Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Country Critters


I apologize, I was unable to resist that title!

Here are the first two applique blocks from the 2015 BOM for The Quilt Show, Lynette Anderson's My Country House. Month 5 was called "Naughty Fox," but mine is a grey coyote instead:


A couple of winters ago we had a coyote right here in our suburban backyard. We have foxes too, but design-wise I prefer the silver grey coyote. Coyotes are controversial here in Toronto, but the consensus is that they are here to stay. Anderson's quilt block is a little ambiguous. Are the chicken and coyote friends? Or is the chicken chasing the coyote away?

Month 6 is "Rabbit Love:"


Since my version is 3/4 scale, and all the critters are felted wool, I have been stripping down some of the details in each block. The original design has an embroidered heart on one of the rabbits. I stitched it, but then took it out again. It felt cluttered, maybe due to the busy, aqua rose background fabric. I love that fabric! I remember buying a lot of it for almost nothing in the 90s, at the same time that I bought all the pink and yellow fabrics for Circa 1998. "That will be useful," I thought. But I never thought it would take this long to use it!

But anyway, since the background is so strong I decided to fill in the leaves so they would show up from a distance:


Mary Corbet posted her video for Raised Fishbone Stitch a while ago, and I have been looking for a chance to try it ever since. It is fun and not hard to do, although I probably should have used a hoop. I kept the stitches a little separated since the fabric is lightweight, and because I wanted to make the whole leaf with one length of floss (almost a yard -- 90 cm).

Wool applique really is addictive, and I have enjoyed making these blocks. They were only a couple of days each. That's a good thing, since there is still much more to do!

10 comments:

  1. Your applique blocks look great with the felted wool. Very nicely done raised fishbone stitch. I'd like to incorporate that stitch into something I'm doing too.

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  2. I like your chicken block! Unusual.

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  3. I like how you've taken the original design and transformed it into your own. The coyote and chicken do tell a humorous story and the rabbits are super cute. Your "vintage" fabric worked out great for the background.

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  4. Your stripped down, felted wool applique works really well against the "lively" prints. It's a perfect match. The thread appears to have a slight sheen, which gives your cute little critters an extra dose of polish and finesse. I like your interpretation of this design.

    Re: coyotes roaming the cities; a "scruffy looking little dog" brushed by me a few weeks ago as I was getting into my car at my daughter's house. Thinking about it later, I realized the scruffy dog was in fact a coyote! Yikes!

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    1. Thank you! The thread is DMC floss, and the sheen is because I took the blocks outside to photograph them in direct sunlight.

      Yikes indeed! That was a little close for comfort. The one we had here looked very well off, I was happy to be inside when he went through!

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  5. Coyotes have always been controversial. Shape shifters in Navajo tales. Always up to mischief as Wile E. Coyote in Looney Tunes cartoons. Eating neighborhood cats and small dogs. Yours is super cute. And the chicken is on his back because it's probably the safest place to be!

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  6. these applique blocks are so pretty the bunny one especially i fell for, such skill you have for these, the quilt is going to be amazing

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  7. Great creatures - love the solidity of the rabbits and the lightness of the coyote - and the ambiguity! The raised fish one worked well - must try it.

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    1. Thanks, Jillian! I know you will like the stitch. And the coyote is not the only ambiguous block in this quilt. More to come!

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  8. Beautiful blocks to make another gorgeous project

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