A Bountiful Life... and Remembering Dad

I have made little progress on the final block for my A Bountiful Life quilt.

I have also started the vines on the top border.  I have had the time, but not the motivation to do much stitching...

It's been a difficult week here.  My father-in-law passed away somewhat unexpectedly earlier this week.  This is a picture of my husband and his dad taken in March.

He turned 90 in March and had lived a long and full life with many people to love him. But that doesn't make the loss any easier for us who loved him so much. 

He and my husband had a very special relationship.  All of us will miss him very much. 

John and his dad at the beach about 1959.

John W. Harry
photo taken in Honolulu, Hawaii, 1943
18 years of age

He was a devoted husband, loving father to four children, grandfather, great-grandfather, a firefighter, and a WWII veteran.  

A very Bountiful Life, indeed.

Deb

Slow Sunday Stitching - A Bountiful Life, The Last Block

I completed the Robin with Nest block from the A Bountiful Life quilt a couple of weeks ago.  

I was very happy with the changes I made to the robin on my block.  And of course those light blue robin's eggs.  However, Tammy made a very good point that I had not considered.... the acorns would not be brown at the time of the robin's nesting.  Oh well, they are now! LOL

I am hoping my version of the robin is more realistic than the original in the pattern.

So on to the last block I am making for this quilt.  It is not in the A Bountiful Life quilt book, but from the original quilt design. You can see it here, taken from a photo of the original quilt top.

I needed to draft my own pattern based on this photo. I started with a rough drawing, actual size, and then laid out my stems.

Next I added some leaves and some flower buds.  I saved my freezer paper templates from all the blocks, so I have lots of leaves and buds to chose from!

This is where I am as of today.  It is going a little slower than following a ready made pattern, but so far I like the results.

So grab your thread and a cup of coffee and join me in some Slow Sunday Stitching.  Check out the other Sunday stitchers over at Kathy's Quilts for her Slow Sunday Stitching party.

Happy Stitching,

Deb

Slow Sunday Stitching - A Robin and Nest of Eggs

I have been working on the next block that I have chosen for my rendition of A Bountiful Life.  As mentioned in a previous post, I have decided not to make all 20 blocks in this reproduction applique quilt. 

So next up is the block called Robin and Nest of Eggs.  I have been looking forward to this block and actually should have thought about doing this block last Spring.  We have a lot of robins here in New Jersey and it is surely one of the first signs of Spring here.   As you can see from the photo of the book the block was done with the same green for the leaves.  Now.. any of you how know my quilting style, you know that is not going to work for me. :-)

I made a few adjustments to the pattern.  Most notable is the size of the robin's head.  To me it looked a little small and made the bird look more like a pigeon or a dove. 

As you can see, for anyone unfamiliar with robins, the head is larger than what is in the pattern.  No problem, that is an easy change.  I also would like to make the head black, as it the case with these birds. 

And of course robin eggs are always blue, not white. Another easy fix. 

Getting back to my block, once my pattern changes were made I could trace the pattern onto my background fabric with a water soluble pen. 

There were these curious green pieces appliqued to the branches.  At first I thought maybe they were smaller leaves.  But the more I looked at them, I decided they were acorns. 

Acorns were added to the block to go with the oak leaves.  Makes sense, right?

So I will spend some time this Sunday relaxing and doing some slow stitching.  Maybe I will go out on the deck to stitch... and see how many robins I can spot in the yard.  What about you?

I am linking up at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.  Hope you enjoy your day!

Happy Stitching, 

Deb

A Little Late to the Party - RSC ScrapHappy Party That Is!

So I am a little late to the RSC 2015 for July.  Yep, you guessed it - the color for July was RED.  Love red!!

After I had finished photographing my hexies this month, I realized these looked like lips.  Don't ya think?

We don't take a lot of road trips in the summer.  The beach condo is rented for the season, there is usually too much summer traffic on the weekends, and we just like to chill.  But this past weekend we took a trip to Connecticut to see my brother and his family.  (Sorry no pics).  I got to see some family I have not seen in awhile, in particular my eldest nephew, Sean, who happened to come home for a visit. 

But a road trip always means plenty of stitching time in the car.  This was a 3 1/2 hour trip going, and a 3 hour trip coming home on Sunday.  Lots of time for sewing.
Tell me, do you stitch on road trips?
And if so, what is your favorite thing to bring along to stitch?

Applique can be challenging on the bumpy roads through NY state.... but I made due and also worked on my hexies. 

I was able to finish my Assorted Bouquet block for the A Bountiful Life quilt. I love the way this block turned out.  Thanks to inspiration from Heather at The Happy Appliquer, I am trying to use more aqua in my quilts.  (Check out her blog - her work is incredible!)  I think the flower buds in this bouquet really add some nice color variation. 

I have started the next to last block for this quilt.  More on that later.....

Happy Stitching,

Deb

Linking up at So Scrappy for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Stop by to see lots of interesting projects in progress! The new color for August is indigo.  I need to check my scrap bin!

Slow Sunday Stitching - A Bountiful Life and More!

