I have a long (in fact a
very looong) 'to make' wish list with a whole lot of quilts on it....the trip around the world shown here is one of them and i have been working on it for quite a while......i love sewing patchwork squares and love how arranging these squares by colour makes a series of expanding diamonds...............this pattern is also sometimes called sunshine and shadows......
.............here is an earlier picture of the quilt the other way round, like a granny square......
..............just a couple of rounds of squares are fussy cut....the flower fussy cut paper pieces shown here are for one of the rounds that you can see below......
..............the other is a round of little elephants marching one behind the other...........
..............the auditioning of fabrics for each round is both exciting and quite hard to do......striking the right balance between dark and light and colour and pattern takes more thought than i realised......
...........i do love the optical effects and am enjoying this work in progress very much while i work on other quilts at the same time (some destined for magazine publication which i will tell you about nearer the time).......
.................a close up of my big trip quilt..........and below is the vintage printed flour bag i found at treacle market on our recent visit........
..............i meant to include a link to treacle market last time so
here it is now.....for those who kindly wondered about the name it became known as treacle market after an accident centuries ago when a horse drawn wagon overturned spilling treacle onto the cobbles...............
.............one more treacle market picture above....love the handwritten labels :).........below is my gorgeous container of tete a tete narcissi in full flower..........
...............spring is on its way and i am very glad to see flowers and bulbs appearing indoors and out and on people's blogs too............here is my project in the march issue of crafts beautiful magazine......a happy hoop design of applique flowers and a butterfly to welcome spring........you can read more about crafts beautiful
here.......
.............one more picture of my trip around the world quilt.......a new row is being chosen and i am beginning to turn it into a rectangle now......i might need to order some more fabric very soon ;).....
...............thank you for your visits here dear readers and your lovely comments.........it is always a pleasure to have you drop by and to hear from you..........wishing you a wonderful week ahead with peaceful times and lots of crafty inspirations..............back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Wow what a lovely quilt I love your colours as usual. You must have a lot of patients to fussy cut all those elephant. It's love to see your pots of spring flowers.
ReplyDeleteSpring is definitely on its way.
Have a lovely week Helen.
Beautiful quilt en I love the spring-flowers! Here we expect more winter at the and of this week.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from Marijke
Wow that's wonderful! And you're handsewing it! I love how it's turning out!
ReplyDeleteHow clever the patterns are in your lovely quilt Helen...I can imagine how tricky it is to keep the correct balance, I love the little elephants. I did smile re the Treacle Market...how funny! Yes the bulbs are really on their way and so is the extra daylight...hooray!. Have a lovely week xxx
ReplyDeleteI so enjoyed this 'breath of spring' post. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a work of art your quilt is Helen...so.so beautiful. I can imagine the fabric choosing dilemma but you are very good at it, I must say!
ReplyDeleteI really love that flour bag too, so pretty. :)
I'm loving having spring in the house as well and I have some little tete a tete blooming in the garden now too, however it is anything but springlike here today as its blowing a gale and ever so cold.
Have a good week my friend,
V x
Your quilt is (as always!) amazing. The colours are beautiful, but I can imagine how hard it is to get the colour balance right for each round....not to mention how time consuming it must be!
ReplyDeleteThe tete a tetes are so pretty......ah, the promise of spring!
Beautiful quilt and those elephants are so cute. How lovely to see the flowers and think about Spring xx
ReplyDeleteHi Helen,Well all I can say ( with mouth open )is." Oh my giddy aunt ".I am in Awe of your talent.This is soooo Beautiful in every way,love the elephants too.I don't know what fussy cut means,do you take little nics out of the fabric ?. I am making a crochet scarf for my friends birthday.She is a very talented artist and sewing,there is nothing she can't do.I thought I would make her a scissor keeper from your book,with the " Giveaway " fabric I was lucky enough to win.Loving the pics of your Treacle Market Buys and the flowers are lovely too.Huggles to all.xx
ReplyDeletelovely quilt!
ReplyDeleteThe elephants are so cute en I love your spring-flowers!
I do love this almost Spring post!!
Hugs,
Evelyne
What a beautiful quilt Helen and your fabric choices are just perfect. Looking forward to seeing this one finished! Christine x
ReplyDeleteVery cute as always, dear Helen! I love patchwork squares and your quilt is growing beautifully! List 'to do' is always so long and I haven't made 'trip around the world' yet and also hoops are on the list.
ReplyDeleteWe had a gorgeus day and that meant cleaning outside. Rain is coming so sewing continues! x Teje
Your quilt is already amazing! I love the fussy cut flowers and the adorable little elephants!!
ReplyDeleteI have always loved that particular quilt pattern!
