Quilt for Leigh, part 1

Leigh and I became FB friends a number of years ago, probably through friends with mutual interests. As time went by, we communicated privately and found we have a lot more in common. Leigh has always loved my creativity and I love the chickens she raises in her yard in Nashville.

So I was pleasantly surprised when she wanted to commission me to make her a quilt. I was very flattered and I quoted a price that I thought would be fair, there are materials, labor, coming up with designs. I’m happy to say that Leigh didn’t flinch and even sent me a down payment. She also gave me carte blanche when it comes to the design, she wants something that I come up with. Who can ask for a better customer?!

My first thought was chickens. I’ve noticed that a number of my recent quilts will have a paper pieced animal (octopus, bear) on a traditional block background. So I found what I thought were paper pieced chicken patterns and got to work.Not exactly paper piecing, although those skills are very helpful. Its more about cutting each patch out of freezer paper and adding 1/4″ on all sides. It worked out fine and those paper piecing skill were a big help.Like paper piecing, the pattern is built up in sections that are then sewn together.Here is the hen.And here is the rooster, front and back. Before I forget, these patterns are by Ann Shaw Quilting Designs and I highly recommend them, although not for beginners.I had math to do, these will be surrounded by 12″ blocks, so I had to get the height to 24.5″ and the width to 36.5″I am loving Deb Tuckers’ rulers. She recently put up a You Tube tutorial on using her rulers to make the infamous pineapple block. The block on the left is my first attempt, it worked really well, but this block is way to scrappy even for me. The other two are what I thought I’d use around the chickens.Nope, I don’t like it, which is why I never even finished the second block. Back to Instagram and Pinterest to look at different pineapple quilts.Much better! I intend to use a lot of green and purple, which come in a gazillion shades and will iother colors like mustard and turquoise. You will notice that there is a block with more background, these will be interspersed among the solid blocks (see the block on the left for what I call a solid block). I think it will add some interest, well it did on other people’s samples.I am liking this much better, the chickens and their background will be isolated in the middle, framed by the pineapples. Leigh wants a queen size quilt and my design wall just isn’t big enough, from here on out, it’s going to be the floor again.

I have a lot of pineapples to make which makes me happy. I am having a wonderful time with this and I’m loving making these blocks. So thanks Leigh for giving me an opportunity to be creative.

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Leah

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