I have been working on my A Bountiful Life quilt blocks. The current block is called Assorted Bouquet.

This is how the block looked earlier this week.  Lots of leaves in this one!

My husband jokes that I am always making leaves.  This is the life of an appliquer!

Here is my paper pattern to give you an idea of what the finished block will look like. 36 leaves in the pattern. 

The block pictured in the book has the leaves all appliqued in the same green.  I chose to add more variety with some darker greens and a lot of different fabrics. 

 The pattern also has a lot of leaves with stems under the flower stems.

I included some of these and the others I simplified with just leaves, no stems.

 Again, more leaves, some of mine without stems.  Anytime I can simplify a pattern, I do it!

We will be thinking about days like this today in the Northeast.  Forecast is for extreme heat and humidity.

Maybe you will be lucky enough to be here...

I will be staying inside with the air conditioning and enjoying some slow stitching on my Assorted Bouquet block. 

And also doing some of this as I finish up the binding on the baby quilt.

Stay cool and Happy Stitching!

Deb

Linking up at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Happy July 4th to Everyone in the US!

Lucy and her friend Mr. Frog want to wish all of her friends a very happy July 4th!  She doesn't like the fireworks too much, but she does like all the red and white stripes in the flags!

We are having a very rainy 4th here in New Jersey.. and I think most of the Northeast.  Good day to stay inside and sew.

I have embroidered the crest on top of my peacock's head.  It looks more appropriate than the pattern, which had an applique piece that looked more like a chicken comb.  

You can see an actual peacock crest here.  We used to live not far from a peacock farm.. beautiful birds, but boy are they noisy! LOL

I will finish up the tail feathers today.  And maybe start the next block - Assorted Bouquet.

I traced the pattern to my pieced background.  Since it is such a dark and rainy day today I had to get a little creative.  I don't own a lightbox so I lowered my sewing machine into my table and placed a light under the plexiglass insert.  It worked great and I just needed to move my pattern and fabric around so it was over the light.  Easy-peasey!  Just be careful the light doesn't get too hot.. it could warp the plexiglass. :-)

Lucy hopes you enjoy the weekend and have a safe and festive July 4th holiday!  She is just going to spend it on her flag quilt on the back of the couch....

Until she gets tired of Mr. Frog and pushes him off the couch!

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Stitching!

Deb

Design Decisions on A Bountiful Life

I am working on finishing up the Peacock block for the A Bountiful Life quilt.  I am moving onto more bird feet.  I should be getting pretty good at this by now, right?  Again I have chosen to use a batik fabric so it will not fray as badly as a regular cotton.

I think this guy needs an eye when I am finished appliqueing his body.

The full quilt from the book A Bountiful Life by Karen Mowery

Before I move on the the next block I need to make a decision on what my finished layout may look like.  I finally did make a decision (pondered this for months)  not to make all the blocks in this beautiful quilt.  Here is my reasoning: With all 20 blocks and the border, it makes a quilt much larger than I am able to display in my home.  I would prefer to hang this quilt and enjoy it each day rather than folding it and putting it away.  So, one decision made... Now, which blocks do I eliminate?

Here is a photo of the original Bird of Paradise quilt, circa 1858 - 1863

You can see it differs slightly to Karen Mowery's adaptation above.

I decided to keep the number of blocks at 16, with a 4 x 4 setting.  My blocks are slightly smaller at 12" finished. 

 Since I am partial to birds, despite the feet, I decided to keep almost all of the bird blocks.  And although I find the barnyard, racehorse, and circus animal blocks interesting, they really aren't relevant to me. Another design decision made!



So to better help me make a decision on the remaining 3 blocks to include in my quilt, I laid the blocks out to take a look.

Sorry for the shadowy pictures.  My living room is a little dark in the morning light... especially on a rainy day!

I quickly decided I needed to make the Robin and Nest of Eggs block.  They are the first sign of spring here in the Northeast.

I also would like to include the Assorted Bouquet block with its vase of flowers. I was moving right along in this process!



I continued to move the blocks around, checking the layout and the balance of color.  I moved the row of birds down to the bottom... hmmm... does that work?



I moved the Red Wing Blackbirds up to the next row, knowing the Robin and Nest of Eggs would be on the opposite side of the quilt.  And that I would probably add a nest of eggs in the bottom border.

Does the Grapevine and Swooping Bird block look better in the third row with the other fruit blocks?

But there is still that nagging question of what to put next to the Bride block. 

Karen Mowery added a Groom block to her adaptation of the original quilt.  There is so much mystery around the missing groom.  Speculation is that he may have been killed in the Civil War and the marriage never took place.  Original templates exist of a male figure but he is not included in the quilt. You will see in the original quilt above there is a block filled with flowers instead.  And why did the quilter choose white flowers?  White flowers usually represent innocence and purity.

Would you add the groom or the flowers?

For now let me get back to my bird feet and completing the Peacock block.

I won't show you how my two quilting assistants decided to rearrange my blocks for me. :-)

Happy Stitching!

Deb