Well I haven’t blogged for a month, haven’t answered comments, emails or anything else.   I just couldn’t concentrate on a computer at all, which is strange for me.  Maybe its the weather which has been awful here, raining & thunder one minute then shooting up to 30 degrees the next, or perhaps it was my impending 45th birthday.

I consoled myself by eating out and of course shopping for fabric and a little bit of shoe buying on the side.  The fabric is for a project I’ve hauled out of the archives as well as a new hand-piecing project which will probably take years to complete.

Birthday fabric

This project from the archives was a kit purchased from Di Ford in 1995.  At the time I loved it but some how it got put away and I’ve only just found it after a clean up in my sewing room.  I believe it was designed by Judie Rothermel for her fabric range, ‘Renaissance’.

French Star

I’ve done the first part of the pattern, but I’ve popped it back in to take a photo.

French Star toile fabric & pattern

I’m making sure I take a good photo of the intact pieces for WFIT, before I cut them up or I’ll be in trouble with Margaret.

Di Ford is often called ‘the Queen of Fussy Cutting’ and there’s a good reason for that.   I was fortunate enough to do all of my classes at Primarily Patchwork until it closed its doors and in all those classes fussy cutting was just a part of the class.  If you ever get a chance to take a class with Di I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.  This next photo is a perfect example of fussy cutting and getting the best of a fabric.

A perfect example of fussy cutting

So I’ve only got 8 of these to cut out and attach then pop in the setting squares and triangles.  And voilà fussy cut points!

French Star with fussy cut points attached

Margaret is working on convincing me its the start of another centre medallion quilt rather than a framed picture or cushion and unfortunately for me her suggestion has found fertile ground. I’m thinking a narrow dark blue border with tiny red hexagons appliquéd to the border and then who knows.  Perhaps Ohio stars in reds & blues or perhaps large hexagons.

4" hexagons with triangles

The other project I’ve started has been inspired by a couple of posts I’ve recently read regarding Pickledish Clamshells.

I first read about this pattern on Barbara Brackman’s blog, back in June and more recently on Karen Alexander’s blog.  I drafted up a 15″ block which I would like to do, but I think that will be a Freezer-paper foundation quilt, and that’s definitely a winter project.

15" pickle clamshell pattern

I redrafted it to approximately 9″ and have started it in creams, blues & teals as a hand-piecing project.

Pickledish Clamshells

Or perhaps I’ll join them this way

Pickledish Clamshells alternate setting

I’ve got a lot more to make before I decide how I’ll put them together but I am enjoying them and they go together so fast which is satisfying.

Time to go and cut those setting squares & triangles for the French Star block.

Ciao

Jenn

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