Good Saturday morning from South Texas – where we love the 100+ degree weather and humidity….. OK – July Fool! They “say” we are sending the heat high to the Southwest next week – around 1 August! If that happens and we have rain in August we are in a new cycle of weather! Walking in this weather is great – allows me to take at least 2 showers a day! I will miss them when winter gets here (LOL).
Our lives have returned to normal (with a few sad moments) it is unbelievable what stress can do to the body and mind – it is a killer. I am so enjoying life again and my freedom from interruptions and other issues. Now the only interruptions are when Clay and I interrupt each other when we are working on our projects! Looking forward to the trek to Arizona more and more. So many things coming down the road that are exciting and so looking forward to the change in scenery. The word for August is “Concentration” because I am slowly getting it back!
Well, here is an update on the Brinton Hall quilt. When I received my Quiltmania, #108, and started reviewing Part 2 of the project, I decided to look further into this quilt. Evidently the quilt was inspired by an original piece made between 1803-05 by Anna Brereton who lived from 1756-1819! WOW! Can you imagine if the quilters of today will have their work copied, or new interpretations of them in the year 300? Wonder if anyone will still be on this old earth by then!
As I began to review Part 2, I wanted to learn more about the original quilt and quiltmaker. Here is a picture of the original quilt – it is absolutely beautiful – what a bed to die for! Janet Rae has a book that was published in 1987 on “The Quilts of the British Isles” where Leigh Latimore found this quilt and made her interpretation using Kaffe Fassett fabrics and Reproduction fabrics. (I found the book on Amazon and ordered it as it should be a good read). It is a pretty quilt, but of course we all are individuals in our color/fabric selections and that is what makes Quilters unique! They bring their own preferences in fabric and color when making a quilt. This is what makes our hobby unique! This quilt is an absolute work of art. If you wish to know more click on this link – Frayed Fabrics
There are 2 other Bloggers (USA) who are working on the Brinton Hall quilt project – LuAnn and Karen H. PS – Thank you Karen for the tip on the ‘hyperlink’ you saved me some time in learning that one!
So on to my progress. I am currently working on cutting out a million hexagons (not really) for this quilt. I have all of the tone on tone fabric hexies cut and working on them in the evening. Now I need to cut more for the remainder of the Medallion. I love pulling fabrics and cutting them up into pieces – weird huh? When I saw this pattern I immediately went to my Asian fabric stash, that has been sitting patiently waiting for at least 7 years, and of course my batiks (they have missed me since I went back 200 years to Reproductions) to select my favorite colors that will blend nicely with the Asian.
After reviewing Part 1 and 2 of Brinton Hall from Leigh Latimore I have decided that I will continue on with the Medallion, but after that I have a new interpretation of Anna’s quilt. I used EQ7 yesterday and designed the quilt – at least I think I know where I am going with this. I should have better control over the outcome than I did on my previous disaster – Enduring Legacy!
Here are some of the fabrics (first pull) that I will be using! I am really excited about working on this and it seems I am developing a love for EPP – need to with all the money I have invested in Paper Pieces and Stamps by Kate products!
To shift gears…. I think it was during April that I went absolutely nuts on purchasing two (2) old Singer sewing machines – First I purchased this Singer 301 and then purchased the table that it sits on! Of course during the course of that purchase I heard about the Singer 401a and what a workhorse it was! So I purchased one of those. I will tell you that I have not taken the time to sew a lot on the 301, but I can attest to the soundness and what a workhorse the 401a is. I was blessed in purchasing to fantastic machines – both in perfect looks and perfection in performance.
I hope that everyone has a wonderful week-end of quilting while we are in the heat of Summer! Good time to work on UFO’s or new projects. Until next time – take care and have a blessed life. I do!
Chopin - A Passionate Quilter From Texas 
I’m being so tempted to start Brinton Hall. I really like your asian fabrics, what a wonderful idea. I’ll be working on a project later this fall that is both pieced and EPP’d so I really shouldn’t start anything else. We haven’t had the hot weather this summer like we normally do. We baled straw this afternoon, normally it is 100* when we do that but not this year. It was nice!
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Thank you Gretchen. I am now debating on which color to use for the background. I will be starting on Stonefields next. That was an expensive Australian pattern that took me 2 months to decide to purchase. The hand work is just so relaxing. I am sure it is because we can control it better than the sewing machine! LOL. I thought yesterday was hot…. it is 80 with 90% humidity – no walking today!
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