Collection 34 & 35

C34 Champs Elysee Alight 

C34 English Garden

C34 White Wall Tiles 

C35 Reunion

Four more blocks from Carol. She is now up to Collection 35 and so it can't be too long before we start to see her completed collections.

The blocks from Collection 34 were made during our trips visiting our son PJ, who lived and studied in Paris and the UK. 

If you ever have the chance to travel both are worth the time. The real thing leaves the photos in school day books for dead. 

Paris is perfect if you are an early riser as most Parisians are not and so we would wander the streets alone, just like those romantic stories one sees in the movies..well the old fashioned movies that we like to watch.

Although the block is called English Garden in truth this garden was also seen in Paris, but it so reminded me of the order that I expected in an English Garden rather than what would be found in Paris. Mind you I have no idea what I expect a French garden to look like.

C34 Solid Gold

How many old hotels have those plain White Wall Tiles?

Reunion was made one weekend when I caught up with a couple of old friends and so the repetition of three things in the block was the three of us.

Solid Gold ..hmmm no idea where that name came from is it perhaps the fabric used. On checking the original blocks I can see that must have been the reason. Mind you Carol's choice is definitely more gold than mine.

Great Minds Think Alike?

C31 16 Sixth Street	C31 16 Sixth Street
C36 Reunion	C36 Reunion

Aren't coincidences amazing? Carol sent in the above two photos a few weeks ago and it was just when I had been making the same blocks for my Nursery Rhymes quilt.  This has happened a few times but I have never managed to organise myself enough to photograph my blocks.
It is interesting to see what the blocks look like in different colours. Nursery Rhymes is the first quilt I have made for many, many years which uses one fabric for the background. I'm not sure that I like it as it appears rather bland in my mind even though it does have the advantage that all of the separate designs really stand out. Have to wait and see what the finished quilt will be like.
Nursery Rhymes was to be a cot quilt but due to a few design errors in the sashing it has now grown.. at the present rate it will probably be queen size:) oops! Have to think of a new name.

More from Collection 32

C32 Symmetry in Blue

C32 North for the Winter

Doesn't Carol choose delightful fabrics? I know I used a similar fabric to the background in Symmetry in Blue, although definitely not for that block:) and I do like the daisies in North for the Winter.

I think I will have to make a quilt using a lot more conversation prints but I have either made great quilts, in my opinion that is, or else they were horrid. I have a skill of using fabrics similar to Carol's in multi strip quilts like that one of Gill's a few posts ago. My skill however isn't that good at combining them in blocks such as Carol, where each fabric has a job to do rather than just be a busy background with many like fabrics.

so where did the block names come from.... Symmetry in Blue came from the colours, blue in the original block and the fact that the block was symmetrical. At the time I made that block I had been experimenting with asymmetrical designs, that is ones that weren't symmetrical. While my regular square/rectangular designs looked OK, some of my hexagonal ones weren't as pleasing and so I returned for a while to symmetrical designs again.

North for the Winter was made while I was watching some birds fly in formation around my home. I was discussing with Paul 'facts' from my childhood. One that always confused me was that birds flew south for the winter. I could never understand why they would go to Antarctica rather than the Equator in the colder months. Little did I realise that this fact was taken from a book set in the northern hemisphere. These days our children's reading books are set in our own wonderful country  reflecting our way of life and that of our own flora and fauna.

I hope you are all enjoying her results as much as I am.

Xmas Relaxation?

Even with 28 visitors over the Christmas break Carol managed to finish a few more blocks. I really can't wait to see her collections when she combines them. It is going to be a vibrant quilt that's for sure. I love how Carol uses fussy cut fabric in many of her blocks and the Australian wildflowers in Winter Blossoms, are my favourite flowers..apart from roses :)	C35 Reflections
C35 Winter Blossoms	Reflections is one of my favourite blocks. There are, from memory, four blocks in this series or set. I saw a block I really liked in Quiltmakers 100 Blocks series and modified it to make the blocks. This is he most dramatic of the four.

What a Difference Colour/Fabric Makes

WOW doesn't the change in fabrics change the whole appearance. compare Carol's two blocks just below with the collection beside. OK I assume you can easily find my Stringing Away block in the collection to the left but being honest, how long did it take you to work out which of my blocks is Bamboozled. It took me a while. That's the thing with Raconteur a small change can result in quite a change.

C35 Bamboozled

C35 Stringing Away

	The blocks are easier to find this time round although I would still guess that it wasn't a walk in the park as they say. Carol has used an amazing selection of fabrics and it will be something to see when it is totally finished. I am sure that task also won't take her as long as it took me. she has only been working on Raconteur for twelve months and I am positive she is past the half way point.
C32 Kew Gardens	C32 Sunburnt Traditions

Don't You Just Love Points?

