little farm girlies
2010
I completely forgot about …
I made this for Abigail for Christmas. It was her handmade from mumma present. Abby loves Hillary Lang’s style so I stitched up these wee farm girls and then turned them into a small quilt. Contrary to my usual contrariness, I zealously stuck to the recommended colours, and these dear little designs stitched up beautifully.
Nobody had any faith that this project would be finished by Christmas. Huh! What a bunch of doubting daphnes – of course it was finished ;-) Well, actually, I was a bit doubtful too. The stitching, piecing and quilting was all stuffed between packing, trips to Melbourne and preparing to move. But it was a dear little project and one that I loved working on.
For the patchwork, I designed a simple 9 patch as I didn’t want to distract from the sweetness of the girlies. I chose fabrics that reflected the joy and simplicity of the cross stitch designs. I added a small band or ribbon of coordinating colour to each of the cross stitched linens – simply left the edges raw and top stitched 1/4 inch in from each raw edge. For the five pieced blocks, I pieced a simple square in a square. The centre of each is a fun polka dot and the corners are the same fabrics that adorn the cross stitches. I love the middle square – the striped fabric adds some really zippy movement. The borders are black osnaberg – I do so love the earthiness of osnaberg and I am pleased with the intensity it adds to the wee quilt. In each corner of the border – a twirly pinwheel, reflecting the cheeriness and energy of the little farm girls. I used matching quilting thread for the 9 patch, but for the black, used a vibrant green King Tut. For the top and bottom – a repeat of the gorgeous orange, yellow and red diamonds. Finally, to cool it all down, the blue binding. As is my fetish, it is quilted onto a piece of thrifted woolen blanket.
However – what I HAVEN’T done is add a sleeve to the back and hang it. Instead, it has been hanging over the back of the chair at Abby’s desk, regularly obscured by the school blazer, clean washing and Abby’s doll making supplies. Not really appropriate :-)
So I’ve dug it out – reacquainted myself with its cheeriness, and tomorrow I shall go to the hardware store, buy some dowel, come home, make and attatch that sleeve and hang the darn thing up. Yup. That’s the plan.
Of course, what REALLY made my dig out this quilt and give it its due place in Bootville – are these little girls – but Hillary’s sold out – what a bum!
11 comments
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What a SWEET quilt! Just adorable! I love the black and the happy colors and the girls and the pinwheels and the thread. Very, very sweet! Hang that thing up! :-)
Beautiful! So joyfully colorful – it needs to be hung up for all to see and enjoy!
It is such a lovely quilt! I like the colours very much. It MUST be hanging on the wall.
This quilt is amazing. I like the way you have combined so many crafting/handwork elements. I now have a new saying…doubting daphnes. That is the best. Hey, Lil, I think I would love it if you gave a stitching,quilting,sewing workshop. Where and When could this happen? I just love your use of colors, and design. It’s fantastic. Big hugs to you.
I love the way you have combined cross stitch and patchwork. Such a bright and cheerful little quilt! You definitely need to attach a sleeve to it so it can go on the wall :-)
This is darling! Thank you for sew & telling!
*hugs*
Jackie
Wow, Lily, I love how you arranged these girls! I’ve admired this set of cross stitch patterns (and everything else Wee Wonderfuls) for a while and I think you’ve done a fabulous job of displaying them in this quilt. Abby is a lucky girl!
The little girls are so sweet! Love the way you set them with beautiful blocks. What a cute present for Abby :)
your chosen color palette is so bright, cheery and bold. i need to find more color bravery the next time i go to the fabric store.
so so so incredibly cute lily, it is beautiful
Oooh! I have these patterns just waiting in my to do pile. You have just given me great inspiration! I’m enjoying catching up with many posts here – all that crochet is just lovely!