Hello!

This past week I spent some time looking at UFOs and those little mannequin blocks that I made in ’98/’99 kept looking back at me. The ideas started churning and I was pulling out a mini Dresden block I had made a couple years ago. I had cut a bunch of mini Dresden blades for the blocks but only sewed one together. I started sewing the Dresden blades together and came up with 5 mini Dresden plate blocks. I think they’re really cute in the 1930s reproduction print fabrics.

Back to the mannequin blocks… I made these foundation paper pieced blocks in 1998 or 1999. I made a total of seven. It was a weird number but then I stopped making them and I don’t know what I was going to do with them. So they’ve sat for 21 years and they’ve been in my mom’s possession for most of that time. In an effort to use them, I am making a kitchen sink/sampler quilt. So what’s a kitchen sink quilt? It’s a quilt that you take a bunch of orphan blocks and put them together. You can make and add in more elements to the tie the blocks together. So I’m doing a version of that. I’m starting with the mannequin blocks and mini Dresden blocks and I’ll be making more blocks in 1930s reproduction prints. Some block ideas I’ve had are:

1. Churn dash blocks
2. Medium & large Dresden blocks
3. Sewing machine block
4. Thread spool blocks
5. Button blocks
6. English Paper Pieced hexagons
7. Flowers with leaves
8. Scottie dog

I have lots of ideas but no idea of how it’s all going to come together. I’ll definitely keep you posted throughout the process. This project is more of a marathon. Even though I’m excited to work on it, I have some other things to work on right now. It was easy to make the Dresden blocks in less than an hour because they were already cut out and they were small. I may spend some time deciding on blocks sizes and finding patterns, then start cutting and putting block parts in bags so I can grab a bag and start piecing when I have a small chunk of time available.

Another exciting thing coming up and a good chance for me to work on this quilt is yearly retreat! I’m looking forward to being able to go on retreat this year. Last year my son was 3 months old so I wasn’t able to attend. I’ve also been planning other quilting related travel… Sisters in July for the outdoor quilt show. Some ladies from guild are renting a house so I’ll be joining them for several days.

Happy Quilting!

Camille