C31 Tinkle  of the Keys	Carol uses a large variety of colours in her blocks as well as conversation prints. I am always amused at the secondary idea one gets from the fabrics she uses. At the time of designing Tinkle of the Keys I enjoyed using incomplete shapes and so made the hearts in four sections. Here Carol uses a background of heart fabric making another play on the background theme.	row 1, cell 3
Must say Carol's English paper piecing method appears to have less bulk in the middle than I remember having with this block. Initially it was to have six of those fine pointed arrows coming to the middle but it had miles too much fabric in the seam allowance. The smaller arrows meant that I could make the middle sit easier.	C32 Stilletoes

The Way to your Heart

C32 Heart's Desire	Funny I never realised how many of my blocks were named after foods. I think I must be a male in disguise as the old saying 'a way to a man's heart is through his stomach' definitely applies to me.
Paul says he still remembers the first time I visited him at his place. We lived about five hours apart at the time and I arrived one Friday night. He had prepared a roast lamb and he said as he watched me devour the lot it reminded him of his father... who also was another example of a person who enjoyed his food:0	C31 Sugar & Spice
C30 Marmalade	I still love food particularly sweets and yesterday made a fantastic apple and ginger marmalade... I wonder which marmalade I had made when I named this block. Mind you the block must have been made around 2009 as that was the year I discovered when a person makes jam/marmalade there is no need to make 100+ jars of it. My mum only ever made plum or nectarine jam and never in quantities less than 100!!!

Carol is speeding along

C34  Through the Roses	Well didn't Carol pick the perfect fabrics. Her green path represents the path that always meanders through the old fashioned rose gardens found in many traditional city parks. Wollongong, which is near where we live has the most gorgeous selection of roses and they are beautifully maintained. I have always loved roses and once they were even well maintained and were the envy of others living in the area.  This may have been perhaps due to the fact that I lived across the road from a college which had a horticulture section and they were more than happy to bring their students across the street to practise on my garden and I was more than happy to let them do as they pleased.. I am a quilter not a gardner.
Doesn't everyone dream of being a star? It doesn't need to be in singing or theatre. It can be in anything you want to try. My mother tried to teach me that but it took me many years to understand. Follow your heart and you will shine like a star.	C34 Follow Your Heart
C34  Blue Moon	When my delightful mother-in-law passed away she left her piano to my husband. Although he had never played any instrument beforehand he thought he should learn because of this gift. Paul doesn't like classes and so set out to teach himself. The beginning was painful as he is one of those people who would be an ideal student... he always does/did his daily practise.... over and over and over. With time he improved. It is true practice does make perfect  and now he plays most days for enjoyment both his and mine. Blue Moon was written in 1934 by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. It was sung by many singers through the years including, Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. This is one of the many songs Paul enjoys playing

Almost There with Carol

Two more blocks from Carol and both of these were blocks I really liked. To Russia With Love was one of the few asymmetrical blocks that I made. It was made at a time when I wanted something that didn't evolve from another block, nor would it lead to another design. I made a few blocks like this which started in one corner and then evolved as they did. They were harder to balance in their appearance. Or perhaps it was just that I was used to seeing the designs repeat either six or three times around the middle.

C31 To Russia With Love

C31 Lady Liberty

Lady Liberty was made while on a holiday. Our youngest son had recently started studying for his doctorate in the US and my husband found a cruise special which happened to stop twice in Boston, Ma which is where Richard was studying. The cruise started in New York where of course we saw The Statue of Liberty.. the lady of course. Although To Russia with Love looks nothing like the hammer and sickle of the Russian flag that was what it reminded me of... everyone has their own way of looking at things.

Carol's favourite method

C31 Floating Star

Well did you find the cat's eyes in the previous post of Carol's blocks? The smile was worth the search.

Another two blocks from Carol.... I hope to catch up with her photos soon but I am having difficulties with photoshop :(

C35 No Way Out

Now although I am positive that Carol pieced these using English Paper Piecing I wish to tell you all that it is possible to do this with regular piecing. Yes those little hexagons in No Way Out are tiny... very tiny .. maximum of 1/4in along the edges but I find EPP such a painful method so thought I would see if they could be pieced in the normal way. Admittedly it did take a few seams to get the hang of it but after that it was full steam ahead and I am sure this was one of those little blocks that only took about four or five hours to make. Yes somedays I am warped but I do have perseverance.

Oh for anyone wanting a tutorial for EPP you can't go past Sue Daley's you tube tutorials although she does demonstrate with larger pieces than those of Raconteur. 

With really tiny pieces I have found that a drop of glue to hold the paper into place while tacking the seam allowance down makes the task so much easier. Also as the pieces are so tiny I find that Roxanne's glue is the best as it comes in a bottle with a fine syringe like tip. I have been told that Elmer's school glue is just as good and a lot cheaper ..and is even available in Australia in Officeworks. However I don't know of another source for the bottles with the fine tips.