Home-keeping Hearts, top only
44 1/2″ wide x 51″ tall
I finished my most recent Merrion Square variation, a grouping of houses made by friends and Gridster beemates, plus a few more from my own workshop. This would be a terrific signature quilt for an out-going president, or a friend who is moving away, with everyone signing their names on the doors.
I call it Home-keeping Hearts, taken from a verse by Longfellow:
Stay, stay at home, my heart and rest;
Home-keeping hearts are happiest,
For those that wander they know not where
Are full of trouble and full of care;
To stay at home is best.
To make this quilt, use the basic home unit from my Merrion Square pattern. I originally had all my beemates put the lower sidewalks/treetrunks piece on, but when I was assembling them, I could see that only the lower row needed them, so I removed the others.
I originally tried out some dark 4″ borders, you know–to frame the piece, but when I held up the yellow-green floral from Kaffe Fassett, it just seemed to be the whimsical field of flowers I needed for my houses. I did do an inner border of 3/4″ inch, as I love this print (it is in several of the houses I made).
Of course, it’s not finished yet…not quilted or bound. I’m just about at Week 9 of rotator-cuff recovery, and using my quilting machine is a good three months down the road. But that gives me lots of time to think about how I’ll quilt it up. Thanks to all my beemates and friends who made and sent houses. I think this is the fastest I’ve made up a bee quilt, ever!
Continuing on:
Somedays it’s fun to just look at my design wall, even though a lot of it is “in-process.” I put my house blocks up there as they came in from all over the world.
Saw this recently in my Instagram browsing.
I finished up my Gridster Bee blocks for Marsha. She’d asked for blocks that resemble a circle of geese, but instead, they meander; the pattern is a free download. You can find all our blocks on Instagram at #gridsterbee. We’re going on our third year, and have a wide range of blocks up there, if you need ideas for a Block Lotto, or something fun for your next quilt.
What kept me absorbed throughout all this stitching? Jane Harper’s novels. I finished up The Lost Man, and can highly recommend it. I’m in the middle of the The Dry; I’ll let you know how that turns out.
Annularity
The wild and crazy back. It’s “prairie house” from the De Leon Design Group, for Alexander Henry Fabrics. I thought it might disguise any oopsies, but I was happy to note that I actually had very few. I guess maybe after ten years I’m getting better at the quilting? Much credit belongs to the Sweet Sixteen machine I use, and the threads, which always seem to balance so well.
