Hopeful Homemaker

It’s no secret that I love Carolyn Friedlander’s patterns, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that I started another one.  I’ve had my eye on the Everglade pattern for some time.  I was so excited to pair these fabrics with this pattern that my Everglade quilt blocks came together very quickly.


I am drawn to using pattern on pattern in my quilts lately.  I’d like to learn how to do it well, and with this pattern I’m experimenting with it.  Jennifer Paganelli’s fabrics are vibrant and colorful, and busy enough to challenge me.  Most of the prints in these blocks come from two of her collections, Sunny Isle and Hotel Fredericksted.  You know that feeling of having a fabric speak to you, and cause a deep emotional response in you?  I love it when that happens, and I felt that way about the colors and designs of several fabrics in these collections.


That blue!  This floral makes me want to buy yards and yards of it.  The florals themselves are gorgeous, but the blue is what makes my heart sing.  It’s similar to the blue background in my Lucky Lone Star quilt , which also makes my heart sing.  I can’t seem to get enough of that blue.


In the Hotel Fredericksted collection I particularly loved the bird print in green.  It’s fun when a design surprises me like that.  (Confession:  I may have ordered more of it when I found it on clearance…)


The Everglade quilt blocks are all the same size, but the pattern has templates for three different sizes in the trellis design.  It takes some time to baste and applique them all, but I enjoy hand applique and it travels easily.


One print, the yellow bird, is by another designer.  The yellow is a little bright but I’m embracing it.  I like the contrast in this block with the deep orange background.


These blocks were finished while I wait in the car to pick up my kids, or while they are doing homework, or while we’re watching a movie as a family.  It gives me something productive to do without being a distraction.


The floral print below is another favorite of mine, in every colorway.  Again, I’d like yards and yards of it…


These are eight of nine 17″ blocks that make up the bulk of the quilt.  I have one more large Everglade quilt block to finish, and then a few smaller ones.  I’m excited to put all of them together in one very colorful quilt!

Way back in 2016 (what? how has it been so long?) I attended a quilt workshop with Kathy Doughty.  I loved every minute.  She taught two different classes, and in my eagerness I began three different projects during the workshops.  This Vintage Spin quilt top was one of them.  The pattern is in her book Adding Layers.


I know, I know.  I have a problem with starting new projects.  But I had a good excuse:  I wanted to try everything she was teaching.  So I did exactly that.


I’d never made a dresden before, and it sounded really cool to square it up after sewing.  And if you know me well, you know that I love vintage things, so putting a “spin” on vintage was right up my alley.  So I made two blocks, cut them into squares, and then folded them up and put them away.  For about 2 years.


Last year I went through all my Art Gallery fabrics and cut the wedges.  There are a few prints from other manufacturers, but this is mostly Art Gallery prints.  I have a monthly sewing night with a group of friends, and I’m more effective on those nights if I have a project that stays in a box and only gets worked on when I’m there.  I cut it in advance, and make sure it’s not so complex that lively conversation will cause me to make major errors.  Then over several months I work away at it until I have a finished quilt top.


That’s the story of this quilt top.  After finishing the blocks I squared them up and stitched the center circles on.   Before I knew it all the blocks were sewn together and suddenly I had one less work in progress!

This Vintage Spin Quilt top is a happy one.  I love all the movement between the blocks, the floral centers, and the colors.  It reminds me of spring.