Splendid Sampler

Okay, I wasn’t going to do any samplers this year.  I really need to quilt the quilts I have finished, but 2 blocks in to the Splendid Sampler and weather that turned from Spring back to Winter sent me running to my machine.  I had been pretty sick the last 3 weeks and did a lot of sleeping so not much sewing, cleaning or gardening got done.  While looking through my blogs I started seeing people posting about Pat and Janes collaboration and decided to check it out.  Once I did I thought how fun to jump in and try one, there are prizes to be won and they are small and not time consuming so I printed out the instructions and got inspired by some of the blocks people were sharing.  A little digging in my scrap bins for some of my all time favorite fabrics and I was off and running.  The heart came from a 3 Sisters fabric I had from years ago.  I think it was the first fat quarter bundle I ever bought so fond memories come with that one.  I doesn’t look quite square partly because it is laying funny, but I did have a little trouble getting back into the groove so this was a good block to start with. 

Thanks to Pat for sharing this one and for setting up such a splendid group!

That was yesterday and today I remembered that block 2 was set to be posted today so I got my coffee and found the post and it was off to the printer.  Well, Jane’s block was also a fun one to pull fabrics together for.  The purple butterflies are from a recent project I finished piecing for my son’s 30th birthday in December…it is on the ‘to be quilted’ pile.  I will be glad to see those butterflies to remind me of that project years from now, but I will hope neither project is still on that pile.  This block was a bit more challenging though.  It looked harmless enough, but those are 1” finished squares including the HST so some of my butterflies my not have sharp points.  My advice to anyone reading this is that when she recommends pressing seems open follow that advice.  I though I could figure out how to press the seams to the side so they would lock like I often to, but half way through the first row I was already in trouble so I switched it all there and I even used pins at most of my seams.  You can see the ones where I got all confident and, well, they may be off a bit, but overall I am very happy with this block.  I am still embroidering my antennea, but here it is…

and the quilt I made for my son in my December…I know, quite the rebel I am, but in my defense I was making something for my son I thought he would enjoy because he loves history and especially American history.  All the talk about not displaying the confederate flag bothers me because it is a part of history and always will be so I designed this quilt completely around it.  My son was not as excited about it as I had hoped, but I sure had a fun time making it.  I even have some good ideas for quilting it and got a good flannel backing for it so after I take all the paper off those piano keys on the side I can get busy on that.

Hopefully, I might have a few readers here who I have inspired to check out the Splendid Sampler project and join me there for fun, prizes, sharing and lots of learning for many talented designers.  And…it is free!

Ferne