Sunday, January 10, 2010

Fruit Ladies Recap

Remember these whacky fruit ladies? Well, we finally had the big reveal just before Christmas and despite all the grumbling the QB's rocked this challenge. I have to admit, I had a LOT of FUN with this. Sometime last year the Mistress of LeeHaven was making some very pretty nosegay blocks. Nosegay blocks have always been a favorite and I've had them on my bucket list for years. A little research, a little EQ time and I was ready to roll.

After a lot of creative cutting I had enough for pieces cut out for 24 of these lovely ladies. After attempting to machine piece the first 2 blocks and frogging more seams than I put in, I realized it was time to tackle hand piecing. Between waiting for coats of varnish to dry on a certain teardrop trailer, the nosegays came to life and I discovered that I really enjoy hand piecing. Then they spent way too much time on the design wall while the teardrop was being finished and I tried to figure out where to go from there. Yup, I had no plan beyond the nosegays. I figured the fruit ladies would speak to me and tell me where to go from there.....they didn't -- speak to me, that is.


The ribbon border was another item on my bucket list. Note to self:  next time have odd number of blocks AND rows -- even blocks by odd rows don't let you work the corners nicely.

And just because I want to, here are a few close up shots of the quilting.



The rest of the challenge projects can be found here.