Me & My Stitches

Me & My Stitches
Click on the picture to go to my website. These are 1 1/4" pendants.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Civil War Love Letters

Are any of you making the Civil War Love Letter quilt?  I just love these books by Rosemary Youngs.  I've had the CWLL and the Civil War Diary quilt books for a long time, and also purchased the software a couple of years ago.  In my opinion, if you are going to make the blocks, you HAVE to buy the software!  I just don't like the drafting part, but I know that some people love that piece of the process - so if you are one of those people, you just have at it!  Of course, you have to also have EQ to run the software, so it could get expensive if you don't already own EQ. The books are interesting to read, and the blocks really are fun to make.  I started working on CWLL blocks a couple of years ago.  I usually just make a few in between projects.  Sometimes, if I have been making lots of jewelry and need a change, I will make a few blocks.  In the book, the finished block size is 6", but I decided to make mine a little smaller (shocking, I know) - mine are going to finish at 5".  Yesterday I decided to make a few of these blocks, then thought I would take pictures of all of them that I have finished so far - there are more than I thought. There are 121 blocks in the book and I have 82 finished!  It will take me awhile to show you all of them, and those of you non-quilters will probably be bored out of your mind.  I will spread them out over time - even you quilters would be bored if you had to look at 82 of them in a sitting!  First...the book:
Now some blocks...
This one always reminds me of an owl





I think when I started these (it's been so long ago, I don't remember!) I was just using whatever colors struck me at the time.  But, when I do that, it seems that I end up with a lot of pink and brown, and a lot of red and black!  So, at some point, I started following the color scheme that Rosemary used in the book.  I knew if I did that, then I should be able to distribute color somewhat evenly throughout the quilt.  That's all for today - not too boring, I hope!

Have a great day!

3 comments:

  1. I love these blocks Julie and I really love the fabrics! Now you have me thinking that I should start on this quilt one of these days. I've had fun with the FW quilt so I would probably enjoy that one as well. And don't worry about posting the blocks and it being boring - I would like to see each and every one!!

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  2. This is a wonderful book. The blocks are wonderful. Thanks for sharing your lovely blocks. I am a fan of civil war and reproduction fabrics and use them alot.

    I am new to your blog and I will visit you again soon.

    Carolyn :)

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  3. Not boring at all! I've never sewn with the type of prints you've shown, and always wonder what the blocks would look like in retro fabrics... those designed by Erin McMorris, or Riley Blake, or Kate Spain. Those people have become a few of my favorite fabric designers. Isn't that the beauty of quiltmaking? We can all have our favorites, and they work!

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