A Seed of an Idea.....

Is it possible spring is coming... The sunshine broke through late this afternoon- Bruce and I noticed some blue sky while we were having an early dinner. You cannot imagine how nice it was, to see some blue sky after weeks of gray. Could it possibly mean that Springtime is beginning... oh please we do so hope so.. In the meantime, here are some lovely tulips that are gracing my table just now...We will be delighted when our own daffodils and tulips poke their heads up through the ground outside.
Perhaps you remember Bruce and I going to a small quilt show in Wetaskwin last summer. One of the quilt kits there was a panel quilt that caught my eye. I looked at the price and decided that I wouldn't buy the kit. Over the summer and into the fall, I kept remembering the panel quilt and sometimes regretted not buying it.

You see my father is having a birthday- a special birthday as he is turning 80 years old in April. He has always been a man of the outdoors- a hunter and a fisherman and I thought he would enjoy being wrapped up with nature on a cool day.

I started to collect panels from various places. I collected ideas from quilt magazines and catalogues for possible lay out designs. And I collected fabrics. Then I got stuck...
Until I saw this pattern kit in a catalogue a couple of weeks ago which gave me an idea for a possible layout of the panels. After some reflection, I decided against making a pieced border. I cut out some of the panels into squares after I pressed them all. What do you think that I would do next- leave them for a couple of weeks to age (of course- don't you know that all fabric has an aging time LOL)

This is where I am now- I have a great piece of background fabric of mountains that I want to lay the blocks on- I am not quite sure which way to cut it. I have pinned the blocks onto the whole fabric and can't decide whether to cut it across horizontally or should I cut it vertically ....

I have not designed my own quilt before - at least not with out having a central design. Do I make a map and measure each block?? I am not sure that is going to work because some of the panels are not straight and that is especially true of the central bear panel.


Mars, the cat came out to help me a little while ago- she stirred up the blocks with her paws and checked out whether the carpet could help her sharpen her claws. She wandered away when she knew she had my attention. I am not sure what it is about quilts and cats but Mars certainly comes to make her presence known when I am making a quilt...

Dusty the dog figured she could help me out too... LOL...
I am not sure about the tan/ blue piece of batik- I still have more of the background picture that I can cut into parts to fill in the spaces where the carpet is currently showing through..

At present I think, I will border it with a smaller strip of the brown (it has imprints of bears on it) and then frame it with the green to make is look like a forest. There is a large piece of green so I am going to use it on the back of the quilt. I expect it will end up about a twin sized throw quilt but we shall see...
There has been some interest in blogland to show one's process- here is my convoluted journey...If anyone has any suggestions about which way to cut it or do I just cut strips - I do know I want to have some parts of the background where the panel squares are currently pinned. Any suggestions would be gratefully appreciated..

This week is spring break so I am on vacation. I am on a bit of time crunch with this quilt so I would like to get the quilt done in the next two weeks but we shall see... First I need to get it into a top - the quilting will not be elaborate- probably free motion with some outlining around some of the animals.

Hope that all is well with you and yours. Happy creating...
Warmest regards,
Anna