Vintage CQ...Piecing Frenzy!

Now that my flower blocks are sewn together, it is time to piece the blocks that will surround the center section. My first attempt at these blocks last summer didn't work--they were too loud for this "dignified" (read: traditional) a crazy quilt--but that's o.k. because oh, do I love piecing!

So I pulled some fabrics, cut out my muslin foundations, pinned them in place on my design wall, and have gotten to work....

I am using the same construction method for the blocks that they used in the old days....laying out the patches, basting them into place, and then sewing them down. I really think the method of block construction determines the "look" of a CQ, and I am going for that antique feel this time around...mostly. There will be a few aberrations!

In keeping with this approach, I'm including a ribbon commemorating our country's Bicentennial. It was a gift to me from my cousins, who found it in their mother's sewing basket after she passed away in November. I am so proud to include it in this quilt, in memory of my Aunt Sally.

The little fan is from an old, half-started cutter CQ that a friend sent to me a few years ago...I finally realized that I would never finish it, but I certainly would love to mine it for fabrics and even some of the motifs.

So I've got many pleasant hours of sewing ahead of me over the next few days...