I’ve got a bit behind with my Splendid Sampler blocks, this is one reason why they are listed on my Nineteen for 19 challenge. I just looked and it was October when I last posted any photos! I’d made sixteen at that point.

The Splendid Sampler 2 is a quilt-a-long organised by Pat Sloan and Jane Davison. I did the first SS quilt and loved it, two blocks a week and lots of camaraderie on facebook. This time only the first twenty blocks were free, then you had to buy the book for the other 80 blocks. I bought the book in the autumn and it’s pretty much sat there since! Somehow there isn’t the same camaraderie which keeps you going on a big project like this.

When I read the introduction Pat did come up with a very good suggestion. Make it a personal quilt with blocks that mean something to you. I was never planning to do all 100 blocks, I want a throw size this time, maybe 49 or 64. I’ve looked through the patterns and chosen ones that relate to me, so all the sewing ones are in! There’s also a music one, mountains, countryside, flowers and books all feature in different blocks. After that I’ll do the ‘general’ blocks I like!

Just before Christmas I did manage to embroider one of the blocks, but I didn’t quite get it sashed and quilted to show you. Over the weekend I had a good session in the sewing room and managed to complete another four blocks;

The sewing one is a design by Pat herself, I embroidered it in a soft blue variegated thread, it’s just back-stitch and french knots. I was a bit wary of quilting it, I’m always a bit more apprehensive on blocks I really like! In the end I quilted round the flowers, stitched a wavy line round to the next flower and quilted the word sew across the centre. I deliberately didn’t try and match the embroidery as I didn’t want to stitch over the embroidery too much.

I also finished the fruit bowl block by Jo Avery. This hasn’t come out as well as I hoped, the applique circles are a bit cornered! However the advantage of this is that I was a bit more adventurous with my quilting! I made a sort of figure of 8 pattern along the edge of the basket (I think mine looks more like a fruit basket!) and then quilted a petal shape on the sides of the basket. The fruit was all stitched in the ditch and then a swirl added in each circle.

The First Aid block by Jane Davidson is about wear and tear of quilts and mending these treasures. As a nurse for me it’s more about emergency first aid and the work I do each week. I quilted this one fairly simply with some extra crosses.

The last block I tackled was called Nancy’s Spool, it was designed by the late Nancy Zieman. It’s a lovely simple block of a spool of thread. I quilted it in the ditch but I also added a pattern down the centre, in calligraphy I would call it a flourish! I thought it would look a bit like the criss-cross pattern you get on a spool of thread.

I’ve made twenty blocks now, I arranged them on my design wall and I have to say they look pretty good!

Twenty nine to go…