Do you have a favourite tea cup? Here's mine...
When planning or tweaking a new design I need a nice pot of tea, peace and quiet, and fresh cake...
That old knife belonged to Mr E's grandmother, and I cherish it. I think it dates back to the 30's?
In fact, it was a quilt book of 1930's designs that I was browsing through during my morning tea planning time...
I love these patchwork hearts...
...and the quilt made from Nosegay blocks.
Turning each page was gently soothing as I pondered the many thousands of quilters around the world during the depression years of the 1930's, sitting by the fire on a blustery winter's night, hand piecing pretty blocks from fabric remnants that held special memories.
In some small way we who work with our hands today, using needle and thread and fabric, have a kinship with those women.
I admire their legacy, and it has been inspiring a work-in-progress...
You see I've finished stitching a set of blocks for a new quilt, a BOM that I'll be sharing through my Stitchery Club soon.
There's lovely 1930's reproduction prints in the applique...
...and that's why I'm taking time to look over the patterns of the past in books such as this.
Deciding how to place my blocks isn't easy because I'm not a quilter of merit - stitchery is my natural love and forte - so after much reflection, and keeping in mind this is my Year of Gentle Domesticity, I've decided to keep the piecing of this quilt as simple as possible.
Let the messages in my feature blocks shine, I think.
But before I draft the layout and cut into fabric I might just brew another pot of tea, and ponder the past a little longer...
hugs
