Elm Creek - Sylvia's Bridal Sampler The REVEAL

So much happening!!!!

If you have been following this blog - you know that one of the ongoing projects we worked on was Sylvia's Bridal Sampler from the book series - Elm Creek Quilts by Jennifer Chiaverini. 


Here is a picture of the book that we used in this project........

Elm Creek Quilt book

The class was held at Ruti's Needlebed. We started in January of 2011. Each month, TEN blocks were assigned. Each of the blocks are 6 1/2" unfinished. All the block instructions were written by a number of different people and well some of them didn't make sense. I tried to make them a bit more consistent and provide  "clues" to make the construction of these blocks easier.

There were a lot of moments in the class - struggles, ripping, frustration, but overall I think they had fun and they certainly rose to the occasion of completing this quilt.

It was made VERY CLEAR at the beginning that they did NOT have to complete all 140 blocks!!!   I know 140 blocks! That is a LOT. So as the meetings progressed, some chose to eliminate some of the more complex blocks or those with Y seams or whatever. It appeared that each of them had their own method of elimination.

After giving the class several months to complete the blocks and assemble the quilt, I hosted them at my house yesterday for a show n tell.

All I can say - they BLEW me away. Wow - the quilts are so different - it is hard to believe that we used the same blocks.

Without further ado - here are the quilts......................

Pat - used a lot of bright colours in her quilt. Because she had a few wonky sized blocks - she added a frame around each block (the pink), then trimmed to the same size and sewed them together. She is going to hand quilt it. GREAT JOB PAT!!!!!!    She made 72 blocks (well there are 72 in the quilt - I think she had more at home that didn't make it in the quilt) and this is a still a pretty big quilt. 

Carol wanted a nice wall hanging for above her staircase.  She has 40 blocks in  this quilt and a few extra at home. One day she was at my house and we spent some time figuring out what to use for sashing. Then she went home and didn't like it and bought another one. I think she made a GREAT decision and this quilt looks AMAZING!!!!!   WAY TO GO CAROL!!!!!!!   Oh yes - she used oriental style fabrics - fabrics with a tinge of gold in them.   I should mention that this quilt is quilted, bound and the sleeve in on!!!!

Janice used civil war style fabric (I am not sure they are specifically civil war, but they are muted) . She made MOST of the blocks and is starting to put it together. It is going to be a FABULOUS quilt when it is done. Can't wait to see it - I bet it will be hanging in the Brampton Quilt Show in May, 2013. Janice - how is that for incentive to get it complete!!!!   I LOVE IT - SUPER job so far!!!!   Keep it up. 

Ruth - now what can I say about Ruth. I am SO PROUD OF HER!!!!!    She started this project with GREAT trepidation. There is a LOT of piecing in here, lots of new stuff in here. Ruth tackled it with gusto and although I am sure there were MANY moments when she wanted to throw in the towel, she persevered. She has 106 of the blocks completed and needs at least TWO more to make complete rows. I remember a couple of days when Ruth would attend my sit and sew days and she worked on these blocks. RUTH - YOU TOTALLY BLEW me away yesterday. You DESERVE A HUGE pat on the back for all your hard work!!!!!!    They are pinned to a sheet and I am liking that like colour for the background!!!!

Jeanette made not one

But TWO quilts

Here they both are. Now Jeanette is a speedy gonzalez - she couldn't wait for us and worked ahead and was finished all 140 blocks months before the last of them were assigned. Hey - where is the fun in that????   She has a nice soft colour palette. There were a few blocks that she did NOT like, so she made duplicates of a couple of others. I believe she split the blocks in half alphabetically A - J in one quilt, (or whatever the letter is) and the rest in the other quilt. These are quilted and bound!!!    FABULOUS job Jeanette

Mary joined us from another group that was working on the Elm Creek blocks. She has a lot more blocks completed - we just put up this many to get an idea of her colouring. I LOVE the purple/green combination. It is going to be a gorgeous quilt when it is done. Mary - set up a schedule - get one or two done every day or every week. You CAN DO IT. And will I see that quilt in the Halton Hills Quilt show in October??????   

