Nancy at Blogging, Near Philadelphia is hosting A Quilt for Melanie Wilkes block swap ... it is nine-patches with alternate unpieced squares from civil war reproduction fabrics ... i've never participated in a block swap before and i don't work with reproduction fabrics ... Gone With the Wind was never my favorite book or movie (although i think that Clark Gable was a hottie) and i don't like Scarlett O'Hara - or her attitude, for that matter ... however ... i've always thought that Melanie Wilkes had true grit ... and so i stepped out of my comfort zone and asked to be included in the swap ... 120 nine patches and 120 alternate blocks ... i went to Harriet's Treadle Arts to look for fabrics ... talk about sensory overload - there are, literally, hundreds of civil war reproduction fabrics to choose from at Harriet's ... maybe thousands ... i left with a bright pink tomato pincushion, a white marking pencil, a batik fat quarter for Mr. Husker's quilt, an embroidery hoop for Auntia ... and no civil war fabric - not even a fat eighth ... because i could not decide ...... thank goodness for eBay ... i bid on five different auctions and won four of them - the fabrics have been washed and folded and sorted (there was a bit of fabric fondling, too - i hope i haven't found a new love) and are waiting for pressing and cutting ... but first i had to work on my BOM for The Quilter's Studio...
...the meetings are the first saturday of each month ... we are given a kit for the assigned block (from Block Party) and a suggestion for an alternate block that uses the same piecing skills ... the BOM fabric is the blue hydrangeas from Lakehouse and is absolutely beautiful ... we are making 12 9-inch (finished) blocks ... that would make a very small quilt, even with sashings and corner stones ... so i make my assigned blocks and give them to Auntia to add to her assigned blocks ... then i make the assigned block and the alternate in pink and orange Lakehouse fabrics times three ... when we finish with this Saturday BOM i should have enough pink and orange blocks to make a quilt for each of my three granddaughters ...... i've been randomly pulling the fabrics out of the bucket each month without paying much attention to which of them have made appearances in the previous months' blocks ... so i placed the 16 blocks (in stacks of three) on the floor to see if i'm gonna have any kind of balance ... i think they will look okay ... they will definitely need some kind of sashing - the squares and triangles in the blocks are all different sizes and my brain will not wrap around different sized squares living next to each other without boundaries to keep the peace......and then i need to get those cupcake totes ready for Gumdrop's birthday party ... and the wall needs weeding ... i haven't planted the geraniums ... and the alyssum and lobelia and tomato plants are still at the nursery, waiting for me to give them a good home ... the lawn needs to be mowed, trimmed, and watered ... the house needs a good cleaning ... there are bills to pay ... flowers ands flags to be placed in the cemetery... cakes and cookies to bake ... NoJo and Gumdrop need to see Star Trek with their nonna ... a barbecue at Mrs. Moth's ... and i want to see Michael Myson's new house ...... i think that Miss Melly is gonna have to wait a bit
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