>>>>

Saturday, October 18, 2014

A Lazy Saturday, Blue Ridge Style!

stephen3
This lovely work is not mine!

It belongs to and was made by Stephen across the pond in London, England!

When I met up with him at the V & A museum during our Sew Many Places tour in August, these were in progress – a labor of the patchwork kind, destined to be hanging as window treatments in France – if they were ever to get done!

And done they are!


Stephen tells the story in his own words:

Needing a pair of very large curtains for glass double doors measuring 54" wide and 90" high, I played around on graph paper and developed these two curtains, each of which has those measurements.

stephen2

The idea is based on "Dancing Stars" by Edyta Sitar, but revised and enlarged, with my own borders. 

The small triangles are 1.5" HST's, the centre stars measure 36" across, and the border stars measure 6" finished. 

stephen1

It was a fabulous project for using up scraps of favourite fabrics as there are nearly 1000 HST's in there, and I even recycled an old shirt for part of the plain background. 

The only fabric I bought was the flame orange for the long strips, about 2 yards, and to avoid having a wobbly little hem on the bottom edge, I cut that strip double width and folded it over, sewing BOTH raw edges along the bottom of the patchwork.

So if you need new curtains and are wondering what to do with all that stash.....
Thank you so much for sharing the photos, Stephen!

Quilts are NOT just for beds and couches and chairs and walls anymore, they can cover windows and work as shower curtains!

Do you have patchwork in an unusual space?  Share the story with me and we just might feature you and your creation on the blog!

This post is later this morning because yes, I am still on California time!  It took me a week to get on California time, and now I’m doing the reverse.  I was up sewing hexies until 1am, and then slept until 9am!

The morning was so beautiful and Sadie needed to go out, so I caught a little clip of us on a morning hike…loving the carpet of autumn leaves!


She LOVES running in the leaves!  This pass is all down hill…..easy going down, but it was a haul to get my tired self back up to the top on the return trip!

20141018_092822

That’s my happy girl in beautiful Autumn Color!

Last night’s stitching marathon ---I found Rookie Blues on Ion.  Had never seen that before, but it was back to back brainless episodes, so I could just settle in and sew away.  Working on getting that large diamond fill in section #2 attached to Mother Ship:

20141017_222146-1

TJ Lane thimble.  Can’t stitch without it!

20141017_225036

Almost all the way attached!

20141018_011651

Two sections ON!  4 more to go

((Yes, it’s still a multi-year project!))

There is a Saturday picnic up here for all the residents in the area at noon at the pavilion on the mountain.  We’ve never been up here when we could attend one, and I believe that is the plan today, to meet with neighbors and friends and have a cook out and enjoy the beautiful day.

Perhaps even a hike this afternoon!

And dinner out with friends tonight.

And stitching when I can.

And napping when I want.

Enjoy your Saturday, everyone!


Click Here to like our Quiltville Friends Page on Facebook for more fun!

Click Here to join our sister group, Quiltville's Open Studio on Facebook, a place to Sew, Share & Grow!!

8 comments:

  1. I know what you mean about the TJ Lane thimble. She was at the AQS show in Des Moines a few weeks ago. I took in one of her thimbles I bought about 20 years ago. It never fit right and was never used. She credited me the full amount that it is worth today. I was able to purchase one similar to yours with my birthstone for just an additional $20! Very nice lady! And very happy customer who will tell everyone I know how wonderful her thimbles are!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks like a beautiful start to a very relaxed day, just what you want, when you want

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've always thought quilts were for more than warmth and snuggling. My first "quilt" was actually a patchwork shower curtain. I made it before I knew about rotary cutters, mats, rulers, and 1/4" seams. I cut out the 9" blocks using a cardboard template. How my knowledge has grown!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love Stephen's curtains! I've wanted to do pieced curtains for ages, but I keep putting it off. Maybe 2015 will be the year.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous1:10 PM EDT

    Wow - those curtains are fabulous - I would love to have some curtains like that. I am never going to live long enough to make all the things I want to make!! ha ha ha
    Thanks so much for sharing this article Bonnie.
    Pauline

    perry94022 at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow! Stephen's drapes are amazing & beautiful!! Thx for sharing. Also, thanks for sharing your hiking pics, such beautiful scenery! I will admit tho we had another beautiful day in So CA & I'm thankful to live here! Hope you enjoy the rest of the wkend!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Those drapes are stunning. I love fall. Not a fan of winter as long as i can stay inside my quilt room. Happy quilting

    ReplyDelete

If you are commenting as "anonymous" please leave your name at the end of your comment.

Did you know that ad space on this blog provides for all of the free patterns and free mysteries and challenges at no cost to you? Without ads, this blog would not be possible.

Thank you for understanding the many hours that go into this blog 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year. :)