Carla over at Creatin' in the Sticks is graciously hosting the Where Flowers Bloom Blog Hop! It is the hope of all the participants that you will enjoy the beautiful bouquets of fabric that has blossomed with tender loving care...
I have a collection of vintage patterns that have moved from deep storage, to my pattern cabinet and my "future projects" place in my closet... They range in dates from 1936 to 1939.
This Flower Garden Block is one that I have considered ever since I started my other EPP project a year and half ago
The Grandmother's Flower Garden is a vintage pattern that I have always loved and admired... but those small 1-1/2 inch hexies intimidate, even scare me.
Photo from Quiltmaker May/June 2013 issue...
I prefer faster projects... but about a year and a half ago I started an English Paper Pieced project as a road trip project. I have six "blocks" made... I have stated before, that I don't really know how many I intend to make - but I will continue had stitching them until I run out of the coordinating fabrics I have set aside for them... I currently have three additional "kits" ready to go.
As I looked for the pattern for the Riding the Rails quilt I saw two different hexie quilts - one was a flower garden wall hanging (shown above) and the other made sheep and flowers in a meadow (from Quiltmaker May/June 2014).
I decided to mash-up the two patterns by using the "biggie" half-hexie to make a "Mega Flower Garden"
I copied the hexie template onto some adhesive backed paper and asked my amazing husband to make a template out of plexi-glass... he graciously did so. AND he made two of them so that I can offer one as give-away on this hop! Details to win the template will be at the bottom of this post...
The template is 2-1/2 inches wide so a jelly roll would be great to use.
The assembly is easy... just make strips and the join the strips together...
The flowers finish at 12 inches across.
As I cut, pieced and quilted this flower garden I couldn't help but recall my Grandpa Schleich. (Grandma passed away before I was born...) My Paternal Grandparents were farmers... They (and their children) including my dad, had a green thumb and could get just about anything to grow.
Grandpa had a flower garden located at the edge of his front yard after he retired from farming and lived in town. It ran parallel to the sidewalk and the flowers always smelled so good as you passed by them to leave and I would try to linger just a little longer as we were saying goodbye. He had flowers of all sorts... but I remember the roses and the snapdragons the most. The snapdragons were fun to pick and make their "mouths move" by gently pinching at the base of the flower... The roses were so fragrant! And my favorites...
As I quilted my mega-flowers I did some skill building by using my templates to create flowers in the centers and I used the cloud template to offer some detail to the petals.
Earlier this week Dave and I snuck away for a camping trip. Our journey took us to the mountains where there was no wi-fi, no cell towers/service, no electricity or water. We were self-contained in our tiny-tiny home on our truck.
It was just us, the dog and a couple of books... some food and beverages.
We went for long walks, enjoyed a few meals and happy hours, savored some spectacular views and napped. There were wild flowers along the road and some in the meadows... It is very dry here. Most of the creeks were dry, but there were still some flowers. It helped me to appreciate their beauty even more!
Photo by photographer Cindy Hurt -
Wildflowers in Spring near Castlewood Canyon State Park - May, 2018
you should go show her some love on Instagram. :)
What is your favorite flower?
Leave a comment for a chance to win the Mega 1/2 Hexie template
before Monday, June 18th.
before Monday, June 18th.
And remember, because of recent changes to my comment notifications,
you need to leave a way that I can get in touch with you... an email address in your comment, or comment over on fb or IG for a chance to win.
Please... please know that all comments are appreciated. Since I can no longer reply to comments via email, I will be responding to each comment left here on the blog. If you want to email a comment to me privately, feel free...
MelvaLovesScraps@NolanQualityCustoms.com
I miss the brief conversations that would occur!
Quilt happy!
Melva
Linking with:
Linky Tuesday at Free Motion by the River
Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter
Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation
Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication
Melva Loves Scraps - home of the Quilters Through the Generations series
Linking with:
Linky Tuesday at Free Motion by the River
Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter
Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation
Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication
Beautiful ♥
ReplyDeleteMy favourite flowers are daffodils, followed closely by sunflowers. I love yellow flowers because they look so happy. Thank you for a great giveaway.
