Thursday, October 30, 2014

Photos of Sarah's Laurel Block


Sarah Stubbs' Block was Number 25 in the Chester Criswell Quilt.


The laurel wreath was used with signatures in a number of the quilt blocks.


Ellen Cummins and Humphrey Hood

Did Ellen and Humphrey live happily ever after?  You will find out in Block 26....


According to Wikipedia, the laurel wreath was a symbol of victory, a sign of graduation and is a common motif in architecture, furniture, and textiles.

Grave goods portrait, Romano-Egyptian, 100-110 CE




Escola Eliseu Maciel, Centro, Pelotas, Brasil







You can add your own laurels here.


1. Write your blog post. Publish it on your blog.
2. Copy the link of the specific blog post. This is not just the link to your blog itself (www.chestercriswellquilt.blogspot.com), but the link to the specific post: (http://chestercriswellquilt.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/hows-it-going.html)
3. Click the blue link up button below and paste your link into the box.




Thursday, October 23, 2014

Quilts in the Barn 2014

Earlier this month I visited Quilts in the Barn at Wonga Park.  QITB is one of my favourite events.  The quilts are spectacular, of course, but I also love the way you can start up a conversation with the person next to you and the talk just flows - there is a lovely sense of community in the Barn.




This year's theme was Inspired by Antique Quilts. 

This quilt is Mrs. Billings' Coverlet, it is on my to do list but I don't have the collection of fabrics for it.  Yet.












I liked this one, the blocks are a collection from a number of different patterns.  Good for those of us that like to start new things before we finish the last project.








And of course, Dear Jane was there.  No, I really mean it, Dear Jane was there.  Brenda Papadakis was at QITB.  I wasn't able to attend any of her workshops but I did meet her on the day.  She follows this blog!! I was very excited and a little bit pleased.





Dear Jane is not on my to do list.  Please don't throw anything, the workmanship and patience of those who have made a Baby Jane is admirable, I love the finished look, but it doesn't say 'make me.'  However, what has caught my attention is the first blocks from the lucky people that did get to the workshop.  I'm itching to have a go at these lovely little blocks. Brenda might be right, everyone comes to Jane in the end. :)

Sew Many Quilts, So Little Time

Wheels on the Warrandyte Bus

  
Quilts in the Barn


Quilts in the Barn is a fund raiser for breast cancer research and over $16,000 was raised on the weekend.  Thanks you to Linda and her wonderful team, I can't wait until next year so we can visit again.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

CCCQ First Year Finish

I received a photo this week from Kathleen Connor in the north west hills of Connecticut.  She's a CCCQ fan and has made this quilt top from The First Year patterns.  Not only does she have a finish, two of these blocks are Kathleen's own design.





I asked Kathleen about her journey with the Chester Criswell Quilt.  She says,

"I've enjoyed every stitch I took for this quilt! The first Chester Criswell block I made was Jane Wilson's block, #1. I found that I loved doing the one piece, papercut style block with needleturn applique. Next up was Block 2 which reminded me of the traditional leaf and reel blocks found in many antique quilts. Sharon's patterns were a joy to work with, well drawn and not difficult to stitch. At that point I thought of making a 9-block quilt with the leaf and reel style blocks balancing "square-shaped" blocks like Block #1. I knew I wanted to put the circular Block 4 in the center; this is my favorite block though it's hard to choose a favorite, isn't it?
I designed two new versions of reel blocks for the quilt.  I thought I'd design an applique border for the quilt, but when the blocks were put together with the sashing, I visited a new-to-me quilt shop and found the perfect large scale paisley. I'm going to hand quilt around the edges of each applique motif. Then I might do echo quilting in the background of each block, or I'll do diagonal quilting lines across the backgrounds and sashing. I had better decide soon!
I've had a great time with this quilt, and I plan to use more Chester Criswell blocks in a future quilt."

Thank you very much Kathleen, for sharing your work.  I'm impressed with the way Kathleen's new designs blend with the old.  Every one has favourite blocks ... and not so favourite blocks.  If you don't like the block you have to make next just replace it with one of your own. 

Another CCCQ fan, Wanda at Scrap Happy aka Blended Quilter, is looking for a swap partner for Block #24.  If you're interested just hop over to her blog.