Happy Together, and Other Happies

You might remember that I completed this quilt top a number of weeks ago. But after studying it, and then chatting through it with "my design advisor" Anne at SpringleafStudios, I decided to buy some more of the fabric and replace the side borders. Those hot pink blooms were too distracting.

Here is the same fabric called "Brassica" by Philip Jacobs - just cut at different places in the yardage to make replacement side borders. I like it much better!

I've prepared the backing for this 68-1/2" X 68-1/2" top using a tone-on-tone print I bought at Craft Depot when visiting Sydney, Australia. I think this choice is entirely appropriate since the appliqué blocks were made by talented Australian, Julia.

Doesn't the fabric print bear a strong resemblance to Maori (New Zealand) designs?!

I'll again use a double batting - Quilter's Dream poly, and Quilter's Dream wool - to make the quilt sandwich.

At our July 14 CentralFloridaMQG meeting Gloria shared her "quilt story" that began with a family of quilters. This antique quilt is made with a block that appears to be a variation on a Churn Dash. When I got home, I grabbed my Barbara Brackman book, Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns, to search for the block and its name. It goes by both True Blue and Prairie Queen. 

I had to try it with modern fabrics! Both blocks are made with solids and Terra Australis by Emma Jean Jansen. I love this block! I think I see a whole True Blue quilt in my future. 

True Blue, 12-1/2" X 12-1/2" unfinished

Another quick thing I made is this Ultimate Summer Hexie Coasters, an English paper-piecing design by CraftyPod, for Robert Kaufman. The pattern is intended to encourage quilters to buy a pack of pre-cut Kona hexagons to make these 5-1/2" X 6-1/2" coasters.

Since I already have lots of solids, I made my own version. Using card stock, I printed 1-1/2" (the measurement of one side of the hexagon) hexagons which are smaller than the 1-5/8" hexagons in the tutorial download. Eight hexies are needed for one coaster. Also, instead of cutting hexagon shapes, I used this Paperpieces chart to cut fabric squares. See the aqua hexie below. 

This is such a clever design, though it looks quite odd as the pieces are whip-stitched together. But it turns out so cute! From one point across to another point, my coaster measures 6".

Whether you make only one coaster, or a set of six or eight, I recommend this as an ideal project for first-time English paper-piecers. Linda