Carson's Courtyard

In January, 2013 I posted about a block swap I was doing with five friends. The pattern is from the Summer 2012 issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects and is called Carson's Courtyard. 

This is the picture from the magazine. It's made in much darker colors. We made our blocks in 1930s reproductions fabrics and I love the way they came out. 

I had so many blocks that I decided to make two throw quilts out of my blocks. Since each block is 11" square and I have 60 of them, 30 per quilt in a 5X6 setting is already a 55X66" quilt. Add borders and its a great size throw. 

I divided my blocks into pastel and primary colors. I finished the pastel one first. I decided to do something new and different for the borders on these two quilts. I have never done prairie points before, so on the first quilt I have added them between two white borders. They are not perfect, but I think it came out pretty cute.

Now I am working on the border for the second quilt. I'll show pics of it when I get the border on it. I am enjoying finishing these tops-but I know the quilting awaits me! 

Happy sewing! 

Grammy

Carson's Courtyard Block Swap

My friends and I had so much fun with the Summer's Last Bloom block swap we did last year that we are doing another swap this year. We decided to do a pieced block (less time consuming) and something that is not Civil War. We love Primitive Quilts and Projects Magazine and found a great pattern in the Summer 2012 that is scrappy and would lend itself well to a swap. It's called Carson's Courtyard. The blocks are 11" finished and easy to make. 

When we were together in September we all discussed the "rules" for our swap and decided to use 1930's reproduction fabrics and white for this quilt. Since we were together, we purchased the same white fabric so that it would be consistent throughout the quilt. We chose to begin mailing in January and are going to make and swap blocks for 10 months-getting together again in September or October. There are six of us swapping this year, so we will have 60 blocks when we are finished. 

I have cut all of my white fabric into the 6 1/2" squares that I need and also cut the reproduction fabric for the first eight of the months. I am going to decide what colors I want to do for the other two months later on. I stacked them all and put them back into the cabinet-ready to come out and be sewn at a moment's notice. 

This is going to be a fun swap and I will post pictures of my blocks periodically.

I have been working a lot on my 5th block of When The Cold Wind Blows and am getting close to finishing it. I will post pictures of it when I am done.

Happy Quilting, Grammy.