March or is it April?

Okay this should have been posted in March, but I've been just too busy with work to post so here goes - March has seen PROGRESS and a NEW START!

Beyond the Cherry Trees 
I've finished another block - the 19th - two blocks in two months - I am on a roll!!

I've lost count of how many blocks I have completed, I think this might be block 20?

Benjamin Biggs Quilt
Now I have to ask myself, do I really, really, need another project?? Should I really, really finish a project first???!! I am blaming a certain somebody who lives in Texas for putting me in this quandary - as if I should really, really be asking myself these questions in the first place, especially when I already know the answers to them! 

Answer - YES and nooooo!

So herewith the Benjamin Biggs Quilt - a free BoM available from Gay at Sentimental Stitches and Brenda at Dear Jane. This month's block is available now to download from Gay's site and then the May block will be available from Brenda's site - the patterns are being published on the 1st of each month.

The Benjamin Biggs Quilt - Lafayette, Indiana

The blocks are being published in block order which helps with the planning, but then that means you need enough of the fabric you will be using for the applique, from the beginning of the project i.e. it will be harder to blend in new fabrics if you suddenly add them in the last row. Hmmm... and I rather enjoyed how Gay did the Beyond the Cherry Trees Quilt patterns because we never knew until they were published which block you would get next.

Now, in true Fiona fashion, I am not going to follow the traditional red and green of this quilt - I have instead decided on blues and yellow-browns. Originally it was going to be pinks and greens from my stash, but then on a visit to Puddleducks to buy some background fabric I-spyed some lovely Jo Morton blues and browns on the shelf and that was it! I have added to the pile from my stash and will continue to do so as the project progresses, but I am very pleased with the current selection, but amazed how not all blues go together, but maybe they will blend better once in their blocks.

Fabrics for the Benjamin Biggs Quilt

I have selected a Makower Essentials fabric as the background - it is in an ecru colour to give the whole some warmth and since it is one of their basic fabrics, I can buy a metre at a time without worrying that it won't be on the shelf the next time I go into the shop.

Each of the original blocks is a finished 16" square and whilst that's a usual size for me (e.g. Beyond the Cherry Tree quilt blocks), I had to ask myself do I want another quilt that measures 100" square? So I have decided instead to make my blocks 14" finished, making a quilt that will be 90" square. As you know, I like to stitch on my rail commute to work and the other week there was a happy happenstance because the width of the tables on the train are... 17" - so ideal for prepping the blocks!

Prepping on the train

and here's the first block completed... It's block 2 for February, but I wanted to start with a simple block just to see how the colours work and then progress from there.

February 2014 block

I have decided to alternate the blocks between blue leaves and stems in one block and brown leaves and stems in another - well, that's the plan!

Phebe

So what has happened to Phebe with the new start? Well, there has been a little and I mean a little bit of stitching. I have to admit I am struggling for the motivation, I suppose it has something to do with having done the centre block before. If I could only get over this hiatus...

Thanks for stopping by...

It's raining, it's pouring....

Rain, rain go away

[Don't] come back another day!

Will this wild weather ever stop??? We are being lashed and battered on a daily basis by storm force winds and rain. Large parts of the southwest, southern and southeastern England have either been or are being flooded, and currently we here in the Southeast of England are on amber alert - be prepared for possible evacuation and damage to people and property. Some say that we are about to be hit by another storm brewing out in the Atlantic which will be worse than the 1987 storm - I putting it down to scaremongering!

There are some sorry stories though of flooding on the Somerset levels and the waves have been fearsome along the south coast affecting transport. Trains on Southeastern railways are now travelling at just 40 mph because of high winds blowing down trees and other obstacles onto the track and there have been a number of landslips. The river Medway burst its banks over Christmas flooding Tonbridge town centre and the village of Yalding and there were power outages for large parts of Kent - a pretty miserable Christmas with no electricity to cook the Christmas lunch and no heating.

I could say that "I'm alright, Jack",  as I live up the side of a valley and my cottage is set on top of an embankment, but when the rain comes down, the road outside channels a torrent of grey looking water as it picks up chalk deposits from the surrounding Downs and heads for the Guzzle in the middle of the village. How much more the surrounding land can take though is difficult to say and I haven't been across the field behind me which has a dew pond in it - I wonder whether the pond has become a lake? I know however that Church Lane is flooded.

Barney is not a happy cat - he definitely does not like the rain and he has had to resort to his litter tray more often than not.

But, he definitely knows where the best spots are to keep warm... in MY bed!!

My stitching has been slow in recent weeks, but I finally finished another block...

Beyond the Cherry Trees

This is block 18, although I have another two blocks "on the go".

Block 18

I had had difficulty in choosing the fabric for the basket. The fabric on the other basket in the quilt had a strong design feature, so I knew I needed something to offset it and I found this fabric in Caroline's Cottage in Rome City, Indiana back in November. Got home and decided it was just perfect for the job, cut out the fabric and put the remainder of the fabric away, only to find... yes, I already had the same fabric in my stash!

Phebe Quilt

Well, this is growing slowly - too slowly really and will be my focus for this weekend. I have now chosen all the fabrics for the centre block except for the urn - I just cannot make up my mind, so I'll decide once I have a few more pieces stitched down including the hillock

Phebe progress as of January 2014 :-(

Thanks for looking in!

I found it!

Well, Carol the weather-girl said that this week would be sunny with the temperatures gradually getting warmer and so, after last year's dismal so-called summer which was very wet, cold and very miserable, not to mention this year's long hard winter and cold spring, last night I decided to explore my wardrobe for a light-weight skirt to wear to work this morning and look what I found hanging on a skirt hanger!!

In the immortal words of Victor Meldrew - "I don't belieeeeve it". It's my long-lost Phebe centre block. 

I began this block about 3 - 4 years ago and didn't progress further than this because I didn't like it. I didn't like the background fabric - too yellow - I didn't like the birds - too pale and washed out - I didn't like the tulip flowers - too dominant - I didn't like the lilac coloured flowers - too flat - and most of all I didn't like the hillock. So I decided to throw the block away in disgust. A very unusual decision for me, but I couldn't stand the sight of it. 

But then 2 years ago,when my friend LuAnn said she was thinking of making the Phebe quilt, I started to think about the block I had started - I looked high and low for it - did I really throw the block out? Surely not. I searched again a year later and still I couldn't find it and came to the decision that I really had followed through with my threat. I even bought some new background fabric 2 years ago to have another go at the centre, but did not get much further than that - and then last night... there it was. Hanging amongst my Baltimore Album blocks in my wardrobe was my Phebe centre block. 

I still don't like it - I cannot quite work out why? So, early this morning I took another photograph in daylight, it's even more yellow or is it the red pot?

LuAnn gave me some of the fabric that is used in Di's original quilt for the hillock and I've pinned it on to see whether it makes any difference.

But no - if anything it looks worse. So I am going to start again - unless any body else has some bright ideas?