Yesterday I was in work to see my new group and sort out a few problems but I was able to head for home at about 1 p.m. I managed a little tidying up of loose ends and planning todays work and then I put it away, turned off my phone and emails. Once I was sure that no one could get hold of me I set up the machine, pulled out some fabric and my cutting board and found the blocks I was going to make for the Austen family album quilt. I wanted to get two blocks made but decided to work on them one at a time. There's no point in stressing my brain unnecessarily. I always find the choosing of the fabrics takes the longest time so I was pleasantly surprised when the fabrics for the first block jumped out the bag and demanded to be used.
It was a cold and wet day outside so I wanted some sun and pretty flowers. This block went together really quickly and I'm pleased with the result. The second block caused a few problems but only briefly.
The block instructions are from the Austen Family Album blog by Barbara Brackman. They were released as a block a week back in 2014. I started this some time later but I have never finished all the blocks. I love Barbara's blogs because you not only get the free patterns but the history of the theme to go with it. I made the Votes for Women quilt when she released those blocks and my older daughter is the owner of the quilt. I found some of those blocks very taxing to make as there were Y seams and some of the blocks had very small pieces but once finished I was very pleased with the quilt.
The circle block just above this writing was one that almost sent me mad but in the end I got it made. The blocks for the Austen Family Quilt have been very good to put together but there have been a couple of errors. In the second block the rectangle pieces end up too big so had to be cut down and there is one I have yet to make where the size of one of the pieces is completely wrong but it has been corrected in the comments. I think I have 6 or 8 blocks left to do to finish all 36 blocks. I should have time to do 2 tonight.
Yesterday evening I made a couple of flowers for the grandmothers garden quilt and stitched another flower to the main quilt top. I still can't find the fabric I'm using in this row of blocks but I haven't given up hope yet as there are still a couple of places left to look.
After work today we went and visited a friend. We decided we needed to see him in case we ended up unable to meet up with people outside of our household. At the moment that isn't a problem in London but the cases of covid 19 are certainly going up and hospital admissions and deaths along with the rise. In these odd times you have to get on and do things because you can never be sure what will happen tomorrow.
So plan for this evening. I'm going to try and make 2 more blocks for the Austen quilt and then I'll decide what I want to hand stitch this evening. I may do some embroidery, I'll decide once I know if there's anything interesting to watch.
Tomorrow I have meetings on Teams. They are good because I can do some crochet or embroidery as we don't turn our videos on and have the mic muted when someone else is talking. It's fun chatting with colleagues who are also friends to find out what they are working on during meetings.
Take care.
Lyndsey
Those are very pretty fabrics you’re using in your blocks. I like your Votes for Women quilt. I remember when that one started. I was going to participate, but then didn’t. I don’t remember why.
ReplyDeleteIt's always fun to start a new project. I stalled out completely on Barbara's Votes for Women's. The block you pointed to was my stopping point. It just wouldn't come together.
ReplyDelete