ReplyDeleteks.eyles@yahoo.co.uk
Your vacation sounds good. I'd love to do the same. Vintage patterns can be fun. I often use vintage designs. I have two favorite flowers, lilacs and daffodils.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sharon for helping to make this blog hop a fun and successful event. Lilacs are very fragrant! And daffodils are just happy looking! :)
DeleteYour big hexie flowers are so cute! Thanks for sharing all your lovely projects and photos.
ReplyDeleteOh, Melva, I love that quilt. It's so fun that it went together so quickly. Thank you for joining in the Where Flowers Bloom Blog Hop. Love your post. My favorite flower is a Gerbera Daisy.
ReplyDeleteYour mega-flower quilt is amazing! So pretty!
ReplyDeleteGreat way to make Grandma's flower garden! How cool your dh made you a template, love having a handy hubby :)
ReplyDeleteLove all of your photos of the past and how they evolved into your present quilt which is wonderful. Great idea having your talented hubby whip out your very usable template. Oh yes, I'm a tiger-lily kind of gal. I have one tattooed on my thigh.
ReplyDeleteI love hollyhocks, sunflowers and foxgloves. Patches8@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely quilt. Thank you for taking us through the decision process. I really like your quilting, too. And thanks to Dave for making an additional template for a give away Smart hubby. My favourite flower is lilac. I have around 9 different varieties in the yard.
ReplyDeletekj_hahn(at)telus(dot)net
Great Hexie quilt...just like a garden of flowers. Kudos to your husband for making the template. I love roses for their beauty and aroma. rozz01(at)cox(dot)net
ReplyDeleteThe hexie quilt is beautiful! That sheep one is so cute too. patchouli dot moon dot studio at gmail dot com
ReplyDeleteI love California poppies and lupine. It sounds like a great camping trip!
ReplyDeleteYour post brings back many memories of sewing with my mom. I still have some of her quilt patterns she'd ordered through the mail. The hexagon quilt is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteclarkclay@bellsouth.net
I love the rose. As a child, there was a climbing rose outside my bedroom on the side of the "mansion," our outbuilding. It was very fragrant and the roses were a beautiful pale pink. Last year I purchased what I thought was that rose and it didn't make it. This year I just gave up and bought a very bright pink climbing rose. If I find it again some day (I had ordered the other one), I can always have two climbers. I love your projects. I can only imagine the fun that you and hubs had in the little home on the back of the truck. The pic of the flowers is gorgeous, too. Susan Shaw
ReplyDeletesusan.dietrich@cox.net
I really like to size of those large hexies
ReplyDeleteGlad you could get away from it all! Your hexie flowers are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteIt's so much fun to look thru those old vintage patterns. Even more fun to figure out how to do them in an easier way! Thanks to your hubby you were able to do just that. Love your hexie quilt! Brings the garden right into the house! :-) I miss being able to comment too! Hope Google gets it fixed soon!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful hexiflowerquilt! My favourite flower is the sunflower.
ReplyDeletesammartina(at)bluewin(dot)ch
I have always wanted to make a Grandmother's Flower Garden, but thought it too fussy and too slow for me. Would love to win this template! How very clever you are. ckrutjo at g mail dot com
ReplyDeleteOops. If I was supposed to comment my favorite flower, I think it would be lilacs, but I really love them all. ckrutjo at g mail dot com
ReplyDeleteI'm hand working a hexie pattern too, it's in a bag and only worked on when I'm waiting, car repairs, movie nights with friends, doctor appointments that require waits, etc. I have about a half of one 6th of it done, lol, I'm using one inch hexies.
ReplyDeleteI've considered the half hexie, to make projects quicker, but wondered if I could match the intersections well enough to make them look right.
Seeing your camper was a treat, my family had one in the mid 60s, which my dad built. Mom, dad, baby brother and I took some amazing vacations and got out of Ohio for some inexpensive adventures, Colorado, Virginia, Canada etc
Later, it was used for weekend fishing trips to Lake Erie, my dad loved to fish...
