i considered a couple different patterns for this fabric combination and landed on one that seemed familiar and easy for me to do: crossroads. only i wanted the colors to be more mixed up, the printed pieces to be smaller, so i was going to need to downsize the original pattern. i worked out new sizes for all the pieces and came up with a mini version of the crossroads block. i call it "meet in the middle" to differentiate from the larger block. but i guess "mini crossroads" works, too.
i made a few test blocks shortly after i got home from the coast, back to my sewing machine, but then i changed the thread on the machine to a pink thread and could no longer work on these blocks without the bother of switching up threads constantly. a few days and many pink blocks later, when i was getting a tad weary of pink, i got smart and remembered there are three machines available for piecing in my sewing room. so i threaded d5's machine with a pale grey and got to work on some more of these little darlings. they make me so happy!
the printed fabrics denyse used in the original quilt came from this patchwork panel number 6 from her patchwork panel club (that i have subscribed to for 2 years now) and also from her latest collection, "pretty.things." i went through my ds stash and pulled out several more green prints and a couple blue-with-green prints like those used in the original quilt.
i need 196 of these little gems to make my quilt. i have 28 print fabrics, so the math works out to me needing 3 sets (6 total) of half the prints and 4 sets of the rest. or i could downsize the quilt slightly to 12 x 14 blocks and i will only need 3 sets each of 24 prints.
making these alternating pairs has a nice bonus feature - i can easily remember how to press for nesting seams. i always press toward the print fabric for every block. this allows the pieces within the block to nest. when i assemble the top, the alternating blocks are all going to nest together, too. so nice for me!
d5 and i had a girls night in together, at her request, in the sewing room. i took a photo of her at my machine piecing 16 patch blocks for "edna" with my chain piecing pile in the foreground.
she didn't like my concentration face and made me smile for another photo. i guess the photography tables have turned.
we had a great night together and got a lot of piecing done. good things are in process over here.
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patchwork panel 6 separated in fat quarters |
you can probably tell from the top photo that i'm making alternating pairs with the "lemonade" background fabric and the prints. what i mean by this is each pair has the two fabrics in alternating positions: one block with the "lemonade" as the background with the print as the roads, and a second block with the print as the background and the "lemonade" as the road. i think this will help the "lemonade" shine strongly and mix the prints up effectively. we'll find out soon enough!
i've started making 3 each of the alternating pairs sets and i'll figure the details out as i get further along.
i do all the pressing within the block assembly at the machine with my little seam roller. i give each block a nice press when it's done. there seems to be minimal distortion so far. i did all my big crossroads quilts this way and had no issues. it just saves time while chain piecing the blocks to not get up and down to the pressing table every other piece i sew. a lot of time is saved, actually.
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quilter's concentration face happening |
she took a photo of me across from her, sewing "lemonade at sixes" on her machine.
we had a great night together and got a lot of piecing done. good things are in process over here.
oh, about the name! obviously the lemonade part comes from the "lemonade" solid i'm using. many of the printed pieces come from the patchwork panel number 6, which got me thinking about how hobbits have a mealtime called "elevenses." i turned that into "sixes." it's a stretch, i know. but it works for me!
lemonade at sixes
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