Austen Family Album Volume 1 - The Complete Story

I briefly mentioned my Austen Family Album quilt last week.  It was a finished object I noted as part of the 17ufosin2017 challenge.  I thought the quilt deserved to have its entire story told, so here we go with its biography!

I started making the Austen Family Album blocks in April, 2014.  Barbara Brackman provided the patterns and I used fabric from one of my all-time favorite collections - Curio by Basic Grey (Moda).  When the BOW was complete, I had a wall full of 12-inch blocks.  I decided to split the colors into groups, with yellow, pink and turquoise fabrics in one group and the brown and orange fabrics in another.

I put the final stitches in the binding at the end of May, just in time for a trip to Florida.  I planned on giving the quilt to my sister, and I knew I would see her during my visit.

My local LAQ, Cindy Braiwick, did a fantastic job on the quilting.   

The finished quilt measures out at 74 inches by 88 inches.   My sister was excited to have such a "literary" quilt (she was an English major in college).  She said she was looking forward to re-reading some Jane Austen while snuggled under her quilt!

Austen Family Album: Wrapping Up The Story

I have been working on Barbara Brackman's Jane Austen-themed BOW since last April.  I had fallen behind in completing the weekly blocks (which concluded in early December), so one of my January goals was to finish the remaining blocks and at least get started on setting the blocks into a quilt top.

I chose to use a fabric line from several years ago called "Curio" by the Moda designers Basic Grey.  Most of the fabrics in the line were lovely, but there were some drawbacks to the choice.  There wasn't a lot of contrast in the fabrics, so I added several light neutral fabrics to bring some spark to the blocks.  The sampler blocks often called for a central print to be highlighted, and the fabric group only had one large floral print (in several colorways) that was suitable.  So, I wound up purchasing some traditional floral fabrics to mix in with the Curio fabrics.  Finally, the colors crossed a broad spectrum, including pink, yellow, green, brown and pumpkin.  I went ahead and used all the colors, but perhaps I should've narrowed the field a little.

The blocks are all complete, so now I'm deciding how to set them.  I have a large piece of a neutral Moda Grunge fabric that would work for sashing.  I also have a fabric in mind for an outer border, if I can still purchase enough of it.  That would be a fairly quick and painless proposition.

On the other hand, now that I have the blocks arranged on the wall, some of the darker blocks really stand out.  I'm wondering if I should split the blocks into two piles, one light and one dark.  I'd need to make two additional blocks to get a 4 x 5 setting for each separate quilt.  I could even set the blocks on point, which is what I originally wanted to do - but 36 blocks on point would make a huge quilt.  By making two quilts, I'd have one for myself and one for my English major sister!

Either way, I really enjoyed participating in this BOW.  Barbara Brackman provided a treasure trove of historical information about Jane Austen and her life and times.  I stretched out and played with fabric and color choices, which was a great experience for me.  I think I'm done with sampler quilts for awhile (this is my third one in as many years), but I'm glad I pushed myself to try new things.

I have an unexpected day off from work tomorrow, so I'm hoping to have some time to play with arranging these blocks some more.  I definitely DON'T want to put them away for awhile, since my goal for 2015 is to finish Works In Progress!

Keeping up with the Austens

I am caught up once again with the blocks for Barbara Brackman's Austen Family Album BOW.  I have been enjoying all the stories about Jane Austen's circle of family and friends.  There is also a Flickr group associated with the BOW, and it has been fun to see how different stitchers interpret the blocks.

 

The Lucky Pieces block is in memory of Jane Austen's Aunt Jane Leigh-Perrot.  Aunt Jane was accused of shoplifting some expensive lace and held in prison until her trial.  If she had been found guilty at trial, she could have been executed or sent to the penal colony in Australia.  Fortunately, she was declared not guilty when evidence turned up the shopkeeper and his assistants may have planted the lace in hopes of blackmailing Aunt Jane.  Lucky indeed!

 

The block Water Wheel commemorates Jane Austen's uncle and Aunt Jane's husband - James Leigh-Perrot.  Uncle James suffered from gout and spent a good deal of time in the English city of Bath, "taking the waters" in hopes of a cure.

 

Indian Star is meant to remember Austen family friend Warren Hastings.  Mr. Hastings was Governor General of India when Jane Austen was born and continued to have a close association with the family throughout his life.  

 

The Cross Patch block was chosen to represent Mary Lloyd, an Austen family neighbor and later Jane's sister-in-law.  

 

Martha Lloyd, Mary Lloyd's sister, was also a friend to the Austens and later became a housemate to Jane, her sister Cassandra and Mrs. Austen.  Her block is called Best Friend.

 The West Wind block was chosen to remember Cassandra Austen's fiance, Tom Fowle.  Mr. Fowle became acquainted with the Austens when he attended the school run by Jane and Cassandra's father.  Mr. Fowle became a minister for the Church of England, but he initially had no parish and no job.  He sailed to the West Indies as a chaplain, but died of a fever before he could return and marry Cassandra Austen.  

The Austen Family Album series will have 36 blocks when complete.  The current block is number 21, so the end will be here sooner rather than later.  I have been reading novels other than Jane Austen's - I shall need to redirect my literary steps in that direction!

Austen Family Album: For Family and Regent

Barbara Brackman's Austen Family Album BOW continues to educate and entertain!

The Waves of the Sea block was chosen to represent Jane Austen's brother, Francis Austen.  He had an illustrious career in the British Navy, including a knighthood conferred by Queen Victoria and ending his career as the Admiral of the Fleet.  I tried to use some of the text-themed fabric in my chosen collection - Curio by Basic Grey for Moda.  I think the block came out a little boring, but it fits in with the others nicely.

