May's flown by...

May just flew by and I just couldn't get my needle and thread out quite as much as I would have liked.

We had a big family reunion for my Aunt's 80th birthday celebratory Sunday lunch - roast beef with all the trimmings (including a humungous Yorkshire Pudding!), followed by bread and butter pudding with fresh fruit... yeah!

And then it was back to the marking, marking and yet more marking! I felt I was going to drown in it all.

The garden went to pot and where once I had a lawn, I now have a meadow, which Barney seems to enjoy!

But I did get one block finally finished...

Benjamin Biggs Quilt

Block 1 - Apple Pie Ridge Star made by Sarah Ellen Landers 

I was determined to use my theme fabric which is the floral fabric. I was beginning to have second thoughts about it when I realised that the background colour is very similar to the overall BG fabric, but I like it and so it stays!

The design is called the Apple Pie Ridge Star  - it's an unusual interpretation - with the "tear drops" in brown, it is usually all in one piece and resembles a fleur de lis design. It originated in the hills of Virginia, near Winchester (very apt considering my connections to Winchester, England). According to Brenda Papadakis, "the first examples of APRS appear in Quaker quilts [of the] 1840’s-1850’s", which coincides with the popularity of the Baltimore Album Quilts  of which many have a similar design, although many BAQ's were made by Methodists.

Brenda goes on to say that "during the 1750’s, apple trees were widely planted around Winchester for their produce. The high road name was changed from Ridge Road to Apple Pie Ridge by 1801. One of the legends about the renaming of the Ridge Road is that during the Revolutionary War, Hession prisoners of war walked north to the Ridge on Sunday afternoon to enjoy the delicious apple pies baked by the Quaker women."

Blocks 3 and 5 are already prepped and are in various stages of applique and now June's block has come out, so my needle and thread will be hopefully, whipping up a storm during June - they should keep me occupied whilst the World Cup is on!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great month - stitching!