Last two Miss Emilie blocks DONE...

Finally, the last two "Miss Emilie's Garden" blocks are hand appliqued, soaked to remove the glue, cut to size, and pinned on the design wall. Twenty-five little jewels...now on to the sashing, borders, and a finish.  The red and green fabrics I have chosen for the setting should add a little needed zip to the blocks.

I sure am glad I had those 25 blocks prepped and ready to applique before starting all those road trips this summer.  It was comforting to have something portable in case I had the time or the will to stitch.

So, some of you have emailed me to ask if I did any shopping at the two AQS shows I have been to this summer.

Well...I invested in some hand-dyed fabrics to add to my stash of tone-on-tone pieces that I use for applique.

The directions that came with my purchases said to pre-wash them, even though many rinses were included in their making.  Wow!  I think I emptied the hot water heater 3 or 4 times while aggressively rinsing them...LOTS of unincorporated dye!  

After a very physical session of multiple hand rinses, I put them in the washer for a final hot water rinse and a spin.  I was pleased to see the water drain "clear" when finished.  Thank God we don't have to do that kind of hand washing anymore!  I used to think I was born in the wrong century, but I do like my washer and dryer!

Now to find storage space for all of them...or just leave them out and USE THEM!!

I have developed a Pinterest habit...one thing that is really fun to collect is pictures of old, antique quilts.  That way I can really study them.  I am really enchanted by antique appliqued album quilts, especially where each block in the quilt is different.  But lately, I have been fixating on a couple with multiples of one block.  Here's one that speaks to me that is a Rose of Sharon variation...

I showed it to Steve and his first comment was saying it looked like a swastika.  OK...point taken.  I have been drafting and re-drafting the block, adding some elements to make it look less like a swastika and more like just pretty flowers, vines, and leaves.

Now I am wondering if I have the attention span to make a quilt with nine identical blocks.  I really like the swag variation with flowers for the outer border and the flowers for the corners.

I am also drawn to the quilts of Susan McCord, many of which reside about 25 miles from me at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.  Lately I have been studying this one...

Mostly, I love the shape of the urn.  I have sketched that urn with some different flowers in an 18 inch block.  Again, do I love it enough to make nine identical blocks?  Hmm...

In stitches, 
Teresa   :o)