Block 16 of Elegant Garden is finished.
Elegant Garden is designed by Edyta Sitar.
Linking to Patchwork & Quilts, Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Handmade Monday, Sew & Tell, Craftastic Monday, Design Wall Monday, Monday Musings, To Do Tuesday
Log Cabin Hearts is a flimsy! I didn't hang the flimsy on the porchline since it's mud season here. In this picture Log Cabin Hearts is displayed on our bed. That pinkish/lavender fabric gives the quilt a glow.
And in this picture she's displayed on the porch glider.
At this point, Log Cabin Hearts is 97" square but we all know she will shrink after being quilted and washed. I have decided I am not going to hand quilt this flimsy. The fabric the hearts are appliqued onto is a batik and I could tell, when pinning, that they stuck harder than regular cotton fabrics. She has been delivered to Calico Point to be long arm quilted with an overall design and should return home sometime in May.
Log Cabin Hearts was designed by Esther Hershberger back in 1996. This pattern is in desperate need of updating, Esther has paper templates for you to use to cut the fabrics. I got the size for the log pieces by measuring the size of the templates.
This pattern is NOT for a beginning quilter, the instructions are definitely not detailed.
Log Cabin Hearts is quilt #7 on the long list of projects for 2025 and beyond!
Linking to To Do Tuesday, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Finished or Not Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts
Block 15 of Elegant Garden is finished and I don't like it. When I select the colors/fabrics for the blocks, I usually follow Edyta's lead and use the same fabric where she did. In this case I used the same green of the leaves/stems for the square in the center. It doesn't work and the block looks dreary and sad.
I removed the green square from the center flower then debated between adding the orangey/yellow fabric or the pink fabric. The orangey/yellow won, look at the difference! I also decided to change the square to a circle because I didn't like the square.
This color certainly woke this block up and added the necessary zing.
Another change to the block is I did not applique the doodad onto the body of the corner flowers. If I would have, I probably would have used the pink fabric but I like the flower without it.
Elegant Garden was designed by Edyta Sitar in 2007.
Last week I mentioned I've started watching quilting videos and Gail, at the Cozy Quilter, asked me to share some of my favorites so here they are.
Stitch With Rachel - She's an enthusiastic young quilter trying to do it all. She reminds me of myself when I was younger.
From Small Things - Sue retired last year and is able to quilt full time now. She is a hand quilter and she really get them completed!
The Quilted Forest - I really enjoyed the videos about all the quilts she made with her 2.5" scrappy strips.
Sew Charming Quilt Shop - I don't even know the lady's name who does these videos but she own the shop in Alabama. It would be an enjoyable visit to stop in and browse.
Inspired by Lea Louise - She's into the potato chip quilts and has made many variations.
Just Get It Done Quilts - This lady does it get done.
Emma Jones Vintage Sewing - If you are into EPP and handwork, you will enjoy these videos.
Stitch and Sew with Jo - I've been reading Jo's Country Junction for many years. She has gotten into counted cross stitching the last several years and isn't making as many quilts. Cross stitching isn't my thing so I don't enjoy her blog as much as I used to. She has retired so hopefully more quilts will be happening in the future.
Sew the Distance - Kris does talk rather fast but I use the closed captioning and keep up by reading what she says.
These will get you started, there are many many more!
Linking to Patchwork & Quilts, Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Handmade Monday, Sew & Tell, Craftastic Monday, Design Wall Monday, Monday Musings, To Do Tuesday
I showed you a completed block last Sunday. I'm in the process of completing the rest of them.
The fabrics in the top right corner are my favorites. I've had that center square fabrics for years, probably 20 years. The next fabric was another older pretty swirl fabric but again, not enough for all the blocks. The next strips are the floral I purchased to use in Teal Stars while the outside strips are also left from Teal Stars.
The last 20 blocks are made with a fabric I don't like but it was the only thing close to the shade of the swirl fabric. It works but definitely not my favorite.
