Falling Leaves

Our leaves are finally getting some color. I love fall, the crisp air, and the beauty across the rolling hills of Tennessee.

This little quilt features another vintage block pattern called Silver Maple. It was also published as Maple Leaf or Broad Arrow. Granny Rose made several of these quilts. I chose fall prints of rust, taupe, green, and gold for the nine inch blocks.

Falling Leaves is 45” square after adding an outside border of half rectangles. I quilted in dark taupe thread with free motion loops. It's hanging on the wall in our dining room for the season.

Accuquilt dies used:
55731 Signature 4½” finished
55147 Half Square Triangle 2¼” finished
55395 Square 2¼” finished
55107 Rectangle 2¼” x 4½” finished
55409 Triangle in Square (sides only)

Sitting on the porch

Drinking morning coffee

= relaxing bliss

Purple Passion

I had several other quilts finished and ready to write about, but I moved this one to the head of the line. This new die from Blue Wren is gorgeous!

The die is called Oopsy Daisy. It is very similar to a vintage design published as America's Pride in the Laura Wheeler syndicated newspaper column, which started in 1933.

As I waited for my order to arrive from Australia, I used EQ8 to design so that when it arrived I would be ready to go. The postman delivered my package of dies on Thursday around lunchtime and I started making test blocks immediately. I cut this one and started sewing Friday morning.  I finished quilting and added the binding on Sunday afternoon. Needless to say, there was no cooking or cleaning done at my house since Thursday.

Luscious purple batik and prints show off the elements of the block. The curves sew easily and quickly. I used medium lavender thread to outline stitch part of the design, then filled in with free motion quilting on the solid color. Purple Passion is 37” square and fits nicely between the windows in my sewing room.

Purple Passion

I absolutely love this one! Thanks to Norma and Edward Grimmer at Blue Wren for all their pretty dies and great customer service. Three more of their dies are waiting for me to cut and sew, and I can't wait to get started. Stay tuned!

Dies used:

Blue Wren
6816 Oopsy Daisy 6” finished quarter block, 12” finished block

Accuquilt
55017 Strip 2½”

 

Scrap Basket

Since I'm on a roll, here's another quilt made in my ongoing quest to save tiny pieces of fabric from untimely disposal.

My favorite sizes to cut are 2½” squares and half square triangles. This time I combined them with white muslin for a very colorful cane weave design. Piecing was super easy and quick on Annie, my Featherweight. I didn't pay much attention to color placement while sewing four-patches and strips.

Scrap Basket Block

I moved the blocks around on my design wall to balance out the colors, then sewed them together. Even with all these pieces, I have many more scraps left. I guess as long as I cut fabric I will have small remnants to rescue. Some of these are decades old but still lovely.

I used a 60” piece of plaid shirting material for backing. Quilting with white thread, I sewed serpentine lines 2” apart. This is a lightweight quilt with flannel as batting.  

Accuquilt dies used:
55059 Square, multiples, 2½”
55018 Small Value die: Half Square Triangle 2½” & 4½” square
55017 Strip 2½”
55160 Rectangle 4½” x 8½”

I learned from my mama and my grannies

to be a collector of useful things.

Test 1-2-3

Like most quilters, I have a box of extra quilt blocks. Some are orphans, left over from a project; others are samples made when testing a new die or idea. I always make a test cut on new dies to make sure they cut and sew up correctly.

Today's quilt is a sampler quilt made from nine different designs. Since they weren't the same size, I added various colorful borders to make them all 12” square. The gray sewing needle print was a fun way to sash the blocks together.

I decided to quilt in rows, using many of the decorative stitches on my Janome MC9400 machine. This one's a true sampler! Test 1-2-3 finished out at 45” square. I like this useful solution to showcase extra blocks of similar colors.

Nothing's wasted around my sewing room!