got to school.

We lived out in the country on a hill. Sometimes in bad weather the bus JUST WOULDN'T COME! LOL there were no notifications about that...you just figured it out after freezing at the bottom of the driveway for about a half an hour or so :)

Kyle said...

I rcognized JAN Patak's classic snowsuit kids too. You've done a marvelous job coordinating all those blocks. I've eyed the Peppermint quilt many times. It's lovely. I enjoyed reading many of your previous posts!

Jill said...

LOL on your English teacher comment. I have the same preposition quandary. Coco Chanel was an awesome choice especially how your granddaughter dressed the part. Great learning experience for all the kids. Enjoy your new fabric.

Kaja said...

Sleigh Bells looks great. I think there's a real knack to turning lots of varied blocks into a coherent quilt but you are handling it well. I also like your rising sun blocks a lot. As for skirts, I'm (just) a bit too young but the 6 year old in my household does that with hers still.

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