WOW: Ready For An Adventure?

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

 

I have finally put down my pen, decided on some fabrics (for the time being anyway) and am ready to start the Love Entwined adventure. It feels like it's been such a long time coming...and in many ways, I could certainly keep working on this quilt for the equal measure of time all over again. But the thing with making the Love Entwined pattern is this: you don't so much 'finish' it as reach a point where you can't go on any further alone.

I've spoken in previous posts about how Love Entwined is not a 're-manufactured' quilt pattern, and it simply couldn't be - I don't have the original quilt, nor have I ever seen it in person. There's been much I can only ponder and guess whilst going forward in my own style.

Yet having said that, it is a historic quilt and this means I have reigned myself in and stayed as true as I could to the design.

And now it's finished. And I'm as ready as I will ever be. What I need now is to get on with making this quilt and sharing the journey with my Yahoo Bom Group. I'm already looking forward to exchanging thoughts and ideas about each block and seeing how you all interpret the blocks in your own special way (like you always do). My Yahoo Bom Group has come to mean so much to me - it's not just the place I share my patterns, it's where I continually grow as a designer and as a quilter. Especially now. For Love Entwined is a very special quilt. It was once special to a specific woman in her own time and place in history, and it is now special for several different reasons: for it's marking of time and place in Georgian history, women's history and quilting history. Very special indeed.

 

And this makes sharing it with you all so much more important to me, for this, unlike other quilts, is not a sole journey to be undertaken alone. It is a personal satisfaction, but one to be shared.  It's a journey I am looking forward to undertaking with others and hopefully we'll create this beautiful fragment of history - all in our own special ways- and revive it's legacy through different cultures, different countries, guilds, groups, and in our own unique space, one quilt at a time.

 

Love Entwined 1790 Marriage Coverlet is a free historic 18 month BOM which launches on friday

Blocks are released monthly, for free during the month of release

Join my Yahoo BOM Group to take part

 



What's Your WOW?

 

 

WOW: Say Chintz!

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

 

I feel like I've been in a Georgian whirlwind this past week! Usually I like to quilt for 3-4 hours a day during the week with weekends reserved for family time, but these last few days I've been onto this subject and pattern with all day intensity.

 

I came across a clearer image of the 'love coverlet' and decided to make some changes to my pattern. Whilst this BOM is not a re-manufacture of the original, I don't want unnecessary elements outside the style theme in there! I thought I saw birds, there weren't birds, they had to go. It's all for the benefit of the quilt and worth the extra waiting time. I do apologise for those of you on the edge of your seat, waiting for the first block, I understand! I felt exactly the same when I started the pattern, it gets under your skin.

I've finally decided to use chintz throughout this quilt

I'm still debating whether to go with a light or dark background (leaning towards light) but it will depend on the tone match I can find when I buy my chintz range. I will post details once I have decided where to purchase. In the last few days I was lucky enough to come into some Chintz a friend was willing to part with and can see some good colour ways here - for fussy cutting and graduations, like flower petals.

I haven't made a chintz quilt before and look forward to it being another first in my quilting adventure! I love this glossy look, I can only hope the entire quilt has this gleam, but I do wonder if it will be harder to turn edge? I'll find out soon enough...

The Yahoo BOM Group has had 250 new members join in this last week and I know we're all excited to make a start, I'm sorry to keep you all waiting, but with my new image 'updates' I felt I had no choice.

The energy around this quilt already feels so wonderful, some quilts just have that 'something' about them which makes creating them extra special and I already know that this 'one' is one of those and we haven't even started yet.

Are you as excited as I am ??  Stay tuned...

 

What's Your WOW ?
 

Picking over the pattern...

I am beginning to think to myself, what have I started here with Love Entwined?

The energy around this quilt is so enthusiastic and keen, I love it, but I also can't ignore how much I completely underestimated everything about this quilt: the time it would take to create the pattern, the time it would take to break down into a BOM, the interest it would arouse, and (most frustratingly of all), the time it would take to select fabric for this quilt.

Both editions, mine is the bright orange one on the right

 

You see, a friend showed me her Patchwork edition of 1958 (I'm amazed how many quilters have this book in their library, isn't it great?) and the image is much clearer than my own, in the 1956 edition.



Can't believe the clarity difference!

Much clearer. So of course I've been nit picking as much as I can over the finer details

....it's addictive!

 

Already I've scrapped 2 birds I was sure 'were there' but in the clearer image have proven not to be.



My sketchbook of images to use in this quilt, I've tinkering away at these for months

the previous working sketch, I've already updated it!

A lot of you are asking if I can put up the fabric requirements for the BOM so that you can go ahead and purchase your chosen range. All the fabric requirments and break downs will be provided in full in Part 1 of the BOM. I will not be adding snippets of info on fabric requirments anywhere else first as I have learnt from previous BOMs that this only leads to confusion.

 I know we're all impatient to start and will be updating this blog as soon as I am ready to launch!



WOW: Georgian Style

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

 

The idea of a Georgian quilt has quite gripped me. Of course, I'll select whichever fabrics and colours I love best, but that hasnt stopped me developing a keen interest in the Georgians. And it's true, if I can find a Georgian 'theme' that I really love, that's what I will be going with.  

This Georgian style board is from Anita Brown's blog (who has given me permission to post it here for your enjoyment, thanks Anita). The blue and pinks are spot on for this era and give a great feel for the tones I’m seeking out right now.

This image is a link to the British Library info page on the era. It's fascinating, I have spent hours reading through all the sections and highly recommend it. I haven't read it yet, I cheated and watched the BBC TV show made from this book  below (from the library) last night and have purchased it this morning. Again, it's fascinating and I can't wait to go over what I saw, in print.

 

Now I have a real feel for Georgian taste, I do wonder if I will stay true to the style or do my own thing, or a mix of the two? I don't know. As soon as the fabrics are selected, it will be time to release the first block.

I'll post as soon as I know...



What's Your WOW ?