remember these? way back before the holidays i dyed this group of fabrics.

i was inspired by a photo that i seen on Lori's beautiful blog. she seems to go to a lot of quilt shows and is very generous in sharing her experiences/photos with all who follow her blog.

this particular quilt was one that she seen and admired at the Old Aurora Colony Quilt Show.

it was made by Matilda Knight Stauffer.

i thought it was pretty awesome too. i've always been a big fan of the antique Amish style of quilts and this one struck me as particularly beautiful.

Lori and i did a little brainstorming, i dyed some fabric, she had a friend who was willing to help out with the pattern making and before you know it Lori and i were both sewing up our own personal interpretations of this beautiful antique quilt.

in addition i had a book (within my obscenely huge personal library) called Amish -Inspired Quilts: Tradition With A Piece O' Cake Twist by Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins. i've admired the quilts in this book for quite some time and especially loved the "fragment" style quilts that are depicted within it.

so i decided to combine all of these inspirational sources within the piece that i've been making and these are my results.

starting with a variation of the block within the Matilda Knight Stauffer Quilt and setting it on point within the turqouisey blue fabric. this produced a piece that measured 16.25 inches (finished).

i then added a skinny cheddery yellow border of 1.75 inches (finished) and wider green border of 3.5 inches(finished) to the top and the bottom.

then the holidays were in full swing and i had to set it aside. but i knew that i wanted to take the piece into the "fragment" style at this point and so i cut a 6.5 inch (unfinished) strip of the red fabric. i pinned these pieces up onto my wall and thought about them A LOT.

i drew up sketches and played around with the idea of adding a vine applique as well as some quilting possibilities . . .

and finally i've been able to get back to it and begin stitching that vine. the center "stem" is nicely in place and i will begin to cut and sew leaves tomorrow . . .

meanwhile, Lori has been exhibiting the patience of a saint as she is much faster than i am and has her wonderful piece already quilted.

this has been wonderfully fun and some day soon i hope to show the finished results of my little Amish inspirations fragment quilt. hopefully you'll show as much patience as Lori has.

yesterday a.m. we were experiencing snow showers but this morning it's all about the sunshine again . . . i took my camera out to see if i could get any shots of spring emerging and i found the daffodils reaching out through the cold ground and up towards the warmth of the sun. keep in mind that these are macro shots and the plants are just barely pushing up so they appear to be much larger than they actually are.

i also found some crocus and even some tulips just coming up.

recently i read someones description of spring being like any other birth; contractions, lots of starting and stopping and then, finally, new life. this certainly seems like an apt description to me and thinking of spring in those terms causes me to remember that it will all happen in good time and just as it should. i just need to remember to breathe in those resting (reluctant) moments . . . whooo -whooo - whooooo

this is carrot quilt number six ~!~ quilted, bound and signed~!!~ this small piece (approximately 23 and a half inches x 25 inches) was one of two quilts that i did with my guild sisters as part of a round robin for small and doll quilts. i won't tell you how long i've had it waiting around for finishing/attention because that would be embarrassing. suffice it to say that it's been way too long. i did the primitive little bean tree and the next person added a panel with "Love Life" and some sunshine. the last person added the cute little primitive house appliqued onto a checkerboard background. then it came back to me and i added a bit more checkerboard background and some appliqued pumpkins as well as a few more rays on the sun. i think it turned out pretty cute and am planning on displaying it on the wall during the fall season. i quilted this one in the baptist fan pattern, using a heavier thread and utility stitches so it went pretty fast.

the second quilt that was part of this round robin activity is actually already finished and had i been thinking i would have included a shot of it also. i had the other members of my team build around a block with a primitive appliqued bee skep on it. the finished quilt reminds me of the longest, most golden days of summer.

here is a sneak peek of carrot quilt number seven (!!!!!!!) in progress. i made a second bean tree block and a second primitive bee skep block for this little piece and put them together in a quilt top of their own. i used lots of pinks, some green and soft browns in this one and it has a spring look to it so it's been a bit more seasonally appropriate to stitch on. i've even used a soft pink colored embroidery thread to quilt it with. this is the first time i've ever used embroidery floss (a single strand) to quilt with but it's lovely and i really like it.

once i have this one finished i'll post a shot of all three small quilts together since they are "siblings" of a sort.