ReplyDeleteBrenda
I love your quilt that you're working on.. I enjoy seeing it evolve and get bigger. I also enjoyed seeing your big tubs of narcissus.. they are so sweet! And yes.. I'm looking forward to Spring when my lilacs bloom.. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
ReplyDeleteYour quilt is a perfection of colour, Helen. The fussy cut round is really effective. We were sort of thinking about spring here, but today we're in a winter wonderland, with school canceled, so I'm spending a lovely quiet day at home (and sewing).
ReplyDeleteHi Helen such a lovely post,i enjoyed my visit,thankyou.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful work, Helen
ReplyDeleteThe hoop is very a neat wall hanging to think about. Changing it out with the seasons or what fancies, will be easy. I have an large empty wall space I've been having difficulty filling, a hoop may be the solution.
I'm not a quilter but my mother was..she was so good at it...I don't believe she had the color talent you have, tho...I have no idea what "fussy cut" is.
ReplyDeleteI do love your patchwork quilt..the squares are so so tiny...4"..? I made just a plain patch using 5" and nearly pulled my hair out before I got it all together. I've never made a small one, or a wall hanging..just queen and I need to make a LARGE block patch for my King bed...I see them in catalogs and they are so expensive...
I love your quilt! What pattern or book are you using to make it?
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful quilt! I have never tried that pattern before, probably for the reasons you stated! Keep us updated as you work on it please:)
ReplyDeleteWhat a gorgeous quilt.
ReplyDeleteJulie xxxxxxxxxx
Helen, your quilt is glorious!! I'm more than a little inspired to have a go at a trip around the world.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely quilt, Helen. Every time I see one of your quilts I get so inspired to delve into my huge stash of fabrics but it soon wears off and I go back to my cross stitching...haha! I can but dream though, and owning a homemade quilt is a very tempting incentive so please keep showing us your gorgeous quilts, they brighten my day.
ReplyDeleteI love hearing about treacle market and seeing what you bought. I love the photo with the steps, pots and pretty primula/primrose? Spring bulbs are so full of promise. Your container of tete a tete is so pretty.
Thanks for another lovely post.
Such a pretty arrangement of colours in your quilt.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful quilt and sring flowers,lot of kisses
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful quilt, Helen...I love the pattern and the fabrics you've chosen!
ReplyDeleteIt's fun to see photos of primroses and narcissus...spring can't be far away!
Hello Helen, I can see that this quilt has been a little more trying than others, but well worth the effort. Your choice of fabrics is always so pleasing. I love the story about the Treacle Market, it's funny how these names stick, but really charming too. Always an abundance of growing things and flowers in your corner, which makes it so pleasant to visit! Have a happy day, love Linda xx
ReplyDeleteThat quilt is pure loveliness and I cannot even imagine being able to make something like that!
ReplyDeleteI have no specific plans today, I have a bunch of quilt squares cut out and it's raining. I think you have just inspired me to do some sewing.
ReplyDeleteYour quilt is stunning Helen. You have so much patience. x
ReplyDeleteThis is a hard work, Helen! wow... awesome...
ReplyDeleteI love your new quilt and I love your spring! how beatiful looks your home!
I hope you've a nice week too, my dear helen.
Thanks for sharing all these beautiful momments ...
a big hug from Catalonia!
Around the World is one of my favorite quilt designs! I made a small lap quilt like that a few years ago and it was really fun. I loved seeing your daffodils and spring preparations. I hope you're having a good week, Helen.
ReplyDeleteThis is another lovely quilt, the colour combinations are refreshing and work really well but must have taken a lot of thought to get it right. Treacle Market looks very interesting, I googled it after your last post. Would love to go there some day. We have catkins bobbing away behind the fence and I spotted the odd snowdrop on my scenic drive to work yesterday - signs that Spring is not far away.
ReplyDeleteYour work is beautiful, as always! I love your gorgeous trip around the world. I need to get mine out and get back to work on it. I think I'm on the last 6 or 8 rounds, but of course, they're the most time-consuming rounds because they're so big. Happy almost spring!!
ReplyDeleteHelen, you are such an inspiration! xoxoRobin
ReplyDeleteYour scrappy trip quilt is beautiful I can't wait to see it done.
ReplyDeleteYour scrappy trip quilt is beautiful I can't wait to see it done.
ReplyDeleteYour trip around the world quilt is stunning. Such a great deal of thought and planning and hard work has really paid off the result is beautiful XOX
ReplyDeletedear helen
ReplyDeletei am interested in sewing the sampler you showed 'kind hearts are gardens' i wonder if you could tell me where i might find this pattern. thank you so much annie x
brissie23@hotmail.co.uk
Uma arte primorosa!!!
ReplyDeleteBom domingo!
http://asarteiricesdagracinha.blogspot.pt
Thank you for such a sweet tutorial - all this time later, I've found it and love the end result. I appreciate the time you spent sharing your skills.
ReplyDeleterun2online.net