Collection 39 Variations

	Here it is another collection of changes.  I am amazed at how quickly Carol is finishing all of her blocks. Surely she gets as much enjoyment out of sewing as I do.	C39 Tutu in the Snow
C39 Monkey in the Middle	C39 Cotton Candy	C39 Fluorescent
C39 Reflections	C39 Mums for Mum	C39 New Grid

Collection 38

C38 Couer d'Or	C38 Round and Round
C38 Strawberry Shortcake	Carol is still powering along. To be truthful she is ahead of me..she sews quicker than I can photoshop and upload! I think I still have more than ten photos to crop and put up for you to see. Isn't it wonderful to see what she does. I find it amazing that she is still going with EPP but it does go to show that everyone has their own way and whichever method suits you is the best for you.

Collection 36 & 37

C36 The Dish	C37 Alexander's Gold	C37 Fish Kiss
Well you have to admit that Carol is going to have one WOW quilt. I thought you might like to see the original blocks and Carol's.		Of these blocks Alexander's Gold would be my favourite. Alex was a gorgeous boy whom I taught for several years. He had many problems but there was a real sunshine in him.
C37 Bounds of Hope	C37 Summer Sun	C37 Temple Within

Another Gift from Carol

Today is my birthday and so for anyone passing here are two gifts for you. Both are new designs by Carol. She has been finding a lot of inspiration in projects she has made previously and has been rescaling these to fit in with Raconteur. Curiosity is a modification of a table runner Carol made several years ago. 

Raconteur is such a wonderful project as it allows you to incorporate other designs you have if you rescale them.

Original - Curiosity	Carol's original layout Templates for this Curiosity may be found here.
Rose Garden was made while Carol was designing a project for some women she sews with. she planned to make this in six inch size for her project but couldn't resist making a block for Raconteur. Gorgeous fabric isn't it. Templates for Rose Garden may be found here	Original - Rose Garden

Something a Little Bit Different

A few years ago I entered a block into Quiltmakers 100 Blocks competition and luckily it was chosen. The block was called Yvonne's Mystery as I had designed it for Yvonne, one of my students who wanted to do something different. As we were unsure of where we were going with the quilt it was a mystery. This morning someone asked me to design her a quilt based on this block and here are my first two attempts. Be interesting to see what her  thoughts are on these.

Isn't it amazing the difference colour placement makes. both blocks are the same but I have swapped the light and dark value in most places for the darker block. It will be interesting to see which block Linda decides to go with... and then we will see what ideas we can come up with for the border. I have a few more of this also...another mystery.

Something a Little Bit Different

A few years ago I entered a block into Quiltmakers 100 Blocks competition and luckily it was chosen. The block was called Yvonne's Mystery as I had designed it for Yvonne, one of my students who wanted to do something different. As we were unsure of where we were going with the quilt it was a mystery. This morning someone asked me to design her a quilt based on this block and here are my first two attempts. Be interesting to see what her  thoughts are on these.

Isn't it amazing the difference colour placement makes. both blocks are the same but I have swapped the light and dark value in most places for the darker block. It will be interesting to see which block Linda decides to go with... and then we will see what ideas we can come up with for the border. I have a few more of this also...another mystery.

More of Carol and me!

Another couple of blocks from Carol plus my Nursery Rhymes quilt. I am glad that I have finished Raconteur as I am simply falling in love with Carol's fabrics and colours. Were it not that there really is a limit to one's obsessiveness I might have considered redoing my blocks. 

C36 Starburst	C36 Starburst
C37 Stolen Threads	C37 Stolen Threads

Actually I don't know if I told you this before but there was a time I did consider redoing the quilt. I had made about 100 and was talking with Margaret from Oak flats who was saying that Raconteur would be the perfect quilt for Civil War reproduction fabrics. I had to agree with her and went home and did no more for a few weeks while I seriously considered if it was worth redoing those blocks. Thankfully I came to my senses and continued with my scrappy version. 

 I have since attempted to make a couple of other quilts using civil War reproductions and although the fabrics are gorgeous the final result leaves me totally unimpressed. I suspect it suffers from the same difficulty that Nursery Rhymes is suffering ..too much restriction. I do a lot better with pick up two fabrics that go together and see what evolves.

Carol and Collection 36

I thought people might find it interesting to see the difference between Carol's colour choices and the original. Here we have several of Carol's blocks from Collection 36 plus the original block. At present I am really favouring Carol's blocks....as they say the grass is always greener..or is it a case of jealous eye?

	C36 Blue Diamond
C36 Eye of the Storm	C36 Twirl With Me
C36 Raspberry Ripple	C36 Nine to Five

I 

Collection 34 & 35

C34 Champs Elysee Alight 

C34 English Garden

C34 White Wall Tiles 

C35 Reunion

Four more blocks from Carol. She is now up to Collection 35 and so it can't be too long before we start to see her completed collections.

The blocks from Collection 34 were made during our trips visiting our son PJ, who lived and studied in Paris and the UK. 

If you ever have the chance to travel both are worth the time. The real thing leaves the photos in school day books for dead. 

Paris is perfect if you are an early riser as most Parisians are not and so we would wander the streets alone, just like those romantic stories one sees in the movies..well the old fashioned movies that we like to watch.

Although the block is called English Garden in truth this garden was also seen in Paris, but it so reminded me of the order that I expected in an English Garden rather than what would be found in Paris. Mind you I have no idea what I expect a French garden to look like.

C34 Solid Gold

How many old hotels have those plain White Wall Tiles?

Reunion was made one weekend when I caught up with a couple of old friends and so the repetition of three things in the block was the three of us.

Solid Gold ..hmmm no idea where that name came from is it perhaps the fabric used. On checking the original blocks I can see that must have been the reason. Mind you Carol's choice is definitely more gold than mine.

Collection 13 - Where Did That Name Come From?

Collection 13	Oops Log Cabin Baskets is upside down. If you stand on your head you may be able to see the basket more clearly... or perhaps not:)	C13 Log Cabin Basket
The design for Argyle Sweaters was taken from a jumper I made many years ago. I must get back into knitting sometime it was such a relaxing pastime.	C13 Argyle Sweaters	Winter Secrets is a miniaturised version of one of the blocks from my quilt Winter Secrets. This was a stitchery which I designed, reworking some of the blocks from Raconteur, for when I was travelling and not wanting to take too much stuff.
C13 Norwegian Wind	The design for Norwegian Wind came from a jumper that my youngest son bought. He lives in Norway and so the name. Carol's version is here	C13 Winter Secrets
Maypole  is made in an interesting manner. I made two identical blocks and then cut sections out from one of them and appliquéd them onto the other reversing the colours.. my appliqué skills were definitely improving although it was just a circle that had to be appliquéd so no points or tricky bits. For a TOTALLY  different appearance check out Carol's two versions here.	C13 Nature's Force	Natures's Force was simply six arcs sewn together. If you check out Carol's block you will see though that it is also easily made using appliqué.
C13 Maypole	Spinning Spokes was my first attempt at really tiny hexagons NOT made with English Paper Piecing and it was a success confirming that this was a method I could avoid for now and the future.... try it. You will be amazed. Carol again showed a total change with her colour choices here.	C13 Spinning spokes