A Princess Quilt Fit for a Princess

 

The princess quilt based on designs in Beth Helfter 's Once Upon a Time Fairy Tale Puzzle Quilts book is finished. You may scroll back to earlier posts to see close-ups of some of these blocks. 

I am not proficient at FMQ (free motion quilting). I realize with practice, I would be able to learn this skill, but for now, it's not on my radar. So, you might be wondering how I quilted this piece. First, I stitched in the ditch (seam lines). Next, I outlined the subject of each block as in this coach. 

I wasn't sure how to handle the blocks with the lettering. If I background stippled those, then I would have had to stipple all of the blocks. Instead, I decided to underline the words using one of the decorative stitches on my machine.

That worked fine on "Once Upon a Time," but there would have been too much empty space in the princess block, so I added a star.

My final challenge was the long strip of background fabric that I had added on each side of the castle to make the blocks fit. I looked in a book I have that features 501 Quilting Motiffs, and found just what I needed. . .

a star with trails. I used tracing paper to make two copies of the motif. When I pinned them in place, I flipped one facing the other way, and elongated the trails to better fit the area. After stitching, it was super easy to remove the tracing paper.

You may notice that I also added two nine patches which feature crowns. See, it's good to have an eclectic group of fat quarters on hand. :-)

For the back, I used "Candy Dot" fabric that I had come across in my travels. The colors echo the colors on the front and will hopefully guarantee sweet dreams.

This quilt makes me happy as I hope it will the little girl who receives it. I pray that she gets through her treatments and goes on to live happily ever after.

Castle For Rent

 

Nah, I'm kidding . . . This double block castle is from a quilt on which I am currently working. The other day, a member of one of the guilds to which I belong asked if anyone would be willing to make a quilt for a very special organization with which she is involved. This organization is dedicated to helping children who are battling cancer. She was looking for five quilts and because I responded first, I got first pick from the five themes. I was happy to volunteer and even happier to be able to make the "princess-themed" quilt. 

This delightful pattern book, Once Upon a Time - Fairy Tale Puzzle Quilts by Beth Heifter of (EvaPaige Quilt Designs) has been on my bookshelf for a number of years. I didn't discover this book until all the little princesses in my life had passed the "princess" stage, so I was excited to finally get to use it. In just a matter of days, I have prepared twenty, fused blocks, and tomorrow I will start zigzagging around all of the applique pieces and add some embellishments. It is a joyful project and I can't wait to see it all stitched together.

Yesterday, I grabbed this quick iPhone shot of the yellow, swirling blossoms of the hibiscus on my porch

and noticed that this hanging pot is a pretty good reflection of the colors in my Katie PM artful log cabin shown in my previous post. :-)

 

It was raining all day here in the kingdom, but after a three-day heat wave, you won't hear me complain.