Saturday, November 30, 2013

Country Charmer Seeks Love, Friendship & Long Winter Naps...



Shhh...it's still early morning here in Idaho. (We're some 7 hours behind the start of that wicked, finger pointing, Quilt Sues day in Great Britain)  The sun hasn't risen yet.  It's just Maecee & Me & My Foo-Foo Coffee up & about at 5:30 this morning!  Well...if you can call this up...
My 4 year old Grandson & Husband are asleep upstairs after a big night of visiting the annual Festival of Trees and tractors & trains...lots of trains...our Grandson LOVES trains.
 
There were interactive trains to run by remote control...
 
 
and trains to scamper back and forth to watch while they rounded the tree

and trains to watch emerge from the behind the tree and out of the tunnel
followed by straightening back up clasping ones little hands to their cheeks and uttering,
"It's soooo cute!"
Much like this!
This would be dear Quilt Sue...giggling as she tried to pass Lovely Lynns app-LEE-kay pumpkin off as her own.  Lynn really shouldn't turn her back on Sue...it's amazing what can happen...
I have absolutely no clue where she got the idea to try such a thing!  Astonishing!
I won't say that Country Charmer brought us together...but it certainly has brought us closer...
What began in the first quarter of this year like this...
using the pizza box containment system of block organization & storage.
eventually became lots of little these
 
 
then this

 
 
and eventually this...
 
 

 

I've added borders wider than Lynns Original to add more drop on the sides which meant successively increasing the size of the 9 patches as I worked out.
 All along I planned to add some applique.  And then I decided to live with it for awhile before going ahead with the applique...but the border to me, still seems to be a vast wasteland...so although not begun yet, there will be applique that will compliment the autumn theme of my cute little birdie & pumpkin prints.
   Charming Little Tweets
from the pattern
So for the time being this is where we stand...
The upper picture taken with camera 1 shows the actual color better
while camera 2 in the lower picture shows the whole quilt better...although sunglasses are needed for that orange blocks and brown border that don't really glare like that in person.
 
 
NOW...
that the sun has risen and I have some light to run outside with quilt and cameras...and Papa and Grandson are up making waffles in the kitchen...let me continue with the can of worms that dearest Quilt Sue opened this morning (yeah we agreed we'd do our big reveal today...but that blaming me thing...sweet innocent angelic me...)
Sue who has that 7 hour head start on me has already clued you in on a nice friendly email discussion we had earlier in the year in which she asserts that I challenged her and declares that I am to blame for her making a second Country Charmer...all the while we were telling no one...except Lesley as we began coming down to the last minute.
No one seemed to be particularly curious as we posted things such as these...
 
 
 
or even the squirrelly Mission Impossible video in my November 10th post!
 
But now Sue has let the proverbial Cat Out of the Bag!
I would rather say that we challenged one another to set a goal...
Okay! So it was a co-dependency of sorts...
and here is the debut of my never seen by any eyes other than those in my household...
(except for a couple of pics that I shared by text with my quilter last week)
Initially I knew I wanted to make a Christmas version of Country Charmer, similar to the original by Lynn...but I had all those other fabrics in my stash tugging at my heartstrings and I went with it, creating my Charming Little Tweets Quilt.
But still I felt guilt...really guilt?!?!  I had promised myself a quilt "Just like Lynn's" & all along I was picking up pieces of red & green here there and everywhere that reminded me of her original.
Her shades of red & green have always made me think of a slice of watermelon...rather incongruent to the theme, I know...but that's how I selected prints along the way with no comparison scraps in my pocket.  You've all figured out that I'm a bit off kilter in the way I look at things sometimes anyhow, right?...it's okay...you can nod in affirmation...I can't reach you!
So here it is...with Lesleys permission...my take on Lynns Christmas Country Charmer...
I hope Lynn approves...I know she's the kind of designer who loves to see where inspiration takes her designs and enjoys seeing them as they evolve into something new.
 
