Love Entwined Progress Update

I started this blog last summer to share my progress as I stitched Esther Aliu's captivating Love Entwined 1790's Marriage Coverlet. My plans always change as they evolve.  I like it that way!

Here is where I am today. Pardon my wrinkles. I am way behind but I have not stopped.  It is quite complex.  It is a considerable undertaking. It is a time consuming process. I am not the best at hand stitched applique.  I am learning so much as I work on this project.  It is causing me to dig deep in my stacks of fabric.  It is making me reach deep within to create.  I try to understand the mindset of the woman who made the original coverlet for her own life. I am learning new techniques and learning about the many products available to make applique easier.  I have discovered many new tutorials and talented bloggers who are simply marvelous and gifted. That is not me, but I still am happy with how it has progressed so far.  

Center Compass

The original photograph of the quilt is in black and white.  That give us all a blank canvas on which to design our individual quilt.  I chose to give seasonal color to each of the four floral vase bouquets.  My original plan was to make a black, beige, and various tones of browns color scheme. Those quilt colors were proving to be rather uninteresting and kind of boring in such a big project.  I decided I could introduce much more color play if I chose seasonal colors in each bouquet. I like how the many colors are still subdued but there is a variety and much more possibility with each new section.
    

Spring bouquet

 Fall Bouquet

 Winter Bouquet

  I love the striped zig zag borders. 

 
Pardon the wrinkles. The blue sketching is for the placement of the summer bouquet. I don't want to iron that area just in case the ink would decide to become permanent. I like it!  

Thank you Esther for making this pattern you drafted from the original coverlet available to the approximately 4,462 members worldwide at no charge to us. This is truly an amazing labor of love and a gift to everyone.  

For more information about Esther's Love Entwined journey, go here. 

Recent Finished Quilts

I wanted to post a couple of "finishes" completed over the holiday weekend.

The X and O quilt is finished.  I wrote about this quilt here as My Sad Quilt Story.  The story needs one more final chapter because it was even sadder when my dear daughter pointed out that the blocks are off on that bottom row.  How could that have happened? I recognized that this is the section I had to remake after I ripped out the bad stitching. That purple and aqua section was not turned to make the O.  Such a sad story.

Epilogue.  This quilt is so Cute!  It is scrappy.  It has lots of spring color.  It has a Charm and a Personality all its own.  What more can I say?  The End.

Plaid Cats is finished.  I have been collecting various plaids for years. I really like it. I do like the dark colors. Some of the cats are turned the "wrong" way but I think it really adds to the overall placement. I like the choppy plaid border.  I was able to use some larger remaining strips and that makes me happy to reduce some of the leftover stash.  This pattern goes together quickly.   The color possibilities are endless.  It is a fun quilt to make. 

Here is another version of Plaid Cats.... 

I made this lighter pastel plaid version earlier in the year and it quickly found it's new home with a dear cat loving Aunt in Florida.  

Thanks for stopping by!  May your day keep you in stitches! 

Credits...This particular cat pattern, Dream Chasers, is from a book called Quilts for Kids by Carolann Palmer. The book is from the 1990's and was published by That Patchwork Place. I searched for a link online but I wasn't able to find any specific link other than a random copy of the book that was sold and other conversation. 

Marking with Pins Tutorial

Hello!  And welcome to my Pinning Tutorial!

The colors in this quilt look like spring and Easter with lovely shades of pink and aqua.  Perfect to focus on today. The fabric is Sew Stitchy by Aneela Hoey for Moda. I purchased a Jelly Roll of Sew Stitchy from Missouri Star Quilt Company and I really never know what to do with a Jelly Roll.  They are so cute and colorful, but what do I do with it? I just thought the fabric was cute enough to make something fun.  

Jenny at Missouri Star Quilt Co. has the most wonderful and inspiring tutorials. You can spend lots of time watching tutorials and shopping for unique templates and handy notions.  I came across this tutorial called the Amazing Jelly Roll Quilt Pattern and it completely captured my interest.  Its origination is from the 3 Dudes Quilt Shop in Phoenix, Arizona.  I always like a good story behind a quilt.  It was a perfect application to use this jelly roll that I had been holding back for the perfect quilt inspiration. I followed the tutorial and made the blocks according to Jenny's wonderful video.   I laid them out and this is what I did next.....

I am going to tell you how I "mark" the blocks when I lay them out to get ready to sew them into rows without getting off track.  Let me see if I can explain how I do this with PINS.

I laid all my block segments on my big work surface...My bed.

This quilt has four rows of four block segments.  Each block segment has four squares to form the "pinwheel."   

Row 1.  I usually work left to right.  I pinned the FIRST block in Row 1 with ONE PIN to show this is the First Row.  Then I pin each block in the first row with one pin all the way across just so they stay together as row one.  This is a temporary pinning to keep the row of blocks together.  As I sew each block in each row, I do align and match seams. 

In the photo above, Can you see pin number one at the top left?  I use long quilters pins with a yellow head.  I do have some of the yellow flower head pins too.  You will see them in some of the other photos as well. 

Row 2.  See TWO PINS.  This is Row Two.

Row 3.  See Three Pins.  This is row three.

Row 4  Do you see four pins?  This is Row Four.

All lined up and ready to sew.  Some quilters use sticky note paper, blue water safe pens, painters tape, photos or sticky dots.  I am sure there are lots of methods to accomplish this.  This is so simple, This one is free. I have the supplies on hand. If there are eight rows, I use eight pins.  Just be consistent.

   

Do you pin this way?  How do you line up your blocks and rows for sewing?  Please share your method.

Happy Easter to everyone!  Thanks for stopping by!