New Orleans House Project

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Purple on the Crescent

I have been purple deficient all week!
I did manage to make some purple Maverick Stars early in the week, before life got in the way of sewing.  I really enjoy making these and have been contemplating how I will assemble them into a quilt.  

Since I've had such a deficit of purple sewing this week, I thought I'd show you a zipper bag I found on a recent shopping expedition.  This is from a local chain of shops called Fleurty Girl.  The color is more of a brownish-purple, but it's close enough for me!
Fleurty Girl carries cell phone cases with the vintage New Orleans map, but my cell phone is on the verge of vintage (older than two years - oh my!), so I had to order one from one of those custom cell phone case websites.  Just as well - now my cell phone matches my blog logo!  

I was away from  home most of the day, but when I got home I was delighted to see Angela had posted some new purple blocks for the Rainbow Sampler.
Thanks to Bonnie Hunter's Scrap Saver System, I already had scrappy strips cut in the needed sizes.  It was a quick bit of stitching to make two more purple blocks!  Angela called the block on the right Cracker, but in the comments someone called it Garlic Knot - perfect name!

Now I think I'll go curl up on the sofa and take my time enjoying all the other purple happiness shared at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge link up.  




Saturday, April 19, 2014

Rainbow Scrap Saturday: Purple

This month's color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge is purple - my all-time favorite color!  Unfortunately, my purple scrappy play has been rather pedestrian to this point.
A purple 9 patch was added to the collection.
Two purple 16 patches.  I need to make the secondary parts to go with these: flying geese blocks.  Eventually the 16 patches will become sawtooth stars.
One purple sawtooth star (6") for the Rainbow Scrap Sampler.  I've been contemplating some additional purple 6" blocks for the sampler - maybe something based on circles?  And something fussy-cut for a kaleidoscope effect?
I also have strips cut for the Carpenter's Wheel half-square triangles.  My project for today is to get all the HSTs cut and start piecing them together.

We are enjoying the holiday weekend at our camp.  The weather is sunny but still cool - something almost unheard of in April on the Gulf Coast!  We have been enjoying lots of avian visitors to our bird feeders - we have Indigo Buntings this weekend!  I haven't been able to snap a picture yet, but I'll leave you with one of the numerous purple finches who have been enjoying our hospitality.

I'll be linking up with the other Rainbow Scrappers at Angela's blog, so if you love purple, do stop by for some inspiration!





Friday, April 18, 2014

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.




Sunday, April 6, 2014

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!


Saturday, April 5, 2014

Rainbow Scrap Saturday: Teal in the Rearview Mirror

Last Saturday I said "auf wiedersehen"to teal, but it turns out I wasn't quite finished playing with teal scraps.  Angela added several new teal blocks for the Rainbow Sampler and I hadn't finished my teal Carpenter's Wheel block.
Darting birds block in teal and brown - I couldn't resist using this fabric that reminds me of "Angry Birds"!

Corner Frames block in pink and teal.

 I used some "modern" teal scraps to make the 4 Plus block.

I was feeling kind of lazy by the time I started the Split 9 Patch, so instead of all scrappy, I just used graduated teal shades.

The Spinning Stars block used up the last piece of the gold, teal & blue fabric!

Last, but not least, I finished stitching the Carpenter's Wheel block together early this morning. The photo doesn't really do it justice (rainy weather, blah blah), but I think this is my favorite CW so far!

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for April is purple, which is my all-time favorite color!  I've already starting playing with my purple scraps, so I hope to have lots of color to share next week.  There's a Rainbow Scrap link-up over at Angela's blog, and I can't wait to pop over there to see what all the other Rainbow Scrappers have been up to!