Since I'm working on my regular projects, these last few days I've started working on building my "winter" church panel for a seasonal church sampler. So far I have the door portion done:
If you recall, I am piecing a panel of a lovely colonial-era church near Wilmington, Delaware, as the "winter" portion of a seasonal church sampler. I started with the door portion because that seemed like the most detailed part of the building to me. The little windows in the door took forever, but I think all the trimming and ripping was worth it. Could use some more pressing, though, so it looks less crooked.
Last time I showed some beige-ish fabrics that I might use for the building itself, but I actually purchased some Grunge fabric for this project.
I've not been a big fan of Grunge--fabric that's already dirty!--but it works for this project. If a 200-year-old building doesn't need grungy fabric, what project does? If you look, those are two different colors, which I got because there are two distinct colors in the building. I'm pretty sure these are Vanilla and Cream, but I also got a couple of tans so I can see if I like the contrast using those better.
If you look, the building has a lot of concrete over fieldstone, and the center portion is smoother concrete than the remainder of the building, so I had to have two different colors.
I think getting that door finished is a good step forward. I really like this so far, too, and I've had a good time puzzling through it. Next I plan to make the windows for the center portion and then the sides, then I have to think about how to make the grounds. The windows are colonial "12 over 12" windows, so right now I'm thinking that the panes will have to be stitched in and not pieced. We'll see how it works out.
And in case I didn't mention it before (and gosh, I'm sorry I didn't!), I'm using Julie Sefton's book Build a Barn, No Pattern Construction as a guide to free-piecing the churches. It's very helpful! You can get it from Amazon or a signed copy from Julie. You'll enjoy it!
The church project is fairly monochromatic, which makes this post a little dull! I've also made these:
That's some nice color! These are for the Community Sampler being run by Sharon Holland and Maureen Cracknell. I'm making mine in pinks, yellows, and greens. Can you tell that I'm thirsting for spring? I especially like the fussy cut fabric in the center of that first block.
Hope you are making some progress on your projects this week, too. I am supposed to be working outside over the break but we're having some weather, so I'm dodging that for now. Thanks to all of you who offered your support and some recipes that are definitely not taste free. We taste tested a bunch of things and I'm making progress on knowing what to eat. I can personally vouch for THIS recipe for Maple Bourbon Chicken. Yum!
Sharing at Let's Bee Social.
8 comments:
Looking good Mari! You know how hard it is not to get too wrapped up in details when making a building like this, but I think you've chosen an excellent inspiration to start from. I really like what you have made so far. The grunge fabrics are excellent for buildings. I used them in the barn block for my Colorado quilt. Here's a hint I tell my barn-building students (we also use Julie's terrific book) - Try not to be too literal in your fabric choices. I used a fabric with letters on it for the foreground of my barn block. It was the right color, and nobody noticed the letters, which was kind of the point. I am eager to see how this comes along, but I know it will be great.
Oh, yes, I have too many ideas too that I'm just itching to get to work on, but not enough time! I like where you are going with the church idea. The grunge will work well, I think.
That will be a really beautiful quilt, I'm sure. I can see why you'd want to start with the door and it looks great so far :)
Hi Mari,
Oh, I think that Grunge is just perfect for the building! I used a gray Grunge for an elephant - it too was just perfect. I can't wait to see this project progress - it looks like fun. ~smile~ Roseanne
I had to laugh about having no empty project boxes so you can't start any projects! That rings so true for me, too :) Love your bright springy blocks!
The Church Sampler is going to be beautiful. The Community Sampler blocks are also very pretty.
Grunge is the perfect choice. I am sure this will be slow process but a very fulfilling one. See you soon.
Yup - the project boxes limit me, too (deliberately). Your door is wonderful and, like Lynne already said, don't be TOO literal.
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