Civil War Quilts Block 13 - 16

Hope everyone enjoyed the Easter break. We had been away for a week visiting DS's family and lot of hugs and kisses with our DGC. I discovered so many new plants on the Sth. Coast to use in natural dyeing. I will post about that in the next few posts. Today though I would show you the CWB blocks that I completed before Easter.


All four Civil War Quilts blocks are together in this post. I have been making them every week when a new pattern comes out. I'm looking forward to it each Sunday when the new pattern gets posted on CWQ Blog. Because of the time zone differences between Australia and North America some of the blocks are made by the time I get up in the morning. I do like it that way because I can see some finished blocks posted on Flickr before I even thought about what fabric to use in each block. It helps a lot to see what colours are being used in the block. Thanks Dustin for providing us the Flickr page. 

Block 13: Little blue basket. I love this block, I love blue and basket so there is nothing better than combining them in one block. I found a place for my 'F' (red) fabric here as well. The original pattern doesn't have handle, but I like the handle on my basket. 

Block 14: Fox and geese. I get to use yellow in this block to brighten up the overall quilt. I have been thinking about using that brown and blue fabric for the corner stones. I have got a lot of that fabric. I will see how it goes once I cut the sashings. It's fun to plan the quilt as I go!

Block 15: Fort Sumter. A great block to feature the fabric you like in the center piece. Each block does not need a lot of fabric which is good because I only have little bit of some of this fabric. 

Block 16: White House. I like the name of this block. The white pinwheel represents the White House and the stars are the FBI, hehe!  I have been collecting Americana fabric since I went to Houston Quilt Festival 10 years ago. I'm glad I got to use some of this fabric in this quilt. There are stories behind each of these blocks so if you are interested please hop over to CWQ Blog to read all about them. I hope you have been enjoying my Civil War block of the week. I'm having fun making and sharing them with you. 

Civil War Quilts Block 11 & 12

Twelve  blocks down forty blocks to go! I'm pleased that I'm keeping up with all the blocks. I know I will be behind when I'm away. I hope during those weeks Barbara would put out easy blocks so I can catch up when I get back. 

(Block 11 London Square)

I can't remember if I mentioned that the 'F' fabric (red one) was the fabric I picked up from the op-shop Savers. It is Liberty fabric. It was a large piece over 2 meters in length. In block 11 I decided to use a piece of Liberty prints from my collection to make this block. 

(Block 12 Louisiana) 

Block 12 was a nice and simple one to make. The finished size of these blocks is 8" but some of my pieces end up bigger by 1/8". I've been caught out many times by cutting them 1/4" instead of 1/8",  so now I test each piece by making a trial unit to make sure that I end up with an 8" finished block. 

Now that I have 12 blocks I thought I would lay them out to see how they would look together. I think I need more greens and yellows in my future blocks. The red looks a lot brighter in real life than in the photo. I'm happy with how they look together so far. To read the history and see the original block please visit CWQ blog and see all members blocks on flickr. 

CWQ Block 9 & 10

A devastating earthquake hit Japan last weekend. The images on the news were hard to bear. To think that it was only a couple of weeks ago that it happened in Christchurch, NZ. Do you feel that there are disasters happening too often lately! Let's send them positive energy to help find more survivors.

On a brighter note I have been keeping up with CWQ blocks, but it's quite a challenge lately. A week comes  faster than you think. I like to try to get it done at the same weekend the new pattern comes out on Saturday evening. The best part of making these blocks for me is deciding where on the block to use my 'F' fabric (the red one). 

(Block 9 Birds in the air)

I always like Birds in the air block. I made a scraps quilt using this pattern once and still feel sentimental about the block. I'm happy I can use my 'F' fabric for the main corner.

(Block 10 Linclon's Platform)

This is really a churn dash block with one extra colour for the center. What makes all these blocks so special is the story behind them. To read the history of each block visit CWQ blog.

I hope you are keeping well. I haven't been visiting many blogs lately. Life seems to be running away with me this year!  

Eco Dyed and CWQ Block 8

Haven't been very active here lately. My online workshop is almost at an end and I've signed up for a Shibori technique workshop with Glennis and a cloth whispering for mini hearts with Jude again in April. Then in May is my Silk Study Tour to Japan. I'm so looking forward to it. Through my online network I discovered that an annual Shibori festival is on in Arimatsu, Nagoya Prefecture while we are there. My friend and I will visit that too. How very exciting! 

I have been doing some eco dyeing in the last couple of weeks with eucalyptus barks. The eucalyptus trees are shedding their bark in Spring. I collected some on my daily walks. To my surprise the bark produces a beautiful deep tan colour. Actually I have a dye pot going most days with various stuff. 

These are the 2 pieces of vintage silk dyed with eucalyptus bark. The piece on the right I scrunched into a ball and tied with rubber bands. The one on the left was pleated and folded into a neat bundle, then tied with rubber bands. I boiled the bark for about an hour and dropped the silk bundle into the pot and boiled it for another 45 mins. I left the bundles in the pot outdoors until they completely dried before I untied and rinsed the excess dye off. 

To my surprise there was not any excess from the dye at all. The water ran clear. So this is a successful batch of dye and I will gather more bark next time I walk that way. I have been keeping a chart for all the dye I'm doing now. My daughter-in-law insisted I keep a dye chart for the future use. Good idea.

And here where the barks came from. The tree is bare after shredding all of it barks. The tree trunk is still have fresh pinkish bark on it. Such a treasure find! 

Finished block 8 Cotton Boll of the Civil War Quilts block of the week last night. This block went together very well. I love that my 'F' fabric fitted in the block perfectly again. It's really surprised me how well any colour goes with the 'F' fabric. If you want to see more of the finished blocks visit flickr page for the CWQ 2011. 

Hope everyone is well and keeping busy with your creations. I hope to have a chance to visit all your blogs soon.

Civil War Quilts: Block 3 & 7

At long last I have finally finished block three, the Seven Sisters of Civil War Quilts block of the week. It took me that long and I had to challenge myself to do one star per night. I'm happy I finished it now. I'm now up to date with all the blocks. Block seven came out last weekend and it was an easy log-cabin block so I finished it on the same day. If you have not visited the Civil War Quilts blog I hope you will do so soon. There is a Flickr page set up for the finished blocks from the members. It's a treat to see all of the blocks made for each week displayed together. 

(Block 3 Seven Sisters)

Block 3 has only 7 seven stars, so it wasn't hard to choose where 'F' fabric would go. I have had the background fabric for ages. Even though it was quite a simple block, it has too many points to needle turn. I'm out of practice with appliqué I think. I do love it now it's done!

(Block 7 Log-Cabin)

I wanted to use yellow in some of the blocks, and block 7 gave me a chance to do just that. The original block has only 2 logs; 3 including the center piece. My version has 3 logs, 4 with the center piece. My 'F' fabric is used for the center piece which was the obvious choice. 

Apart from these Civil War Quilts block I haven't been working on any traditional quilts lately. I'm in the middle of my Contemporary Woven Boro workshop with Jude Hill. It's another kind of quilting altogether. I don't have to worry about the dreaded 1/4" which I'm not very good as keeping.  Also I don't have to use only quilting fabric for this kind of quilting. 

In this decade I've promised myself to use up my fabric stash and recycle and reuse as much as possible.  It's my way of helping the environment. I'm sure you have your way of helping the environment too.  Thanks for visiting. I do appreciate all your kind comments. 

A Moment of Weakness

In early January I was concerned that I might not have anything to do, ha! In a moment of weakness I joined the Civil War Quilts block of the week. This year is the 150th  anniversary of the American Civil War. Barbara Brackman a quilt historian, and author of Civil War quilts books and a fabric designer kindly offered a free weekly pattern to commemorate this event. At one block a week I thought I could manage that. It was more than just the great traditional patterns that Barbara offered to us; each block has a history to go with it. Block 6 just came out this weekend, so you are never too late to start. All the patterns would always be on the blog. You can catch up at any time. Apart from that there is a CWQ Flickr group for those without blogs to put up their photos. They are surprisingly enjoyable blocks to make. I don't have all the CW repro fabric to make them with. For me it's a challenge to use whatever I have on hand for these blocks. 

(Block 1 Catch me if you can)

I'm so excited to use the red Liberty fabric I found in an op-shop to use as 'F' (feature) fabric. I will have enough for all the blocks when I add other fabrics into it. It's not like other typical Liberty prints that I have seen before, but it definitely has LIBERTY Exclusive Design on the salvage! 

  

(Block 2 North Star)

It's a challenge to see where I can place my 'F' fabric on the pattern. I'm happy with what I have done so far; what do you think? 

(Block 4 Tears for Texas Tears)

I must say I didn't enjoy piecing this block. I had to unpick it a couple of times to get it right. Right no not right, it's a little bigger than 8.5" finished, but I will worry about that when I put them together in a year. I could use it alone as a label! Again the 'F' fabric finds its home nicely in this block too. 

(Block 5 Kansas Troubles)

I was surprised how well this block went together. I actually enjoy piecing smaller blocks. Again the 'F' fabric found its place nicely in this block too.

 (Block 6 Richmond)

Block 6-Richmond only came out last night so I thought I would get it done for this post. When I checked Flickr this morning there were already many completed blocks posted. A lot of very keen quilters out there were ready to get started when the pattern came out. I like the 'F' fabric on this block. I placed it on the outside border instead of inner pieces. It's important for when it comes to joining the blocks to have the balance of light and dark blocks.

Did you notice no block 3 here? Yes block 3 is an applique block and I just started when I was called away on duty as a Grandmother (any excuse, right?), but I'm working on it now, only 2 more stars to applique.  

Hopefully some of you might like to join the fun to make this historical quilt with me. Only one block a week, COME-ON!!!