Sashing advice

I started putting together my 25- patch quilt using sashing I recently bought in Wisconsin. The setting squares are from a French General fabric I got a while ago, which is particularly appropriate since many of the fabrics are from that line.  

My problem is that I'm not loving it. Of course Max does!

I wanted this quilt to be more feminine than the last one I did.  The blocks are definitely lighter but I think I like the contrast in the other one's Sashing

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Any suggestions??

A lovely distraction

My dh had a last minute, quick trip to London recently and I naturally went along. I enjoy that London is an easy city to navigate your way, not the least of which is because everyone speaks English!  It's also easy to get from the airport into town.

One thing I noticed last time we were there was the front stoops often have quilt patterns! This time I found a few more:

I'd probably want to buy this place just for the Ohio stars in front!

One of my favorite places to visit in London is the Victoria and Albert Museum. They usually have a great textile exhibit and I wasn't disappointed this time with an exhibit about the use of chintz and embroidery.

This was embroidered!!

And of course one hallway had great floors!

When I visit places like the V&A Museum, I find myself drawn to looking carefully at the use of color and the combinations employed. This time we were looking for a special exhibit in blue and white painted porcelain which was hidden in a corner of the 6th floor. What a most amazing trove of pottery was hidden up there on the 6th floor. If it wasn't in a museum, I'd say the owner was a hoarder!! Seriously the most amazing collection of pottery I've ever seen!

Not only is the detail amazing, but the colors are spectacular!

I saved this for last. To reward the true followers of my blog:

Tomorrow I'll post pictures of other gorgeous colors found amongst the pottery!!

A novel idea

The quilt shop in Bend, Quiltworks, has a show every month. The April show is displaying quilts that were made to reflect the owner's interpretation of a book. The book was A Tale for the Time Being.  I think all the quilts are so interesting and so different!

M

Quick trip to Bend

We took a quick trip to Bend and since our Sunriver house sold, we had to rent something. I've always wanted to stay in Bend so this was a great opportunity. I found this small, old cottage that's been perfect!

Yup. It's 100 years old! Look at the bathroom floor! I don't know if it's original but it sure is awesome!

Even the shower curtain over the claw foot tub inspires!

I picked up my Bernina from the storage place and even had time last night to sew a bit!

I was overly optimistic and brought along this adorable kit I picked up in Wisconsin!

I loved the fabric: Barbara Bracknan's Ladies Album, which wasn't available in yardage. Maybe I'll finish my first project tonight and get to start this. 

Flying back home tomorrow night  for Nana Day on Friday. 

Here the 3 of them were playing in Jack's pack n play. Emma refused to keep her shirt on, by the way!

Large print uses

One of my Wisconsin friends had a great idea to utilize large print fabrics!!

Here is the original fabric. 

She layered it so that there were 4 layers,exactly  the same. She then cut squares. I think she cut them at 4", although you could go smaller or larger.

Here are a few piles. 

Then she rearranged the squares until she found a layout she liked. 

She sewed the 4 patches together and laid out all of them. 

Her plan was to put a thin black sashing around each new block and add white sashing between the blocks. Great idea to use up fabric you don't want to cut into!

When we went into Spring Green to the Country Sampler store, I found a gorgeous cheater cloth I thought would make a great utility quilt!

I got 2 yds but realized that wouldn't work out so I called and got another 2 yds. I think it's a great find. The fact that it's primarily blue helps a bit!! VBG

I'm trying to keep up with the Barbara Brackman 6" stars every week.   This week's theme was foulard prints, which I hadn't understood before. So I made one using only foulard prints. If you want to read more, check out the latest Stars in a Time Warp posting. It's posted every Wednesday and can be found alongside my blog. I've no idea how to put a link from my phone. Sorry!!

Hope everyone had a great Easter! We are enjoying lots of matzoh!!