Hen Party Flimsy

Hen-rietta says hurrah!

The third entry in my Friday Fall Flimsy parade is Hen Party. I started this in 2012, and it sat in a box for the next three years while I struggled with the border. I thought that I was struggling with how to quilt it, but over the summer I realized that my border design was the problem. It was too stiff and formal for the scrappy centre blocks. So I simplified it, and now it's done:

Hen Party flimsy, 60" x 60"

Hurrah! I don't think I've given enough credit to simple borders like this. They really do give a clean, satisfying finish.

Looking back at my explanation of the border three years ago, it is easy to see, with hindsight, that I was trying too hard. Square peg, round hole, etc. But don't worry, I have another use for those seminole borders!

Also looking back, I noticed that I didn't give many close ups of the blocks. I'm quite fond of Hen-rietta there at the top of the page, but I think this big guy is my favourite:

He barely fits in the 6" block. There's also a happy couple:

And a few eggs, of course:

The new border has some chicken wire, and chicks on the loose:

The blue hen is the state bird of Delaware, apparently. If you were wondering!

Those peeping chicks in the border must have escaped through this hole:

So, it feels really good to get that one moved off the shelf, and onto the quilting pile. I still would like to clean out a few more, but I'll have to see how that goes. Plenty to do!

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!