One of My Quilt Heroines

I don't have time to be very creative right now, working 60 hours a week until April 17.  Then I'll be able to make more quilts.

But here is news I don't want you to miss:  Barbara Brackman, quilt historian extraordinaire, is starting a new Block of the Week, based on Jane Austen:  her family, her friends, her life, her country.  The free patterns begin April 6, and will post weekly, each Sunday, for 36 weeks.  The blocks are 12" traditional blocks, and all the names have something to do with the history Barbara will relay about Regency England, from about 1770-1820.  Even if you don't want to make the quilt, the blog will be very interesting reading about the Jane Austen Era.

Barbara has blogged about this here and has an introductory blog post about it with suggestions for fabrics, how to choose them and how much here--at the home of this new blog.  It would be fun to make this quilt in contemporary fabrics, for a very different look.

Last year I made Barbara's Grandmother's Choice Block of the Week, still available here, telling the story of the women's suffragist movement in the US and England: 

 

 

Here is mine--it's quilted now and I'm working on the binding.  These were 8" blocks and there are 49 of them.  Jane will be 36 blocks, 12" each. 

 

So, if you're looking for a new project, check out http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/ where you can find all of Barbara's blogs and lots more information too.  Barbara is one of those special people in the quilt world--someone who is eager to share what she knows with the rest of us--and she knows A LOT!  She is one of my quilt heroines and I want you to know about her too.

 

Let's quilt!

 

Barbara 

Cat with the Batt

This cat loves batt!  She got a sealed bag of craft size out of the closet, dragged it from the studio to the kitchen and this is what we found the next morning:

The package after she was done with it:

The other day I left a twin size batt on the studio table--forgot to put it high up in the closet and secure the closet door.  Shortly before heading to bed that night I heard an odd sound, and found her dragging the large package by her teeth through the living, headed toward the kitchen.  The package was twice her size but she was determined, little devil! 

Patches, being almost still, 10 months old

Think I'll keep my battings behind closed doors from now on?  YES!

Let's quilt!

Barbara