finishing the amish sampler

I have to go along to my meeting on Monday with a kind of show and tell - a “here’s what I have and think would make a good class kind of thing”.  So after consultation with Carolann - who will cheerfully enrol in whatever I do! - we placed the amish sampler at top of the list, followed by the dresden plate hoop and the baby penny rug.

I was also keen on the Christmas quilt - the blue and white one with the flying geese - but having FOUR things in a finished enough state for Monday was not too ambitious - it was plain RIDICULOUS!

I think the Amish Sampler is a good idea for several reasons - there’s nothing else on offer at the quilt shop like it, it offers the opportunity to teach drafting, different piecing techniques, a wee bit of history and block lore, and it uses 11 fat quarters and a 2 metre piece of black.  Of course, you could use any colour combination you like - and I’m thinking I will make it again in 1930s fabric - but I think the 11 fat quarter bit with a contrasting piece is an appealing and easy assortment of fabric to buy.

So yesterday Carolann and I surveyed the blocks completed so far, and those that were left and decided to shrink the quilt - 24 blocks as opposed to 48, and ditch the ones that required we divide 8 by 6 or 5 - ugh!

Instead, Carolann whipped out her favourite bedside reading and we had great fun choosing some new blocks that would look right at home with the original ones - Carolann played adjudicator on what blocks an Amish stitcher would have used and what ones she wouldn’t - being an expert and all ;-) - and discovering the names for the ones completed thus far!  Cool - I adore knowing the names!

Then she cut whilst I sewed - what a perfect friendship hey!

So today, not only did I pack and pack and pack and pack - to the point where we have no cooking utensils or pots or plates or glasses etc - that made cooking dinner interesting … oh I’ll just have to digress here - we had nothing to prepare that didn’t require some kind of implement.  I did suggest breakfast cereal but that was pooh-poohed by those more particular (actually, they probably just realised we had no bowls from which to eat it!) - and then Julian remembered these funny little frozen salmon portions I bought at IKEA!  Yep - there they were in the back of the freezer - too weird.  So we popped them in the oven - no baking trays so had to use a cast iron frypan - and had them with sourdough and tomatoes, on Lotte no less!  And it wasn’t too bad! Fast food from Ikea - whatever next!

Anyway - back to quilts - not only did I pack and pack, yeah you get the picture - but I also managed to sew four more blocks.  AND I finally - after 4 years - found my block of imperial graph paper.  I paid an extraordinary amount of money for it, so refused to buy more when I couldn’t find it, and have therefore been using a METRIC graph book.  Completely ridiculous on so many levels.

So I was able to draft all these tricksy blocks with on point squares in the middle and MEASURE them - can you believe it!  I felt unbelievably technical and clever (but I won’t tell Julian or he’ll declare that I don’t need EQ 6 after all!)

The final block for the evening was the Road to Oklahoma.  I chain pieced away …

… and then, whilst arranging the units on the table, realised if I turned the flying geese unit around the other way I had a different and very pretty block.

This way …

… or that way.  Uh-huh, I decided to take the more scenic route to Oklahoma.  And here are the finished blocks …

and one by one, in dreadful light, the Pride of Ohio (such a pretty, pretty block),

the Interlocking Red Cross (Julian’s favourite), and

the Scenic Road to Oklahoma (I’ve come a long way readers - this block has over 70 pieces which would have once sent me running for a nine patch - but it was almost enjoyable!)

I didn’t take an individual photo of the Kansas Dugout - how could I turn this block down when I could feel the vibrations of the oxens’ hooves on the sod roof, and hear the roar of Plum creek! - as the brown just looked plain yuck in the yellow lamplight of 11pm.

There’s also this block …

but I don’t remember what it’s supposed to be … hmmmm …

Comments

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website