Quilting ideas for Grandmother's Flower Garden!!

It's a beautiful sunny morning here in Northeast Ohio -- the kind that makes you want to hang the sheets out on a clothesline to dry. . . . . . . except for the -9 degree temperature.   The sun is making the snow sparkle and the sky is a pale blue.  I'm surprised to see so many squirrels under the feeders and the cardinals and chickadees are calling some -- apparently the sunshine has a positive impact on them, too!

I FINISHED a third quilt last evening -- it was someone's cast off and a bit "ugly" so when I started teaching Hexagon and their Allies seminars I decided to use it as a sampler of quilting ideas to share with my students.  As I've been quilting it, I've had a change of heart about the "ugly" thing and now find it quite charming. 

The fabrics seem to be more typical of the 1940's to me and some of them are truly ugly by today's standards, but the woman who pieced the top found just the right solid to bring out the "beautiful" of each print in my opinion. 

Following are some close-ups of the motifs so you can see her fabric combo's and my quilting design experiments. 

The color combo of this print is orange, pink,  and yellow with a touch of  green for contrast -- pink and orange together?  Yet I would love to get my hands on a couple yards of it for a sun dress for my granddaughter!









And here is another print using the same colors? 

And this soft green check with the daisies scattered around it is charming.

The purple solid is the perfect partner for this funky green print and wouldn't it be a perfect print design for a modern print today?

 This print is so ugly and yet, the choice of the green solid which seems to blend with the green in the print enhances the motif.

I thought I would be ready today to share some of my favorite design experiments with you, but I'm still puttering with the clearest way to draw them out for you -- so I'll finish that task today and post those drawings tomorrow. 

In the meantime, you may want to download this PDF with a large scale hexie grid so you can trace out my ideas.  And I'm drawing the lines with several colors so you will understand the order of stitching, so find your colored pencils.    

So I'll see you tomorrow!!

Mary Huey

www.maryhueyquilts.com