~a carrot quilt update~

despite my attempt to keep things to a minimum i've been completely overwhelmed by holiday preparations and life in general which is why i haven't posted more than the sunday postcard art challenge for the last few weeks. in general things are good, but the "slow setting" that MS puts me on isn't the best for keeping up with the usual holiday hubbub and so my blog posting has suffered some.

however, one of things that i have been able to continue doing is the carrot quilt stitching that i described in a previous post. and i'm delighted to have progress to report~!~

the first little indigo and white quilt measures approximately twelve and a half inches by fifteen and a quarter inches. i used some purchased antique blocks and hand sewed them into a top and then added a bleached muslin border around them. the blocks were constructed using a white muslin that had actually not yellowed or aged as much as sometimes happens with antique blocks so i rummaged through my muslin scraps and found one of my less white choices . . . despite the fact that they were not my brightest scraps i can really see the difference between what i used and what was originally used within the blocks. looking at the photo of the finished piece i can see that it turned out just fine and in fact delineates the border of the top a bit which i like. within my stash i managed to find a reproduction indigo fabric print for the binding and a shirting print that i used for the backing. all of that and a few hand quilting stitches and ta-da~!!!~ carrot quilt # 2 is finished.


carrot quilt # 3 is the result of some more purchased antique quilt blocks that i had on hand that were hand sewn together to create the top. i love the various blue fabrics used and that rogue plaid square~!~ which was pieced together from very small scraps of fabric by the original maker . . . a testament to the waste not, want not style of living that was once necessary. some of the other pieces are also "micro pieced" together too and i imagine that if you click on the photos you will be able to see some evidence of this yourself.
i found the border fabric and the backing fabric within my own stash and the binding was made from a chambray that i happen to have lots of because i like the way that it "plays" so well with the vintage and antique bits that i have accumulated. the backing fabric is the most wonderful print which includes the occasional bee and is one of my all time favorites. i chose to hand quilt the center using very simple straight diagonal lines in varying widths apart and i stitched a simple cable into the border. i like the way that the border seems to be a bit fancier in "attitude" than the simplicity of the center and think that it made for some subtle but good contrasts. this finished doll quilt measures approximately twenty two and a half inches by twenty inches.



i hope that you enjoy seeing the latest additions to my carrot quilt collection.
this evening i will begin to put the quilting stitches into carrot quilt # 4~!!~ yipppeeee~!!!!~