Are you working on a second Bramble Blooms quilt?
~Paulette
Are you working on a second Bramble Blooms quilt?
~Paulette
But wait, there's more.
I'm talking about my Bramble Blooms quilt, although you may have thought I meant something else, such as the status of my blogging these days (to be honest, I’ve wondered that as well).
After a couple-month hiatus, I have been working on the Bramble Blooms quilt
once again. I had put it aside in the beginning of the year while I did
other things. Among them, scanning some very old photographs, which led to
an interesting connection on Ancestry and a happy little genealogical bunny trail.
Then moved on to giving the upstairs bathroom a facelift (fresh paint,
new lighting, fixtures, mirror, and decor). My talented and
creative sister-in-law helped immensely with the bathroom redo. It's always fun to work with her.
(Trimming frayed threads from the vintage piecing; damage control after soak/wash) |
Here's how that turned out. At this point, I thought I might be done! But then there was another clue for the QAL: Add 4- or 9- or whatever-number-patches as another border.
Really?! I wasn't sure I wanted to do that. I thought about just calling it good and letting that be that. But I got over myself and eventually put up a few red squares on the design wall and let it marinate for a week or so. Ultimately, I consulted my resident advisor (aka my husband) for his opinion and he said he liked it and to give it a try. Okay, I thought, worst case scenario, I could take it off if I didn't like it.
So I went and fished the skirt remnants out of the garbage can (no kidding), and made a bunch of red and white squares from that, as well as from the other darker red stash fabric that I had used in the poppies.
You really can learn a lot from a quilt-along! ;)
~Paulette
After the summer whooping crane sightings, we visited the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin to learn more about these fascinating birds and ongoing conservation work on their behalf.
(Black-Crowned Crane) |
(Siberian Crane) |
(Wattled Crane) |
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In the sewing room, there were a couple more small quilts in process. I made this blue and green Piccadilly Circus quilt, following the YouTube tutorial by Jo's Country Junction.
Another impromptu quilt came about when I decided to make a bunch of half-square triangles from a couple of brightly colored charm packs a friend gave me a year or so ago.
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My friend Gwen, whom I've known from school days, is an accomplished artist now based in Minnesota. She mainly does landscapes, but since 2020 has done a series featuring grazing cattle called "Another Point of Moo" with whimsical and often humorous titles.
One day I saw a funny picture online of a cow grazing under a wash line, where the clothes on the line looked like another cow suspended in midair. I forwarded her the picture and, just for the fun of it, offered a "Point of Moo" type caption. She got a kick out of it.
Fast forward a few months when she told me she would be sending me something. This is what came in the mail!
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~Paulette
The funny thing about not blogging regularly is that I still take pictures as though I were. Maybe not as many, but I still do some kind of photo documentation on a regular basis.
(Table runner made for a friend) |
I love a good thrift shop fabric score, which will come as no surprise to many of you.
(Back of hourglass block baby quilt) |
Here's something I left behind at the thrift store recently, but I had to take a picture.
This post is getting a little long (or I'm just getting tired), but I have more pics to share, so look for Part 2 soon. I'll leave you with a couple non-sewing related photos from the summer.
~Paulette
What better way to sneak back into the blog world than joining the Bramble Blooms quilt along at Quilty Folk? When Audrey announced this improv quilt along, it seemed like a fun opportunity to learn from one of my favorite quilt artists and an applique maestro!
First, make a scrappy background. Check.
The next step was to applique some flowers on the background. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do as far as flowers, but inspiration struck one day as I started deconstructing a very old skirt.
~Paulette