 

Another of Jane's brothers, Charles, also served in the British Navy.  The Crosses and Losses block is to symbolize his career; he remembered his sisters by buying them gold chains and topaz crosses.

 

Another of Jane's brothers, George Austen II, was born with some type of disability.  There is very little information available about George's life, but his condition prompted the family to board him with another family who cared for mentally disabled people in their home.  Thus, the block Home Comfort is in memory of George.

 

This is one of my favorite blocks so far - King's Crown.  The block was chosen in honor of England's Prince George, son of King George III.  Prince George served as the Regent during King George's periods of incapacity; his service gives name to the era of English history we now call the Regency.  I really enjoyed reading about Prince George and King George and especially the medical mystery that or may not have afflicted them.  I remember reading Regency novels by Georgette Heyer when I was a kid; now I understand more about the history and culture of the Regency!

 

The design wall was empty, so I was able to put all the blocks together - in no particular order.  Have I mentioned these blocks finish at 12"?  I'm going to run out of design wall space before the BOW ends!

 

Austen Family Album: Up To Date Again

I didn't realize I was so far behind in posting my Austen Family Album blocks.  It hasn't been difficult to keep up with this BOM, but I forget about posting my blocks after I make them.  I also keep adding new fabrics to the original collection of Curio by Basic Grey fat quarters.  I'm a little worried the colors and fabrics are not going to be cohesive by the end of the project.  We'll see - there are still a lot of blocks to stitch!

 

Going back to block 7 in the series:  Philadelphia Block for Jane's aunt, Phila Hancock.  I found her story quite fascinating, as she sailed to India to find a husband.

 

Phila Hancock's daughter Eliza Hancock de Feullide Austen inspired the block Eliza's Star.

 

Block #9 - London Roads - was inspired by Jane's brother Henry Austen.  After spending time in military service, he became a banker in London.

 

Jane's youngest brother, Edward Austen Knight, inspired block 10:  Good Fortune.  Edward had the good fortune to be adopted by a wealthy couple, the Knights.

 

Edward Austen Knight's adoptive mother, Catherine Knatchbull Knight inspired this week's block, Friendship Square.  Catherine was a friend of Jane's and provided financial support for her work.

 

 

 

 

Austen Family Album: More Family Introductions and World Events

For what it's worth, I have been keeping up with Barbara Brackman's Austen Family Album BOW, but I keep forgetting to post my progress on the blog!

 Cross in Cross block, chosen in recognition of Jane Austen's father, the Reverend George Austen.  Again, I did some fussy cutting of a fabric collage stripe. 

 

Next we were called upon to be Thrifty, to honor Jane's mother, Cassandra Austen.

 

Jane's brother James is remembered with Village Square.

 Empire Star remembers Napoleon Bonaparte.  Although he is not directly mentioned in any of Jane's books, he loomed large in current events during her time.  I was tickled to be able to use the bee print - one of Napoleon's symbols - in this block.  

My goal for this week is to really go through my stash and pull any fabrics that may work with Curio, the fabric group I initially chose for my blocks.  I really need some other types of prints to add some variation to the blocks!  If the stash doesn't yield much, then I'll have to make a visit to the Quilted Owl for some stash enhancement.

As for enjoying Jane's books, I've finished Pride & Prejudice and Northanger Abbey.  I think Emma will be next up in the queue.

 

Austen Family Album: Getting to Know Jane

The first two blocks in the Austen Family Album BOW series are complete.  

I'm enjoying both the block construction and the weekly background stories about Jane Austen and her family.  BOW author Barbara Brackman has provided all kinds of lovely links to Austen-related sites.  Better than all that (really, what could be better?) - I'm totally enthralled with the Austen books I have been reading. Well, actually listening to Jane Austen's books thanks to Audible, but I think listening is the best way to enjoy the story!  I had read Pride & Prejudice in the past, but I this time around I especially enjoyed the humor and satire.

Block 1 - Bright Star for Jane Austen

I'm using a collection from Moda called "Curio" (designed by Basic Grey) for my Austen blocks.  I wanted to start out with yellow, since it's a color that's a little out of my comfort zone.  Honestly, the collection is coordinated so well it wasn't difficult to choose the fabrics for this block.  I do think I will need to continue finding light colored neutrals to work with this collection - there isn't a lot of contrast in the original fabrics.

Block 2 - Sister's Choice for Cassandra E. Austen

I used some fussy cutting for this block: the lacy greens in the center were part of a fabric collage stripe.  I only had enough of the lacy stripe for 4 blocks, so I kept playing with the other fabrics until I found a layout I liked.  I may need to go hunting online for more of this fabric collection, as the 12" blocks use up fabric pretty quickly.

That's my Austen Family Album update.  Now I'm off for more sewing and listening to Northanger Abbey.

Austen Family Album: A New BOW by Barbara Brackman

When Barbara Brackman announced a new block of the week program featuring blocks celebrating the life and times of British author Jane Austen, I knew I would be participating.  A focus on history and literature was right up my alley, so I started thinking about fabric choices and re-reading Jane Austen's books.

Several years ago I was seduced by a fabric line from Moda called Curio by the designers Basic Grey.  I bought a fat quarter collection of the entire line and then saved it for Just the Right Project.

I think the Austen Family Album may be Just the Right Project for this collection!  I'm not sure I will use all the colors, but that decision can be made as the project unfolds.  I may need to add some additional neutrals, which of course means a trip to The Quilted Owl, my local reproduction-oriented quilt store.  

The first block in the Austen Family Album series was introduced today (Bright Star), so I need to go start playing with fabrics - I don't want to get too far behind!