MY QUILT IS MORPHING!

The stonefields quilt is becoming a Chuck Nohara quilt!  I wish I had begun using Chuck's blocks from the very beginning and no Stonefields as Chuck's blocks really speak to me.  I find them imaginative and lively. When it is finished my quilt will have about 1/3 Stonefields, 1/2 Chuck and the rest will be from my inner reaches.

Some one asked me what I meant when I said I adapted blocks.  I will demonstrate.  The basket block above is pretty much verbatim-a close replica.  The pattern is 2 inches x 2 inches so needs to be enlarged to 6X6 inches which, if you are interested, is 265 on the copier. I just choose the fabrics and went for it.

 

This block is also pretty close to the original.  The only change I made was to make the tendrils more delicate with embroidery thread instead of bias stems and to add an extra tendril.  When I quilt this I will add definition to the leaves. So this is a block with only a small adaptation.

 
You can see the adaptions here.  I made two changes.  I did not make the saw-toothed edges on the flowers as I was working on too small a scale to make it work.  Ditto the leaves.  I tried to capture what Chuck was doing here-blossoms on the outside and leaves all clustered in the center of the block.  Very effective.  I had to make it simpler with less leaves but still try to capture the concept.  Its up to you to decide if I succeeded.

Okay, I love this block!  I have a real fondness for squirrels.  We have as many as 14 in our backyard at one time.  They are so fun to watch and they have the world's greatest tails.  We have red squirrels so their tails are copper colored.  The squirrels use them as umbrellas in the rain and to signal when the cats come near.  I changed this block more than the others.  I thought I could improve on the squirrels body and make the acorns more definite.  This was a tricky block because of the neutral coloring.  The squirrel is all yellow-gold and I felt the block wanted more color variation.  So I added the oak leaves and made the acorns green and newly hatched.  Also I like to put eyes on my various critters so I did that.  So this one is close to the original but with lots of adaptions.  I like the fabric I choose for the tail.

Here is Chuck's book for those of you who are not familiar with it. It is published and sold by Quiltmania.  Matter of fact, Quiltmania has a 2 block of the month going on now using Chuck's blocks.  It is called 

"Les fleurs du mardi" or Tuesdays Flowers.

You can see it on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-6FaRRykLg



I have been working on the free motion machine quilting sampler and have finished lesson 4-feathers.

This turned out well I think.  While I have never quilted feathers on a quilt, I have practiced them a lot in all their various forms so was a step ahead on this block.  Here is the sampler so far:

If you want to join in with this sampler group, go to the facebook group Sit Down Free Motion Quilters and sign up.

We have lots of Blue Jays around the birdfeeder and squirrel feeders.  They are so funny on the birdfeeders because they do not fit at all and use all kinds of tricks and gyrations to get the sunflower seeds.

If Blue Jays weren't so common, people would be excited to see them.  They are so pretty.  The photo below is copied from the Audobon site.  Look at this bird-turquoise, powder blue, slate, grey.  Really it looks like an exotic from the steamy jungles of South America.


I will have my new camera soon so will be able to take photos of birds such as the one above instead of the lame fuzzy ones I always show you.  I hope also that this new camera will be more sensitive to color of fabrics.  My current camera has a devil of a time trying to get colors right.

Okay, I'm  off now to begin a new week of work.  Maybe I will do some simpler blocks this week.  However, as you know if you follow Cathy's Slow Stitching Sunday, the adventure is in getting there not the destination so enjoy the process!

HAPPY QUILTING!

Linking up with Slow Stitching Sunday, Monday Making, MCM, Oh Scrap, BOM, Esther's WOW, NTN and Whoop, Whoop!  Thanks for hosting and giving us all a chance to share and see what others are working on!

THIS WEEK'S FOUR PACK MAKES 100!!.....also machine quilting update

I like all of this weeks blocks very much.  They are all adaptations from Chuck Nohara's book.

This one is my favorite.  The flowers and stems are from Chuck's book but I did not like her bird and substituted this broderie perse one.  I love how graceful the stems and flowers are and how the bird complements the colors.

Chuck's sunflower petals were shaped differently.  Since I wanted to use a directional fabric and her pattern called for the petals to be cut from one piece, I had to cut individual pieces and I also shaped them differently.  This is the beauty of having good resources- they generate ideas instead of being slavishly copied.

I love sunflowers!  We have some volunteers growing up around our birdfeeder.  They will not "make" as rural farmers call it-they are spindly and small.  The ground is too dry and uncultivated there.

This basket was fun but time consuming.  I have told you of my frustrations with hexagons-triangles are easier-the thread does not wrap around so much. Also I received some good advice on how to handle paper pieces working with them.  I wanted to put into practice the advice I had received and I think the basket turned out okay.  I had to call into account my math skills when making this block when I sized it up from being 2x2 inches to 6x6.  I also thought the braided handle would be more interesting than the simple one from the pattern.

I have never seen a block like the one below.  It has such a different look. This makes 100 blocks-43 to go but who's counting!

I have been working on my free motion sampler and have completed week three. This was an especially hard one-not sure why.  I have included a copy for the pattern for a couple reasons.  One-you can see the difficulty with this pattern-one sews around the circle and then backtracks and shoots off in another direction. The hard part was not getting trapped in a corner.  I drew and drew this and did some practice squares.  The other interesting thing is how individual style is achieved with practice.  My circles are closer together and are more curvy.  This just happened.  The fmq is not perfect but I am pleased.

As promised, here are two more blocks from my Caswell Quilt:

The robin block on the left is from the original pattern except I wanted the block to be 8x13 instead of 11x11.  So I deconstructed and rearranged it and added the snail.  The second pink flower bloc is taken from the original Caswell rug.  The idea for the caterpillar came from looking at Elizabethan stitchery and the dragonfly is placed on a seam to break down the barriers between blocks. 

Lastly, we have a red bellied woodpecker who visits the corn feeder.  He edges down the tree to the feeder, snatches up a kernel, goes back up the tree to beat the kernel against the bark before he eats it.  You can't see the kernel but that is what he is doing.

I will be so glad when my birthday is here in a couple weeks-I will have my new camera and hopefully be done with fuzzy photos!  We also had a large yellow flicker wood pecker some to the fountain but he flew off before I could grab my camera.

Happy quilting!

Linking up with Slow Stitching Sunday, MCM, Moving it Forward Monday, Oh Scrap!, Monday Making, Easter's WOW, and NTT .

  Thanks for hosting ladies!