LE: a quilt with a mind of it's own

Love Entwined has a mind of it's own. I made other plans, but my Love Entwined wants to be a patchwork style scrappy. I resisted this at first, but not for long. Nothing I did worked, even though I had thought out at least 3 excellent colour ways, each one as lovely as the next. But it wasn't to be. I've been rejecting all those lovely new fabrics for a patchwork style of assorted lights and darks and, against my initial decision not to, I'm now firmly following my feelings with this quilt. I really don't know how I thought I could resist in the first place because, honestly, this quilt has a mind of its own! So my original colour scheme issue was resolved, but then came the red dilemma.

Every time I selected fabrics to use, I kept sneaking in red fabrics...and it just didn't work. It was too red for the patchwork style LE I was making, and not red enough for a red quilt. So I was left with no other option: 

I am now making two Love Entwined quilts at once

One in a patchwork style scrappy and one in red and white. 

Although it's double the work, I feel relieved because I was sick and tired of chopping and changing all my ideas over and over again and of being so undecided all the time. Making two quilts is a resolution and now I can be free to follow my instincts and just get on with making them. I feel like the patchwork style version is a nod to the 1790's era. Oddly, even though it isn't particularly Georgian in my opinion, I do feel that it's right as a homage to the original quilter whereas the red and white is more my own personality.

and I'm loving each of them in their own way. Now that the colour scheme has been resolved (or doubled?! depending on how you look at it) I'm enjoying each of them in their own specialness and have even started on my red compass. It's going fine, I won't have to make 3 of these compasses, I think that was just me warming up to the quilt ahead!

Thank you to everyone who is posting their own Love Entwined progress over in the Group: it's an inspiration to see how you are making your own quilts, I love seeing what you are doing with the blocks each month. 

Love Entwined Part 10 is Launched

It's time for the charming four corners as we complete Border 2

bottom right and top left corner

Part 10 keeps us busy as we complete Border 2. Unlike the work of Part 8 & 9, Part 10 allows you to spend a bit of time with your stitch work and embellishments as well as finishing up any little details from the previous blocks before we start on Border 3 next month.

This is a quilt full of detail, so don't be afraid to embellish and take your time.

bottom left and tip right corner

 This is where we are up to, quilt wise:

Can't wait to see your progress pics...

‘Love Entwined 1790 Marriage Coverlet’ is a Free 18 Month Historic BOM

Each ‘block’ of the month is released monthly, on the 15th of each month. All ‘blocks’ are available for free during the month of their release. Any missed ‘blocks’ may be purchased.

All ‘blocks’ are available for download via my Yahoo BOM Group only

WOW: Heart Sent!

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

Sometimes deadlines can really help me get things done. I'm glad to announce that this morning (as soon as my local post office opens) I will be posting my Tombola Heart contribution to fly all the way over to the UK where someone will end up claiming it for themselves. I hope they like it. I always get so attached to these little things I make, I wish I'd made two at once now!

I've used my Love Entwined hearts because I love them. I think I'll have to create a design of hearts to work with my spare cushion compasses. Speaking of Love Entwined, I'm onto Compass No. 5...but more of that after WOW, it needs a post all of its own.

I'm a few weeks behind in my emails, so today I'm hoping to spend my WOW time sending emails and deciding which pattern to release as the next BOM. Can you believe it's March already? I feel like this year is just speeding by, I'm going to spend today trying to catch up!

Some new members have been asking me how to do WOW as they don't have a blog? Simple, just tell us what you're doing in the comments section of this post - blog or not, I'd love to know!

What's Your WOW?

An InLinkz Link-up

WOW: Spare a Heart?

WOW = WIPs On Wednesday

The Quilter's Guild of the British Isles Festival of Quilts 2014 will be hosting a Heart themed Tombola this year and are asking for heart shaped items, no more than A4 in size, to be donated for this event. If you'd like to contribute to the Tombola, you can send in your creation which will be used to raise funds for the Guild. 

If you're outside the UK, as I am, you can send in your finished hearts from anywhere in the world to: 

Hearts,

The Lilacs, Dittons Road,

Polegate, East Sussex. BN26 6JQ

UNITED KINGDOM

Jan Allston is the co-ordinator of Region 2 of the Quilter's Guild of the British Isles and when she asked if I'd be interested in making anything, well I was delighted to help. You may remember that Jan is our fine marriage coverlet contact in the UK and was researching and looking into the original 1790 quilt before it was found. I think she's been amazingly generous with her time and I am happy to do what I can to contribute to the Quilter's Guild. I personally think that it's in every quilters interest to do what they can to support quilters, wherever they are.

The quilting community I know is generous and worldwide. Somewhere in my own heart, I'm fairly sure that if the mysterious quilter of the marriage coverlet of 1790 were alive today, she'd be a member of a Quilting Guild and contributing in this small way feels like a nice connection to her home country.

