Daisy a Day

Have you noticed I’ve gone a little quiet lately on the subject of my Daisy a Day quilt?

If you say it quickly (and perhaps underwater!) “Daisy a Day” can sound like “lazier days” - and that, my dear readers, describes what’s been happening around here. At least as far as quilting’s concerned.

December has been full of shopping, end of year break-ups and Christmas parties. We even had another graduation in the family, to match Sarah’s December graduation last year.

In this post I was confident silly enough to claim that

1) I could make “a daisy a day”, and

2) Another 16 daisies and I’d be done.

I wish!

Don’t misunderstand me, I’m in love with everything about this quilt. It’s just that I can’t wait to see it finished and in use. It’s become clear, though, that I’m going to need many more daisies if it’s to cover the bed properly, and rather than piecing “a daisy a day” I seem to be currently averaging a rather more laggardly “four daisies a week”.

That doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, does it?

But, as all quilters know, creating a quilt is as much about the journey as the destination, and for now I’m simply enjoying the ride.

Are you?

Di

That quilt again!

Regular readers know the one. It’s a beautiful quilt but it has an identity crisis.

Joseph’s Coat / Waiting for Russell / Tea Leaf / Lover’s Knot /Lafayette Orange Peel… This traditional quilt pattern goes by all these names, but until now I’ve been fence-sitting, unable to decide what to call my particular version. 

Several of us are working on the same pattern, and in the collage below you can see our fabric choices.

(Clockwise, starting with the top right photo) Jill’s, Lyn’s, mine and Gail’s.

Anne is making one too, using blue Kaffe fabrics.

I’ve finally finished enough circle blocks to make my quilt the same size as Sandra Dart’s “Waiting for Russell” pattern, but I’ve decided I want my quilt larger. 16 circles more ought to do it, and shouldn’t take me too long.

If I can find a couple of hours in the evening to stitch in front of the TV I can complete one of these daisy-shaped blocks a day.

So that’s what I think I’ll call my quilt – “Daisy a Day”   What do you think?

Di

Busy hands

Gail’s and Rae’s quilts might have been the only finishes at our English Quilt group get-together last week, but on the other side of the room there were more works-in-progress.

Robbie was starting to knit the very nifty Alexandria cowl. I might just try one of these next winter – all the warmth of a scarf/shawl without having to continually stop it unraveling or slipping off my shoulders.

Lyn’s tea leaf blocks were coming together in a leisurely fashion (and isn’t that what its all about?), piece by piece using her chosen Aunt Grace fabrics in delicate pastels.

Anne’s Laurel’s Stars medallion quilt, a Lynne Alchin pattern, has gone from this…

…to this.

OK, she’s only added a few more stars, but Anne has been very busy with a brand new little granddaughter - as has Robbie!

Anne also brought along a very special “show and tell” - the christening gown she made for her firstborn daughter, which was also worn by the second, and has now become a family heirloom, worn by her each of grandchildren.

Plenty of creative inspiration in our past and present projects!

Di

Progress on “The Quilt Formerly Known As Joseph’s Coat or Waiting for Russell”

The two quilts look very much the same in the end, but just as several of us in the English Quilt group were collecting our fabrics together to make Kellie Wolfsohn’s glorious “Joseph’s Coat” applique quilt late last year Jill spotted Sandra Dart’s pieced version, “Waiting for Russell”, in Australian Patchwork & Quilting Vol 19 No 7 and we unanimously decided to go the piece-able way.

 

Jill’s using teals and earth tones to co-ordinate with a bedspread she has.

 

Gail’s using dainty Liberty lawns, including a few from the Victoria & Albert Museum’s limited editions.

 

Lyn opted for pastels with a 1930s feel.

 

Anne’s using Kaffe Fassett fabrics exclusively in blues of every variety – from cobalt to sky to aquamarine.

 

- and mine is in brights, many of them also Kaffes.

With only about a dozen blocks left to piece I’ve been giving some thought  as to how I’ll tackle the quilting.

I’d almost decided machine quilting was the way to go for a fast finish when Robbie arrived at our get-together last week with hers completed, hand-quilted and bound while all the rest of us are still in the process of putting our quilts together.

Isn’t this an absolute stunner of a quilt!

 

 

Robbie’s is cot-sized and mine will be bigger, but I’m so in love with the softness of her hand quilting and the wonderful antique-like texture that I’ve done a complete (figurative ) back-flip and decided this quilt deserves nothing less than to be hand-quilted.

Oh dear, and I have so much spare time (not!).

 

Now all we need is a name for this delightful quilt. The name Sandra Dart chose seems a little too personal (I’m not sure I need a quilt named after her husband on my bed ) but in the magazine she’s written:

“This quilt pattern is known by several names including Tea Leaf, Lover’s Knot and Lafayette Orange Peel. With such a diverse range of names, you can choose the one you like best.”

Will you help me decide? Which name do you like best?

Di