Heart of Ringo

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's been over a month since my last blog post, but there's still been plenty of sewing, and plenty of thinking, happening here. I've done a lot of work on Bonnie Hunter's most recent mystery, On Ringo Lake, and it's going well. But, I've changed mine so much that it doesn't look much like Ringo Lake any more, and I've been quite perplexed by how to describe that process. My first Ringo Lake post was in November, and after that it's just been Instagram. I always call myself a "process blogger," but I'm not sure that is serving me well any more. For the next while, I'm going to focus more on milestones and finishes, and see how that goes.

So anyway, I think On Ringo Lake is a gorgeous block, and I've been a little jealous of all the great versions that are being shared on the link ups, since mine will be so different. In the January 8 link up, Wooly Quilter had three blocks on her design wall in the shape of a heart, and I thought that would be a great quilt right there. I always like hearts, and it gave me an excuse to make the block as written, so I went for it!

Three blocks, the sashing, a range of setting triangles...

...some really wide borders, done! Three days, so that is my fastest make yet. Right now it is 56" x 72" (142 x 183 cm). 

I'm so glad I went ahead. I love the crystalline look it has. All the fabric was in my stash. The solids are Kona, the pink is COTY 2017, pink flamingo. I don't know when or why I bought the white, but it was a little worse for wear so I was glad to finally use it well.

I know a professional quilter would have a field day with those wide open spaces, but, I think I have a simple idea that I can do myself. Into the quilting queue it goes!

My first Ringo Lake project, which I'm now calling Ontario Shores, is at the "just a nine patch" stage. These are the first 25 blocks, lined up and ready to sew.

I hope I can stay focused, because an exciting new toy was just delivered! It's an Eversewn Sparrow 30, and I think it will result in some big changes to my project line up. I am pretty sure I should sew these before I open the box...

Patchwork Barn Neutrals

My first new project for 2018 is The Patchwork Barn, a BOM designed by Edyta Sitar for The Quilt Show. My plan was for a refined and restrained, mostly neutral colour scheme, with hints of soft green and gold. Traditional prints.

Then one day this week my eye happened to land on the project box for El Camino SoCal, with all the Eclectic Elements fabrics by Tim Holtz that I've been using for the background in that project. They were exactly the golden taupes and warm greys that I had in mind!

Even though they are not traditional at all, they still have the pale "rows of wheat" feeling that I want for the quilt, especially when paired with solid white.

And I like the extra texture from the blocky print, too.

I had to laugh, because my "neutral fabric" actually has 15 or 16 different colours in it!

In fact, I realized that beautiful selvedge had to be included in the quilt. Fortunately, Edyta has started us out with very easy blocks. A slight change to the proportions of one the blocks, and my selvedges became part of the design:

The selvedge side is topstitched onto the grey, and the other side is pieced normally with the solid white fabric.

A few of Tim Holtz's butterflies rounded out the last set of blocks:

Even the little four patches looked like butterflies at one point:

There was also a bump in the road...

...which I didn't notice until taking the final photos at the end of the day...

...but which was easily sorted.

Other BOM participants may notice that I switched the darks and lights in the four patches. I think I will like this layout better in the final assembly.

So that is the first month done in one day! If only the rest were as easy...

I don't plan to use the Eclectic Elements exclusively, or even predominantly, but I do love how they worked this month. We'll see what happens next month!

Right now I am literally surrounded by piles of fabric for On Ringo Lake, which has deviated considerably from Bonnie's design. One more day and I hope the whole quilt will be cut. And then, hopefully, a few blocks made for the link up next week!