Christmas Greetings substitute

In an earlier post I mentioned I was probably going to substitute a block or two for my Christmas quilt. However, I  wanted it to thematically still would work in a Christmas quilt, and not be too different from the block i changed. So the choice of a Snow Chrystal block wasn't so far fetched:

In my part of Norway there's a bit of a jeopardy if there's snow on Christmas or not, but still there's always the hope of waking up to a white Christmas.

What block did I replace? There's no secret I have a teeny-tiny scare of applique, and of course one of the final two blocks in the original sampler has some applique in it - this is Flower of Christmas:

Picture copy: block from the original 

Christmas Greetings from Elm Creek Manor by Jennifer Chiaverini

Not too different are they?  Just the center that separates these blocks, and I wanted to do a block that had more or less the same overall appearance as the Flower of Christmas.

The Snow Chrystal block is patterned in the Elm Creek pattern books, but the pattern is for a block with lots of Y-seam construction  made from diamonds, triangles and squares. I don't really mind doing Y-seams, but strip-piecing is rather quicker, and since I do own the Rapid Fire Lemoyne star ruler, and have become quite smitten with it (it's not a love-match, though), I decided it would be a good way to go. However, using this method there will be some more seams to cross when quilting...

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Loyal Union Sampler - the beginning

Some years ago there was a pink/brown swap on the then-existing Sylvia's Bridal Sampler mailing list run by Elm Creek Quilts author Jennifer Chiaverini. Unfortunately I was unable to participate in the swap, so when I got offered a chance to make The Loyal Union Sampler, I fairly quickly decided I would use pinks and browns as my focus colours, and to use the yardage I had from Jennifer's fabric lines The Winding Ways Quilt and Johanna's Collection. 

During my first little sewing session I went a little overboard and stitched up 11 blocks (not the most complex ones)  in one sitting: 

I-3: Resolution Square, A-10: Broken Path, B-2: Camp Curtain, J-6: Twin Star

F-8: Libby Prison, K-6: Windmill, E-9: Hourglass, H-8: Pennsylvania

D-8: Friendship Square, C-3: Crosses and Losses, G-10: Missouri Star

Looking at the blocks and looking through my stash I found I had pinks and brown pieces from other Elm Creek Quilts fabrics and would bring a bit more life to the quilt if I mixed and matched from the various fabric lines. I also wanted to bring a little sparkle to the quilt so I figured I would add just a touch of gold/yellow :-)
Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Quilty news - huge excitement!!!

Yikes, my blog has been soooo quiet for a few months (once again!), but now I have big news to share. Earlier this week I received a copy of Jennifer Chiaverini's newest pattern book in the post - Loyal Union Sampler from Elm Creek Quilts - signed by the author herself .

And featured on the top of page 104 is my quilt made from the patterns in the book!

The book is a collection of block patterns for 121 traditional 6" blocks sewn together into a beautiful sampler. In 2010 Jennifer announced on her mailing list that she was looking for quilting friends to help make blue and white blocks for one sample quilt for her then new book project and I was happy to participate with two blocks.

At the same time she offered me the opportunity to sew a sample of the whole pattern. Of course this was an offer I could not refuse! I had a free choice in colours (obviously except blue/white), and chose a variety of creamy white background fabrics and picked brown/pink/gold fabrics from Jennifer's fabric lines by Red Rooster. I started sewing on September 19th 2010, and had a ball playing with the block patterns! And I'm thrilled with the result!

I will share some of my experiences making the quilt as well as some of my favorite blocks in coming posts ;-) Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

The Lucinda's Gift quilt-along starts today

As mentioned in a previous post the Lucinda's Gift quilt-along starts today, so if you would like to join in the fun and use up some scraps, pop over to the SBS & Other Elm Creek Quilts yahoo group and sign up to sew your own version of this lovely quilt. 

The quilt in question is first mentioned in Jennifer Chiaverini's novel The Quilter's Apprentice. The story is that this is a quilt made by Great-Aunt Lucinda as a wedding present for Elizabeth Bergstrom Nelson. This is how the quilt is explained to Elizabeth's cousin Sylvia:

"It's called Chimneys and Cornerstones" she told me. "Whenever she looks at it she'll remember our home and all the people in it. We Bergstroms have been blessed to have a home filled with love, filled with love from the chimneys to the cornerstone. This quilt will help her take a little of that love with her [...] Each of these red squares is a fire burning in the fireplace to warm her after a weary journey home. [...] The dark half represents the sorrows in a life and the light colors represents the joys. [...] As long as these home fires keep burning, Elizabeth will always have more joys than sorrows." - The Quilter's Apprentice (2003 ed.) p. 179

The pattern for the quilt is found in Jennifer Chiaverini's book More Elm Creek Quilts on pp. 67-70. As I mentioned in this post, the assignment for first week of the quilt-along is to cut the pieces, so there's still time to go book hunting if you'd like to join in ;-)

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

Scraps, scraps and more scraps

My scrap box was getting really full and completely chaotic again, so I decided to try to tidy it up a bit by cutting 1.5" squares and strips from a pile of light scraps, a pile of dark bits and pieces, and whatever I could find of reds/burgundy/dark orange

A lot of cuts later I had a manageable number of strips and squares, a lot of bits in the garbage, and a scrap box that is a whole bit tidier. A lot of more cuts, and you can find this on my large square ruler 

All ready to be sewn into some lovely scrappy chimneys and cornerstone blocks. Unless I have counted wrong here and there (which is a fair chance *lol*) it should be all the pieces for the quilt "Lucinda's Gift" from this fabulous book

We are doing this as a quilt-along on the SBS-and-other-Elm-Creek-Quilts yahoo group. If you have got the book and want to join in, the quilt-along starts on July 1st - and the first week is cutting the pieces so I'm a tad ahead of schedule.

Hugs and stitches from Anne Ida

This is a test

My friend Leisha Camden is showing me how to upload videos from Youtube to my blog - and I thought this interview with Jennifer Chiaverini would be a good test to use - just in case any of you Elm Creek fans out there haven't seen it :o)
Sincerely, Anne Ida