It takes awhile to sew the log blocks onto the applique blocks. Hopefully they'll all be completed by next week and I can show you a completed flimsy.
Log Cabin Hearts is designed by Esther Hershberger.
Linking to To Do Tuesday, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Finished or Not Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts
The log cabins hearts are appliqued. This was much faster applique than the little pieces in the Elegant Garden blocks. I usually appliqued 3 blocks a day, one day I managed 4 blocks so it took me less than a week to finish all 16.
I pieced four corners log cabin blocks so I could finish one block to show you.
This block is 22.5", finishing at 22".
Four corners pieced, just 60 more to go.
The Log Cabin Heart pattern is designed by Esther Hershberger.
What did I watch while bing appliqueing (and sewing those log cabin corners)? I watched quilting videos on YouTube. I liked the videos from ordinary quilters the best, not the designers who sell patterns/fabric lines and have picture perfect sewing studios.
Linking to Patchwork & Quilts, Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Handmade Monday, Sew & Tell, Craftastic Monday, Design Wall Monday, Monday Musings, To Do Tuesday
For those of you who don't read my midweek posts, I'm piecing a quilt for granddaughter Joanna, Log Cabin Hearts. This is an older pattern designed by Esther Hershberger back in 1996.
Of course I'm changing the pattern, I'm making my quilt with 16 hearts and the quilt will be square. I'm also not going to add those wide borders the pattern calls for.
All the log cabin blocks for the hearts are pieced, I showed you those last week. Now I'm in the process of appliqueing the hearts.
I showed you last week how I stayed stitched around the edge of the hearts before cutting off the excess log cabin.
The flowered teal fabric is leftover from Teal Stars, the rest of those fabrics are from my stash.
I left the freezer paper in to add stability while appliqueing the heart. I'm using a dark gray thread for the stitching.
After the block is appliqued, I cut the background fabric away. Not everyone does this but there is the possibility I might hand quilt this quilt. I don't want to quilt through an extra layer of fabric.
Then I just pull the freezer paper off the backside and iron it onto another block and start the process over again.
The background fabric is a very faint light blue batik. There was a pale teal batik that I considered but it had blotches of yellow in it and I didn't like that. This blue blends wll with the teal fabrics.
Finally my amaryllis have started blooming! It's so nice to have some color.
Linking to Patchwork & Quilts, Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Handmade Monday, Sew & Tell, Craftastic Monday, Design Wall Monday, Monday Musings, To Do Tuesday
Calico Point called me last Friday, the quilting on Four Patch Around the World was finished. All other sewing came to a full stop while I sewed the binding onto her, this is my first complete finish of 2025!
I think this quilt is so bright, colorful and happy. Don't you feel like smiling when you look at her?
The right edge came unclipped but I just left it go. There is snow on the porch and that snow is slick on the smooth concrete.
And a picture on the glider.
A picture of the backside. The quilting is meandering stipple.
And a picture laying in the snow but not much of the snow shows.
This black/white striped fabric is the perfect binding, it highlights all the bright colors.
Here is a link to the last post I wrote about her.
The bright fabrics are a Free Spirit jelly roll I purchased in 2022 in while visiting Deanna in Utah. The white fabrics were the jelly rolls I purchased at MSQC in November.
I also purchased the pattern there but of course I made changes. I made my quilter larger, into a square and it's symmetrical. My finished quilt measures 94" by 95"which isn't that much smaller than the 96" it measured as a flimsy.
This quilt pieced very fast, two weeks! Simple quilts that piece fast are so much fun to make. Of course it helps when the strips are already cut by using jelly rolls.
What's my plan for the quilt? I plan to donate her to the Michiana Mennonite Relief sale in September. We need more full sized quilts for this auction, I think the bright colors will appeal to everyone.
This quilt was #13 on my list of projects to accomplish this year.
Linking to Favorite Monthly Finish @ Quilting Jet Girl, To Do Tuesday, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Finished or Not Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts
