Americana August

I thought I would do my August Post now since I don’t think I have another finish left in me for the remaining six days. We just returned from the GP House with the darling Granddaughter being a little under the weather but recovered just in time for the first day of school; she does love going to school. Last month, I spent some time with Jan Patek Projects and I continued finishing more this month. My CT Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge project was supposed to be finishing a king-size quilt with Kansas Trouble fabrics but didn’t feel like working on it so I replaced it with several Jan Patek UFO projects.

The first finish was a modified version of the Two Hour Couch Quilt designed by Mary Etherington/Country Threads. The Geranium focus print and several other fabrics was from Jan Patek’s Front Porch collection was purchased at Mary’s shop years ago before it closed. I can’t remember if these fabrics were for this quilt pattern since I had to modify it because there wasn’t enough yardage of the Geranium print but am happy to make it 56” x 72” which is enough for it to sit on the couch. Another reason I’m calling it a modified version is because I accidentally made the top and bottom borders wrong. I wanted to finish the couch quilt thhis month since August is the last Summer month, and I wanted to take a pic of this quilt on our front porch; it really is a perfect quilt for the season.

Here are some pics of the fabrics used for this quilt, some from the Front Porch and past collections and maybe some designed by Barbara Brackman. The red backing was not from the Jan Patek stash and found in the backing vault. I have to mention the color thread I used for the straight line machine quilt; it was Connecting Threads #21582 Essential Thread in Cantaloupe. I thought it blended well with all of the fabrics.

Another sort of UFO project I wanted to finish is the last of the Season Wallhangings (Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall) designed by  Jan Patek and Sue Spargo in their Seasonings Book published in 2001. One of these wallhangings is twenty-five years old, one is several months shy of  twenty-five years, one is twenty-three years old and the last one was less than 24 hours old when this pic was taken. Can you guess which one? I’ll give you two hints,  the title of this Post suggests which one and after the one which was made twenty-three years ago, I was tired and thought it could represent two seasons.

If you guessed Summer, you would be correct. Fall was the first one made, then Winter and finally Spring. These wallhangings measure 28”x27” and instead of traditional applique, I did raw-edged applique, ala Sarah Sporrer, a style I prefer for primitive quilts. These quilts have always been hung from the mantel in the fireplace in the Family Room except for the past few years because Hubby had his huge Speaker used for his band gigs sitting on the hearth which interfered with the wallhangings. I didn’t have the heart to ask him to move it because of his back issues but now that he’s recovered, the wallhangings are back. The Summer wallhanging is now hanging on the fireplace where it will hang until the end of September.

Here’s a pic of the Seasonings book and the wallhangings which I have been enjoying looking through it again. I’m thinking I would like to make a modified version of the cover quilt with only four blocks and using wool for the applique.

The last of the Jan Patek projects was this table runner made from the bin of fabric scraps of past projects. This measures 20”x30” and will be used for our kitchen table. It was a nice and satisfying make which I always feel when scraps, especially batting is used.

And speaking of Sarah Sporrer, I finally made this wallhanging, measuring 22”x29” which has been on my project list since we bought the GP House seven years ago.I thought it would be fitting for the Americana theme this month and already has a place for it in our farmhouse kitchen at the GP House.

I purchased Sarah Sporrer/One Day in the Country patterns around the same time as when I purchased Jan Patek books, which I loved because of the raw-edged applique style. These wallhanging patterns were cards which included an envelope which could be used for sending greetings and were only $5. I purchased thirty of these cards during my Quilt Shop days which meant I bought them at a 40% discount and have made 10 of these patterns.  The previous wallhangings were made with all fabrics but this latest one I did do wool applique which I like very much. The background and borders were from my Sandy Gervais stash. Sarah Sporrer patterns can still be found if you do a Google search. 

Now that my Jan Patek phase may be paused and to be continued at another time, I have finished piecing my Smitten Says quilt and have started removing the paper pieces. Once this is done, I will add the top and bottom border. Also, I have to make some Patchwork Blankies for the darling Granddaughter’s classroom before the next GP house visit….and then there’s projects for the upcoming road trip.

I thought I would share the darling Granddaughter’s first day of school pic, for someone who doesn’t like smiling for pics, this was no problem since she loves going to school.