Judy made 99 blocks and then FOUR card trick blocks for the corners. She used a dark sashing between her blocks and it makes each block really stand out. Lots of pinks and blues.  This quilt looks YUMMY. It is quilted and just needs the binding (dark blue) stitched on. WAY TO GO Judy - Hey - are you ready to take on Dear Jane????   Just call and sign up - I'll be waiting for you..............

Lois - what can I say - this quilt just blew us away yesterday. Shoot - I should have taken some close ups of the fabrics. Her background is light beige with gold on it. Then she used browns and golds for the blocks. Up close - some of them looked like they might not work, but in the quilt - WOW WOW WOW. That is all I can say. This is gorgeous. The quilt is for her daughter who was an integral part of the construction (from a supervising stand point).   Lois' hand work (on the applique was IMPECCABLE) and I believe she is going to hand quilt it. She made all 140 blocks - used 136 in this quilt which is HUGE. We told her to use the four remaining blocks in the corners, but she wasn't sure she wanted to make it any bigger!!!!

Tish - a classic blue and white quilt. Oh - I should mention - I put the quilts on the wall and I think I got everyone of them UPSIDE DOWN or sideways so if you see some blocks that you think are wrong - it is likely ME - not the maker that got it wrong. Anyway - this blue/white combo is to die for!!!!!    So crisp and clean. I know Tish struggled with some of the blocks and was ready to throw in the towel. Then she decided to reduce the number of blocks to make and then she pushed forward and got them done in a hurry. There are about 76 blocks in this quilt. The sashing between the blocks is wider than the others and makes the blocks really float so you can appreciate each and every one. Then she used extra blocks in the border (in a square in a square setting). It is quilted and BOUND!!!!!!   AWESOME Tish - I love it!!!!!!!!!

Susan - She also started this quilt with another group and then came to our group.  The colours in this quilt are very soft and so NOT ME, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE this one too. She framed each block in a pale yellow and then trimmed all the blocks to an equal size. The yellow frame is very tiny (shoot - I wish I had of taken closeups). Anyway the end result is a gorgeous quilt and it goes beautifully in her bedroom. She made almost 100 blocks. The borders are on and I think she said she is going to hand quilt it. Brilliant job Susan!!!!!!   Stunning quilt. 

Joanne couldn't be with us yesterday, but she sent a picture of her quilt. She made 81 blocks and added 81 plain squares. It is approximately 101 by 101 inches. She was thrilled with the end result and I think she should be - this looks amazing!!!   Just wish we could have seen it in real life - we know that pictures do NOT do justice to the quilts. It needs to be quilted.  WAY TO GO JOANNE!!!!!!!   She also said that the deadlines helped to keep her on track - hey - I am good at that with other people - glad I could help. 

Elaine - yes this is mine. Speaking of deadlines - I am good at handing them out, but not so good at respecting them myself. Seriously I have deadlineitis. I don't remember EVER meeting a deadline in quilting. Part of that is just too much going on. Anyway - I have about 100 blocks done and intentions to do the rest - the remaining 40 are in various stages of completion. And after I get some URGENT stuff out the door - this is going to become my morning project. 

Let's see - we did not get show n tell from a couple of people - I shall NOT name any names - right Vicki????  And Celia was here, but her top isn't completely together yet, so she did not bring it. Hmmmmm - a big secret????   Can't wait to see it.


Well there you have. I would like to thank you all for being wonderful students. The classes were FUN and certainly entertaining. I never knew what "complaints" and "excuses" would arise every month!!!  You certainly kept me on my toes and I am glad that I was part of this group.

Thanks to Jennifer also, for providing us with the idea and the book so we had a wonderful project to work on. If you ever need quilt testers - I have just the group for you!!!!


If you want to see the quilts in progress - click on Elm Creek Quilt (tags on the right hand side) or do a search for Elm Creek and you will see the previous posts related to this project.


Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!