I am continuing to recklessly chop into the middle of a piece of fabric for the perfect fussy cut and having a lot of fun doing so. I used Lizzy House’s fabric here for the fussy cut and it made me start humming music from Aladdin so I added the musical notes fabric. Yes, bear with me, I am going to share my stories for each block again. Making up these stories is what makes the blocks so much fun for me. A few readers have told me that they like the stories which is all the encouragement I need to continue sharing them!
My story for this block is that a woman finished sewing herself a dress and is sitting in her sewing room, still surrounded by her pattern pieces, washing instructions and iron, questioning, “Does it look homemade?” “Can I really wear it out in public?”
No fussy cut quilt is complete without one or two of Aneela Hoey’s figures. I have Red Riding Hood here and will probably add a girl on a swing too.
This block makes me laugh the most due to a family joke. It’s a bit of a story but here goes. When I was working on the “To Boston with Love” project, the MFA asked me to come into Boston on the day they announced the plans for Boston Strong on the museum’s front steps. I was supposed to bring a short string of flags to hold when the Museum Director mentioned them. So, when the time came, I held up the flags and was suddenly overwhelmed by this photographer who got right up in my face with his huge camera. I am sure I looked shocked and like I wanted to bolt because he kept repeating, over and over and over, “It’s OK, I’m from the Herald!” as he snapped picture after picture. To make it funnier, we never did see a picture in the Herald so it has us wondering a bit! So now whenever someone is trying to take a picture, my husband and kids keep saying “It’s OK, I’m from the Herald!” because they thought it was the funniest thing ever. So, here is the photographer, surrounded by city fabric because we were in Boston, and then by newsprint because supposedly, the photographer was from the local paper!
This barn belongs to a gardener who is also fond of quilting. So the block has flower/garden themed text, and quilt block text to symbolize the barn quilt she had painted on the front of the barn.
There’s no story for this one but I did use a tea text print to go with the creamer.
These little chicks with their hairbows and chatter flitting about remind me of little girls out at recess. So the red gingham is for their lunch cloth and the script fabric because they are learning their letters in school. The strawberries are in their lunchboxes, of course.
I love this sweet house. It is surrounded by storybook creatures who live there, their lace curtains, and then Hometown text since it is a house.
I don’t have a story for this little fairy house either. It’s just cute!
Then we have some more birds who are singing. The text print is called Junk Drawer and it reminded me of a magpie because they like shiny junk. Then that reminded me of one of my blog readers who told me that she was like a magpie because she liked collecting shiny things….are you still out there Luba? I hope you are reading today. My mind seriously wanders when I make these, doesn’t it?
Finally, we have a seaside themed block with 100 calorie lobster (clearly before butter), Crabtastic newsprint, kite stings and laundry lines.
I’ve had a few questions about where I am finding my prints. The majority of my fussy cuts and text fabrics are from Sew Me A Song on Etsy.
And yes, I am sharing the pattern for these blocks! If you would like to download the free pattern you can find it in my Craftsy shop. Be careful though, once you get started, laundry and housecleaning tend to slide!