It’s Wednesday, its January, its been cold, wet, very wet, and somewhat misty and murky so far. But we’re still out and about wandering the lanes and paths – except for the very very wet days when it seemed far more sensible to stay in the warm and dry with the sewing machine for company.
This was one very misty morning recently, walking the towpath (which wasn’t muddy or flooded unlike most of the lanes)
Sorry for the lateness of this post – the fact that it was Wednesday today and not tomorrow totally escaped me.
2024 will be our umpteenth year of featuring Doodles from our beloved EQ design program. We’ve lost count of the total number of Doodles we’ve posted but it’s safe to say it’s quite a lot! We’ve had themes, e.g. scrappy, curved seams, applique, and we’ve focussed on borders and settings, colour themes, colour changes, rotating and flipping blocks. This year we are working with only the EQ default colour settings for the blocks we have chosen and looking at the differences that can easily be made with simple sashings, borders, straight settings and on point. It’s been very hard to resist the urge to change the default colour settings before doing anything else but it’s also been very interesting to see what settings and sashings can make of colour combinations that might not have been a first or a comfortable choice. Here is our first block – Mosaic – shown with the EQ default colouring.
Now let’s look at this block and colouring in a few simple settings ranging from edge to edge to on point and making changes in equally simple sashing along the way.
Just for fun we’ve used the Baby Blocks setting option – look closely to see where the Baby Blocks are and enjoy the effect. Probably one to admire rather than rush into piecing!!
One of the features of EQ that we have used again and again is the measurements and templates menu. Here’s a free downloadable pdf for rotary cutting measurements for an 8inch Mosaic block and another pdf for templates to make an 8inch Mosaic block. Some straightforward piecing to start the new year!
It may have been an extremely chilly morning when Chris went on this wander but the chance to take photos of the hoar frost before the sun melted it all was not to be missed (actually the sun never really appeared for long enough to melt anything and the temperature stayed below freezing all day; but when you’ve wrapped up warm in enough layers to look like the Michelin man . . !)
The trees looming out of the fog and coated in white were quite ghostly and spectacular
while the seed heads of the hogweed caught the eye
But we leave you with some slightly festive photos – holly and ivy
and the robin, always present in Chris’s garden
With our best wishes for Christmas and New Year – and let’s keep wandering and wondering (even if its only to our sewing room!)
For this final step you will need the pieces from Steps 5 and 6. Download the instructions here. As ever – read through them carefully before you start. Nothing to save in bags this time – that’s it, your top is finished.
All that remains (!) is the backing, wadding, quilting and binding. Will it be done by Christmas ?!
Its December and a few trees were still holding on to their autumn leaves at the end of November
but at this time of the year, once the leaves have fallen, it is possible to admire the beauty of our trees as the branches show up against the (grey) sky
frost and a blue sky adding to the effect a few days later
Its also possible to spot a few surprises in a wander – such as this primrose flowering at this time of year and growing in a wall about six foot up
Final doodles for 2023 and we’re offering something slightly different – two applique blocks which can be coloured to suit the season – Holly and Peony. The Holly block is self-explanatory as you can see but the Peony block default colouring doesn’t immediately suggest traditional Christmas colours.
With both blocks recoloured to work well together here are some simple settings and combinations –
Download a quilt to colour here and plan some festive stitching! If you want to do more than plan then the templates to make 6, 9 and 12 inch blocks will be available on our sister site – meadowsidedesign – tomorrow morning (Dec 2).
After the big skies of the Norfolk coast it is back home this week where the only way to get a ‘view’ is to climb a hill. Fortunately we have quite a few of those!
As you can tell from the plants these were taken a lot earlier in the year. But these last two were taken this month –
You will need more of those units you have safely tucked into bags for this step. Download the instructions here for Step 6. Read through carefully before you start and put the finished Steps into a safe place with a label.
Join us next month (on December 11th) for the final step when all will be revealed.
Last month’s wandering took Chris to the north Norfolk coast for a weekend walking and exploring the ecology. It started with a very threatening sky over King’s Lynn but the following two days produced clear blue skies over the sea, sand, dunes and salt marsh (not to mention a very cold wind). A brief detour to Castle Rising and then on to the garden at Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire (where the sky was starting to cloud over) before heading for the motorway and home.
Onwards into the winter months of the year with our eleventh Doodle for 2023. We have chosen “Big and Little Trees” – somewhat seasonal and appropriate we think. The default colouring looks like this –
Foundation piece or make templates – this would be an easy block to draft yourself to your required size. Of course, one of the many features and joys of EQ is the “print templates” option which allows for foundation piecing or regular templates. Our Technical Department will provide templates for 6inch and 9 inch blocks on our Meadowside Designs blog tomorrow.
On to some simple tweaks to the default colouring –
And now for a few quilt ideas –
Download a quilt to colour sheet here and add your own touch.
chris & barbara quilts 