Hopeful Homemaker

We took a trip to the beach over the summer and had a lovely time.  And of course, I brought along some stitching.  I had wanted to make an updated version of my Prosper Quilt when I finally released the pattern .  I love this version, my Prosper in Conservatory Crafts fabrics.

These photos were taken during an early morning walk along the beach with my husband.  When we found the heart on the rock it seemed like the perfect spot to pause.

The actual sewing of this quilt top was back in 2019, and it has hung patiently in my closet ever since.  Lots of things went on pause for me in 2020, and it’s nice to be going back through them all now, trying to finish up and enjoy them.  Prosper in Conservatory is no exception.  It waited until I was brave enough to put something I cared about on my (new to me) longarm, and then it got the organic straight line quilting treatment.

Most of the fabrics here came from the first release, called Chapter 1, from Conservatory Crafts fabrics which are curated by Anna Maria Horner.  I loved the whole collection and wanted to feature them.  Three years later, these fabrics are still gorgeous and so fun to look at.  They looked so beautiful against the beautiful cliffs of Laguna Beach.

The backing is made from two colorways of the same print by Arounna Khounnoraj.  It looks blurry, but it’s just the shadow on all the shapes.  This is one of my favorite backings ever, and so rich in color.  I have yardage of the black colorway stashed, too.  It will be amazing with applique, if I can ever decide what to applique on it!  For now, we’re loving our new quilt!

A few years ago some friends and I made some Sisterhood quilt blocks to celebrate our friendship.  The clever pattern by Berene of HappySewLucky is paper pieced and so much fun.  That round of Sisterhood blocks prompted me to return to the same pattern in 2020 when I wanted to make a mini friendship quilt for my friend Pantera.  So, at last, I’m sharing a few photos of my Sisterhood mini quilts.

This first one is the most colorful one I’ve made, and it’s also my favorite.  I definitely used “louder” low volume prints in the background, as well as a better range of skin tones for the arms and heads.  Some of my favorite scraps went into this one.

Recently I shared the Courthouse Steps quilt that I made using Pantera’s gorgeous hand printed fabric .  This first Sisterhood mini quilt was made for her, and I included a few scraps of her work in it.  I wanted to send something tangible to tell her I was thinking of her in the pandemic.  This is such a great quilt block for sharing with women.

I quilted it with a small crosshatch design that looks amazing on this block.  The backing is a fun house print I’ve had for years, and I included tabs for hanging in the top corners.  Two different black and white prints won the audition for binding.

And I made a quilt label!  This is one of my worst faults as a quilter.  I rarely label my quilts, and it’s something I need to fix.  I always feel like a simple label written in sharpie is insufficient and would rather embroider one.  But the time difference between the two approaches is huge.  And that’s a discussion for another day.  Still, this one was essential.

And there you have it, my favorite of my Sisterhood mini quilts.

For record keeping, here are a few photos of my own Sisterhood mini quilt.  I love it too, for different reasons.  I love the Liberty lawn in it, and you can read the story behind it here .

For this version, I quilted in crosshatch lines once again and still love it.

I backed it in a Liberty cotton, and bound it with one of my favorite Liberty designs:  wiltshire.  That little red strip in there is my favorite.  It hangs in my laundry room with most of my other mini quilts.

And finally, here is my original test block, still just a block.  I think I’ll save this one to include in a quilt.

Happy Sewing!

Jennifer

Life since early 2020 has been a time of constraints.  We think of constraints as limitations or restrictions, which is how most dictionaries define it.  But I have this funny habit of checking old dictionaries – the 1828 Noah Webster, to be specific – to see how words were defined and used 200 years ago, as well.  (It’s the historian in me; she shows up all the time in funny ways.)  When I settled on the name of this courthouse steps quilt, Potential in Constraints, I looked a little deeper into the word.

The 1828 dictionary defines a constraint as “irresistible force, or its effect; any force, or power, physical or moral, which compels to act or to forbear action, or which urges so strongly as to produce its effect upon the body or mind.”  Aaah.  That’s a lot bigger than just limitations or restrictions.  And it fits this experience well.  So, here is my finished courthouse steps quilt, a quilt I could/would ONLY have made in 2020.

Back in February 2020, just days before the first coronavirus case in the U.S. was identified, I was at QuiltCon with dear friends.  While there, I met the lovely Pantera Saint-Montaigne, owner of Brooklyn Mojo .  Her hand screenprinted fabric panels instantly drew me in, but her friendly demeanor kept me coming back to introduce more friends… and buy more of her beautiful scrap packs.  We agreed to keep in touch. In many ways, we could not be more opposite, but we’ve found common ground to build on.   In fact, she has become a friend.  I wanted to make a quilt to showcase her designs.

Now for my constraints:  I only had scraps of her fabrics, plus a few panels.  When I started this quilt, fabric was difficult to find and even slower to arrive.  None of the solids I would have bought were in stock.  It became a from stash only project.  I grouped Pantera’s fabrics by color and chose four main colorways to focus on:  yellow, blue, pink, and neutrals (gray, white, black).

Log cabins have been my favorite block, by far, for the last couple of years.  I don’t know why, but sewing them is like comfort food to me.  As I watched social unrest sweep across the US in response to acts of racism in the summer of 2020, I found myself thinking a lot about justice, and mercy.  I remembered times I have literally climbed courthouse steps in search of justice and mercy both, and the weight of it all.  Thinking of Pantera, it felt appropriate to use her fabrics to make a courthouse steps quilt.

This quilt is just four large blocks, and each block measures 32″ x 37.5″.  The overall quilt is 64 x 75″. Since the quilt is already so striking, I chose simple straight line quilting to finish it.  No need for the quilting to compete for attention!

I backed the quilt in a favorite black and white print from Cotton + Steel that I stashed.  I love this fabric, and it’s the perfect fit for the graphic designs in Pantera’s fabrics.  A pink binding felt like the perfect finishing touch.

Many thanks to Pantera for designing such unique prints to sew with, and for being the beautiful person she is.  This quilt is a reminder of her friendship, and therefore one of the good things that came out of 2020 for me.