Do you recognize these hearts? They're from Love Entwined and this is my contribution to the Tombola. Today I'm going to quilt it in preparation for sending.

You can read about the Tombola here
or why not send a semi completed piece? You can read about that here

What's Your WOW ?

An InLinkz Link-up

WOW: Teal Crisis

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

Now I have three completed compasses; two mustard and teal (which turned out too large) and my final compass with red print instead of teal. In this photo my needle turned points on the final compass are not completed, but in fact I finished this compass and set it aside several days ago.

Now I have been considering my applique fabrics for the square and, with fresh eyes, I think I love the teal compass most of all. I don't know what I was thinking changing the colour all of a sudden for my third and now I'm going back to my first idea! This must be the fussiest quilt I have made, and I haven't moved past Part 1 yet!

The only problem is? The teal compass is too large and the needle turn points are sewn down on the red compass. So what to do? I have to follow my gut feeling and this means making yet another compass and needle turning yet another 32 points! Which I'll start today...

What's Your WOW?

An InLinkz Link-up

Compass Ring Needle Turn Points

Love Entwined: 1790 Marriage Coverlet BOM

I've opted to needle turn the compass ring points. It's a lot of work, but well worth it. 

I'm using polka dot fabric as my cheat - it means that I always know the circle is correct and is an easy guide, especially with so many to make. It also saves me trying to shape the circles 'blind' and is easy on my eyes as this is time consuming and fiddly work otherwise.

I cut out my dots with the smallest possible margin of fabric which I'll turn under and will also fill the point

I pin the fabric into position and with small, neat stitches and a thin hand sewing needle, I turn the circle as I work around the shape. As you can see, this is not a difficult process. Yes, it's fiddly and time consuming but definitely satisfying too.

Secure at the back

As you work and become accustomed to the scale of the turning you get better and better

I've been working on these points in the early afternoon when I get the best light in my sewing studio. It can't be rushed and I'm patiently working towards getting them all done in their own time. I've started the applique now and return to these points when I'm in the right mood to complete them.

Actually what I've been thinking as I turn these points, is that I think I prefer my original colour scheme of the mustardy gold and teal for the compass. I had made two of these in this colour scheme but they were both too large and put away for cushions. Having put them aside for a short amount of time, looking at them afresh, I love them all over again. I think I like them more than my current option with the red print instead of the teal!

I'm going to put this red version aside and look afresh at it alongside my fabric choices for the rest of the square before decided what, if anything, I'm going to do about my colour indecision.

I feel so undecided about the colour choices in this quilt, I can't seem to settle and be sure. It's so frustrating.

How do you solve colour issues? Do you know what colours you'll use for a quilt or project straight away? Or do you work at it? Once selected do you stick with it...or do you, like me, keep switching and swapping?!

This post is related to my current BOM: Love Entwined 

If you'd like to read more about it, you can do so by visiting the Love Entwined Page at the top of this blog, underneath the header. If you're making the quilt yourself or are enjoying the journey, please leave a comment. If you are making the quilt and would like to share your progress and ideas with other quilters who are also taking part: you can do so by adding a link to specific blog posts. See the Love Entwined Page for more info. 

LE Compass Ring Notes

Love Entwined: 1790 Marriage Coverlet BOM

There are so many possibilities for the the compass ring points. I've seen embroidery, tiny buttons, sequins, seed pearls, french knots and rose bullion used. They're all lovely choices. My first idea for the points around the compass ring was to embroider them on my sewing machine. My Bernina 820 has a really lovely little stitch which I tried, in a gold and pink thread to match my compass.

You can see this stitch here on my two extra compasses (which I will make into cushions because they turned out too large to use in the quilt). I'm not delighted with the outcome. The points are floating out of line. No matter what I tried, I couldn't line them up in the circle. I made three rings, but none were good enough for the quilt centre. 

Each stitch set seems to jump a little and you can see that some are on point, some are off point. Up close, its not as distracting, but viewed as a whole, its just not precise enough. The compass itself requires a lot of attention to detail and precision. Now that my compass is just how I want it, it feels like a shame to let it down with off point embroidered details.

I'm a bit disappointed that this didn't work for me as I was hoping to utilize some beautiful stitches throughout the blocks as flourishes and details.I finally decided to opt for tradition and will be needle turning these tiny points which you can see I've started in the image above on the left compass.

This post is related to my current BOM: Love Entwined 

If you'd like to read more about it, you can do so by visiting the Love Entwined Page at the top of this blog, underneath the header. If you're making the quilt yourself or are enjoying the journey, please leave a comment. If you are making the quilt and would like to share your progress and ideas with other quilters who are also taking part: you can do so by adding a link to specific blog posts. See the Love Entwined Page for more info.