Hopeful Homemaker

In May I shared the first four blocks for a new version of my Prosper quilt .  After a too-long sewing break I finished the rest, so today I’ve got more Prosper quilt blocks to share.  As with the first four, I LOVE the saturation of the nocturnal blue, and the incredible contrast it offers to the juicy florals.  These blocks are FUN.

Originally I planned to finish this quilt top immediately.  It turns out, the joke’s on me!  Instead of finishing in a week, I put everything away in preparation for houseguests, and never had time to get it back out.  Recently I carved out time to finish, and it felt great to be sewing.

I ran out of Sanderson prints to include, and started digging through some Kaffe florals.  In the end, all but one block contain at least one Sanderson print.  So I wandered pretty far from the original idea but I think they all play together well.

As I’ve said before, this quilt is fun to make.  Each block is large and dramatic, so it feels exciting to finish even one.  In the blocks above and below I mixed in some Dutch Heritage to keep things interesting.  That teal floral below is my favorite print of the collection – wish I’d bought more of it!

After making more prosper blocks, I waffled considerably regarding fabric choices for the final block.  In the end, I decided to go bold, and made a block that is less like the others.  When I sew the quilt top together, though, I think it will blend in well enough.  Mostly I struggled to find a color combination I hadn’t already used too much.  So I stepped outside the lines a little, but now they’re all finished!

Life at my house is full of exciting things right now, all of which require a lot of effort.  And that’s just fine.  But my plate is awfully full, so I’m not making any promises on how soon these blocks will become a quilt top.  Sooner or later, I’m excited to see them together!  It’s wonderful to be reminded how delightful the Prosper pattern is to make.

Happy Sewing!
-Jennifer

A few months ago I taught some classes at the Sew Simply Stitched quilting retreat.  I loved it, and I also loved taking a couple of classes there.  One of them was for a vintage quilt block I’ve always liked, the Bride’s bouquet.  I figured it might be fun to get some extra tips and tricks, if possible, and finally start one of those “someday” quilt patterns.  Here’s my first bouquet quilt block:

This block is a 12″ square and the pieces were large enough that I decided to try fussy cutting the diamonds.  Enter this fabulous fabric, designed by Odile Bailloeul, a French designer for Free Spirit Fabrics.  So many cool design elements to choose from in this one!

I opted for the bird and fussy cut six of them.

If you’re unfamiliar with fussy cutting, it’s a process where the same design element is cut out repeatedly from a fabric without concern for efficient fabric use.  It leaves what’s humorously called “quilter’s lace”, or holes in your quilting fabric when you’re done.

I use fussy quilting frequently in my quilting.  With so many incredible fabric designers in the industry, my opportunity to fussy cut incredible fabrics increases constantly!  I fussy cut the fabrics in my Arise quilts ( here and here ).  Both versions of my Listen quilts ( here and here) also contain fussy cutting.  This let me put all the faces, florals, and other design elements exactly where I wanted them.  I figure this fabric has so many awesome designs in it, I’ll have no problem using it for other fussy cut quilt blocks.

Bride’s bouquet is a gorgeous quilt block requiring one important skill:  y-seams.  Thankfully, my years of using y-seams in lone star quilts made this approachable instead of daunting.  It takes time but is rewarding.  Now I’m on the hunt for another great fabric to fussy cut in my second block.  Any suggestions?

I hope you’re doing something creative today!

I dove into my Prosper quilt pattern last week in preparation for a class I taught at The Quilted Beehive in Ogden UT.   We had a great time sewing with gorgeous fabrics in a lovely space.  For my class samples I leaned into some big juicy florals, mostly from Free Spirit Fabrics.  Specifically, the Celebration of Sanderson prints which I’ve been hanging onto.  And wow, these Prosper quilt blocks are showing off!

I selected a deep navy blue as my background color, which highlights the florals perfectly.  It makes them even brighter and I love it.  I have made this quilt with a white background , and also with prints for the background here and here , but never with a dark solid.  This is the same deep blue I used in my Show Up quilt top.  It’s an Art Gallery solid, called Nocturnal, and is definitely my current favorite.

Consistent with my style, I pulled a few prints from other designers into the mix, such as the Brigitte Giblin print above (navy and white) and the green floral by Windham below.  The purple is a Riley Blake print.  It’s nice to mix designers for a combination that’s unique.

Having made a few blocks, I’m now in the groove so the cutting and sewing feels natural and all the measurements are in my head.  My goal is to make one block each day and finish this quilt top by the end of the week.  It’s going to be a 9 block version instead of 12, like this one I did in solids long ago.  The blocks are large, finishing at 22.5, and each one is its own beautiful composition.

Taking indoor photos means terrible lighting, but I snapped this photo of all four prosper quilt blocks on my design wall anyway.  I love the way the navy background looks in these blocks.  Another reason to finish right away!

I hope you’re working on something fun today!

Jennifer