Experimenting with Broderie Perse type Applique'

Gay Boomer of Sentimental Stitches is offering another free sew along. A Re-do of an endearing vintage signature quilt she is referring to as "Dear Daughter".
I tried to resist, really I did... but alas I'm now diving in head first.

There are a great many circle blocks in this quilt - possibly to represent Love Eternal or maybe even Wedding Rings. Women used their own fabrics and style to come up with ways to adorn the Circle signature blocks they made for the quilt recipient.

Not all of the blocks are Circles... here are my versions of Blocks 3 and 6.

These were quick to choose fabrics for.
But the Circles -oh those blank circles.
What ever shall I fill them with? I ponder longer than I sew.
Thankfully, some ideas are starting to come to me.

EARLY SPRING

THE VINEYARD

If you'd like to join in - visit Gay's page HERE.

For curious minds - here is an official defination of Broderie Perse:
It is the art of cutting out fabric images, arranging and sewing them back together onto a background fabric to create an entirely new scene. It was common in the 17th century to pin or baste the raw edge elements down and then use embroidery stitches around the edges to neatly secure the cut outs into place onto the background fabric. Today many quilter's are using needle turn techniques to achieve a similar look.

every quilt tells a story....

Block Swaps with Friends

CHURN DASH blocks: This swap was hosted by Barb Vedder of Fun With Barb.
There was a time limit on this swap,approximately 8 weeks to complete and mail off your 6 1/2" churn dash blocks. (they finish at 6")
The Reproduction fabric group each made 66 churn dash blocks to send off to Barb for swapping. When my swapped blocks arrived - I couldn't believe it - there were no fabric duplicates. How cool is that?

I love Barb's block swaps!
Her directions are very clear, her tutorials are fabulous and her swaps are FUN!

FRIENDSHIP STAR blocks: This is an ongoing swap I am involved in with a group of quilting friends. We've agreed for now to swap blocks each month for 1 year. This is the start of what the blocks will become.

The blocks are only 3 1/2" and will finish at 3" square once sewn into a quilt.
After swapping, we trim the corners and add our background fabric triangles to create the 4 corners.

This is NOT the method used in the pattern instructions, but works for our group because we are all using different background colors.

The Quilt we are making is a pattern design titled Among Friends by Primitive Gatherings.

I've already collected 56 blocks from our monthly exchange.
It sounds like a lot, but the quilt design requires more than 500 of these little stars. This will be a long term project for sure.

every quilt tells a story...