It’s been 6 weeks, so it’s time for our quilts to continue their journey! I joined the Round Trip Quilt bee, which is made up of US and Canada bloggers that met through the New Blogger Group from Plum and June. We are a pretty relaxed and free form bee group. We don’t make (necessarily) an entire border all the way around each time, and we usually (but not always) sew an additional piece to one or more sides of the quilt. I love our rules because as a group, there are some amazing quilts taking shape.
This round I have an autumn themed quilt from Christina at Wips and Tuts. She used the center medallion from the Liberty medallion quilt that went around quilty blog-land awhile ago. It’s from the book Liberty Love by Alexia Marcelle Abegg (affiliate link). This is such a fantastic medallion center, and it’s being added to my never ending bucket list of quilts.
As soon as I saw her initial blog entry explaining the theme of her quilt, I got excited. I love fall, and I was fortunate enough to get this quilt during fall. It felt perfect. Then I discovered I had more ideas than I could easily narrow down! Seriously, my Round Trip Quilts pinterest board is over half autumn block ideas.
Kim at Ties that Bind Quilting added the first round to this quilt. She added apples all around the center, which is so perfect for fall! When I pulled the quilt out of the package, I had two immediate thoughts. 1 – this is awesome and 2 – this is huge for only being the second round!
As I said before, I was actually stymied by how many directions I could take this quilt! I even had a misstep before deciding on the final choice. My first attempt were some freeform pumpkins, that while I like them, I did not like them with this quilt. It’s alright though – they will make some pretty sweet placements for next fall.
I actually hate them less in this photo than I did initially. Ironically, the linen I laid down so that I didn’t get the quilt dirty would have made a nice border and made them sort of work even though the style is still wrong for where the quilt is right now.
Next, I asked Christina on Instagram (with this selection of brown fabric) how she felt about squirrels because she had mentioned woodland creatures as a possible inspiration topic. Squirrels (or bunnies as my daughter calls them), are a very popular topic in our house. The squirrels in the backyard are entertainment during most meals, and there is a Curious George episode that features squirrels that she absolutely loves. Thus, when I found the squirrel pattern from During Quiet Time, it seemed like a perfect option. Plus, Christina had ok’d it as an option.
I reverse printed one squirrel so that the two squirrels could be facing each other. I wish I would have taken a picture of the back before I peeled the papers off, because all those reverse printed letters and numbers looked pretty funny. Although, because I was making two at the same time with such similar colors, having one set reversed was a lifesaver so I didn’t connect the wrong parts!
I did have a moment of doubt as to the scale of these two guys. These blocks are 12″ square. They are pretty large squirrels. I considered reducing the size, but due to the paper piecing pattern, if I had done that there would have been some spots that I never would have gotten the paper out of. Then, I felt better when I considered that the squirrels are actually is really good proportion to the size of the apples. Christina, I hope you feel the same way!
Next I just had to add some sashing at each side and in the middle so that the squirrels lined up properly with the rest of the quilt, and I was ready to pass this quilt on! This quilt moves on to Liz at Green Cheese Quilting next and I can’t wait to see what she does with it.
The next quilt I received is the center from Chelsea at Patch the Giraffe. She picked a really soothing palette that I am looking forward to working with.
I hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving!
– Heather
Linking up to some of the following: Anything Goes Monday, Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story, Sew Cute Tuesday @ Blossom Heart Quilts, WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced, Let’s Bee Social Wednesday @ SewFreshQuilts, Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation, Whoop Whoop Fridays @ Confessions of a Quilt Addict, Fabric Frenzy Friday @ Ft. Worth Fabric
I love the squirrels! I love the pumpkins too, but I agree that the squirrels work better in this project. The pumpkins will be gorgeous placemats.
The squirrels are fantastic! They must have taken a lot of time and patience – so many tiny pieces! 🙂
Adorable little squirrels! I like them better than the pumpkins because the colors pull from the center star and make it feel more balanced.
The squirrels are so cute. I think the scale works perfectly!
I love your “round trip” quilt. I always called them “add a border” but I like the sound of “round trip” much better.
Those squirrels are adorable! I agree that they’re better for this quilt than the pumpkins. The pumpkins will be great for another project, but they seemed too similar to the apples to be used so close to them. All of our quilts are so different!
So nice to visit your lovely blog, your quilts are beautiful and the clothes you have made your daughter are so cute. These squirrels are gorgeous too.