 
I've had a little class booklet, A Tree For All Seasons by a local quilt instructor, Julia Ziegler, Room To Learn, for a few years wanting to make this tree but never quite knowing how I wanted to incorporate it...
I stewed for months about whether I was going to make another full on Country Charmer quilt "just like Lynns" or if I wanted to go with something smaller & change it up a little.  Then while rearranging my sewing room a few months ago when the new machine came home, I chanced again upon this book while relocating my bookshelf...
I was struck by inspiration...a bolt of lightning...Sues gauntlet...something hit me!  I referred to the block measurements for both designs and whaddaya know...16 inch blocks and 8 inch blocks with a little plaid border to compensate for sashing and we were on our way!
Now...don't look too closely...Sue will tell you that I have a couple of pointy bits that need attending to...and Lynn will ask about the border...and I will tell you that at this point...I'm considering a strip pieced tree border to polish this, Not Quite Full Grown quilt off.
 
Now about this Quilt Along business...I got so much more than two quilt tops out of it...I've chatted with people around the world...I have a new friend in Lesley in Nova Scotia, who has never met me, but recently bundled up her leftover Sentiments postcard panels pieces and mailed them all the way to Idaho for me to play with...in yet another of Lynns beautiful designs, Nostalgic Christmas.
 
Well known by the world now, in September my husband & and I had the time of our lives with Lynn, her husband Joe (who totally deserves the blame that Sue and I will attribute most of our uncontrolled laughter on), Sue who braved the long trip from Great Britain to California & into the arms of the unknown.  And is likely still a bit jumpy over driving on the right side of the road and watching out the windows of the cabin for...
My husband made me do it!  He took one look at said "Look!  A Bear For Sue!"
 
  And beautiful Zinnie was the perfect hostess to our itty bitty little Maecee...once she realized she wasn't a new squeak toy!
If I hadn't been brave enough to begin to blog...to put myself out there...to reach out...my world would not be so rich as to have welcomed these dear friends into my embrace.
How Blessed I Am...
These last three pictures from the Festival of Trees Entry Vignette, The Christmas Tree Lot are just for the much tormented Mr. Joe from Hubby and I...
 
The first thing we saw when we entered.
 
That raised back reveals a beautifully appointed bar...for tailgating or cold mountain nights...although I'm not sure the glassware would survive many of our mountain roads.
 
Seems to be a car show everywhere we go!
 
~On with the Holidays!
 
Nancie Anne
 
 
 
 

13 comments:

  1. Love your Country Charmers! I've been in love your original since you started and the Christmas version was quite a wonderful surprise. The tree is perfect in the center

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  2. You know, I'm sure it's illegal to have a 4 year old husband? Anyway, I shall rise above all the slurs on my reputation both stated and implied in this post, and just to show that I am a wonderful, kind person really, I'll tell you I love your Country Charmer, now it's come out of it's pizza box, but you know that anyway. Your Mission Impossible quilt just took my breath away, it is really, really stunning, and so clever.
    I'll just finish by thanking Wayne for finding a bear for me and making sure you took a picture of it!

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  3. I was totally amazed with your birdies and pumpkin fussy cuts and the resulting gorgeous Charmer - then bam another stunner. Oh, just love the tree center and the colors, wow.

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  4. Both your quilts are stunning. Love the colour schemes and what you've done in the centre of the Christmas one.

    I'm sure you realise by now that Sue is the troublemaker ....

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  5. Absolutely! You saw the kinds of things she said to me...but I've asked Santa to be good to her anyway!

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  6. Oh my golly! Just got in from watching the annual Christmas parade, turned on the iPad, and was blown away by your wonderful CC quilts! Your first quilt was gorgeous with the fabrics and the fussy cutting, but your second one makes me almost speechless! I adore how you used the tree as the centre with those gorgeous blocks surrounding it. Well done! Your post was a delight to read! What fun this year has been!

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  7. I had to come and find your Country Charmer quilts after seeing them on flickr. They are gorgeous.

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  8. Nancy I love your surprise quilt! Were you hiding that one all along in the pizza box too? I see some beautifully quilted borders in your first Country Charmer. They are both truly charming. Yes, Sue really is a wonderfully, kind person. (She paid me to say that!)

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  9. Well, I'm really finding out who my friends are, aren't I? (LOL)

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  10. Yep! You're finding out that we all love you so much that we know we can harrass you unmercifully and its still okay!

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  11. WOWSER !!


    Just love the Christmas tree quilt ! How adorable is that !

    I have been admiring your CC quilt all year. Just love the fabric you used ! Just BEAUTIFUL !!!!!!!

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  12. Love your birdy center block quilt: what a wonderful idea!!! And where is that Christmas show? It is certainly somewhere I'd love to take my train loving hubby!!!

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