posted by Lily on books, embroidery, patchwork, quilts

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ta-da!  Oh my, this has been a loooooooong time coming :-)  I began these wee cross stitches before Abby was born – more than 15 years ago!  They are, of course, from the Prairie Schooler folk – my all time favourite cross stitch patterns.  I so love their simplicity and timelessness.  Mmmmmhmm!

And these fairies – so funny and whimsical.  They bring me to mind of the sweet flower fairy poems written by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Have you read them?  I found them during the time when I was reading the Little House books to Abby – she was still breastfeeding first thing in the morning and last thing at night – she called it good morning titty and good night titty :-) – and we read our way through the first three of Wilder’s stories.  The poems are so unlike her other writing – very silly and fanciful and lovely.  Perhaps an opportunity to escape the hardships of everyday life and revel in the magic of the natural beauty around her.

I love the colours of the fairy on the crow, sprinkling pollen as she goes.  But my favourite is the lass on the hare – I can relate to her chaos!

I absolutely adore the fabrics I’ve used in this quilt.  The blue and green floral you can see above is from a 2009 collection of Jane Austen inspired fabrics, and the smooshy reddy rhubarb is just something I liked.  But the rest are from a couple of Moda collections from years ago – I’m sure their name had something to do with “French” and when I bought the last of the red floral and green floral above, I remember feeling crushed that was the end of them.

The border is made from wedges cut with the dresden plate ruler – adds a nice zing.  And the blocks – I can’t remember what this block is called – “My Sister’s Favourite” is ringing some bells.  But looking at them afresh this week, I think I need to make more.  Many, many more!  Forty-eight made from the scraps in my sewing shed.  That would be fun huh!

As for the brown binding – it was never intended to be.  Last night, I was pulling fabrics out of their useless piles in the sewing shed, trying to find a big enough piece in red or green or pink.  No luck.  The only piece I kept coming back to that was big enough was the brown.  It’s a reproduction piece – I LOVE reproductions and haven’t found anywhere here in Melbourne to buy them – Karen had a great selection at the Quilters’ Store in Brisbane – I used to drive them crazy buying 30cm each of 20 odd bolts at a time – in the end, they used to make me return the bolts to the shelves myself :-)  Anyways – I think the brown has worked really well – echoes the lovely Prairie Schooler feel and draws me back again to Laura and those Little Houses.  Besides, brown + green +red + pink is probably my favourite colour combination ever.

Mmmmmm ….. each time I turned it around on my lap, the morning sun poured into the colours, making them so rich and pretty.  Made me smile with delight every time.

And then it was done – I’ve even stitched in every last thread!  I made a hanging cord for it from the remainder of the brown, added a sleeve to the back and …

… finished!  I’m as smitten with it today as I was when it first began.  It’s just right.

Now, it’s hanging in the hall, above the spring table.  Yes, this Prairie Fairy Quilt of mine is just right.