In between fishing adventures, when it was off the truck, it used for weekend sleepovers with my friends
Thanks for the memories...
Thanks, Cathy, for your kind words and for stopping by Melva Loves Scraps for a chance to win my 1/2 Hexie template and for helping to make this hop a fun and successful event.
DeleteI was amazed at how easily the seams for the 1/2 hexie nested together. Such a breeze!
I enjoyed your story of camping... thanks for sharing. :) Blessings, Melva
I made a Grandmother's flower garden quilt a couple of years ago with EPP. It took me several years to make. Using a 1/2 hex cutting template is sure to save some time! My husband and I enjoy camping too!
ReplyDeleteMelva, I would like to put my name in the hat to have the half hexagon template. My favorite flower is sweet pea, hollyhock, peonies, nasturtium, each is a favorite for a different reason/memory and I grow them all in my garden.
ReplyDeleteI love the colors of your mega hexies. What size is your quilt, You did not say and I can tell by the photo.
ReplyDeleteI appears you had a nice and relaxing camping trip. The photo is indeed beautiful.
Hexagons are always a winner, at least for me. Thanks for the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteThose vintage patterns look so fun and your flower hexies are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteA beautiful post!! Great pics of flowers and remembrances of your grandfather. I love your hexi quilt!!! It is so pretty and such big flowers. I've never seen such a large hexi flower.
ReplyDeleteSewing it by machine is probably the only way I'd ever get one done. Great job on the quilting. Quilting centers was perfect!! kthurn(at)bektel(dot)com
Beautiful hexie quilt! Love the quilted flowers in the centers. Your vacation looked so wonderfully peaceful.
ReplyDeleteI tried EPP a couple of years ago and have not looked back - I love the hand stitching and the variety of designs with the different templates. Great projects all but I do understand how the smaller shapes can be intimidating. You're right in style with your teeny, tiny house! bull tulip 69 at gmail dot com (no spaces)
ReplyDeleteVery pretty ty for sharing your talent with us... happyness04431@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteHello; My name is Brenda and I have been reading all of the blog posts today. I absolutely love flowers of all varieties, yet my favorite is the Lilac. Both of my Grandmothers had huge bushes outside of one of their main windows and the scent drifting through the whole entire house was fabulous. We lived in Wyoming where a day does not go by without a bit of wind to carry the aroma of fresh flowers throughout the whole town. I have just recently began to learn hand applique and English Paper Piecing. My results are very slow, but they are slowly happening and I do enjoy it when I pick it up and try it. LOL. Hand Embroidery and Machine Sewing are much more my style. I think it is wonderful that your husband made the special Templates for you! My Father made an entire book of templates for me when I first started quilting. I never had the heart to tell him that the majority of them did not properly fit together. Yet, I would use them individually quite often. I had best close now or I will continue to blabber. Thank you so much for sharing your lovely project and your great vacation! brend_ack@yahoo.com Have a marvelous day!
ReplyDeleteOh, I love EPP, and it is so relaxing...and a perfect on the go project! I love seeing all those vintage pattern sheets!
ReplyDelete** Visiting from Zafira @Zarkadia, Denim quilt
I love your large hexies! Grandmother's Flower Garden has always daunted me too - not crazy about those little tiny hexies and I really don't do a lot of hand stitching! Thanks for sharing and thank your amazing husband for building this template! I would say he's a keeper - LOL! I enjoyed your camping pics as well.
ReplyDeleteLove your mega hexie flowers - a size I could deal with! As for favorite flower - probably lilacs because of the scent
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ReplyDeletethe "wild" yellow rose that's a late May/early June bloomer. I was so glad to see you did the "sheep hexi quilt, I did it when the QM pattern came out and I think I used 1" hexi's and then I gave it away. A cute pattern kathy in colo repzjratplainsdotnet
Thanks, Kathy, for your kind words and for stopping by Melva Loves Scraps for a chance to win my 1/2 Hexie template and for helping to make this hop a fun and successful event.
DeleteMy grandmother was a fabulous china painter and one of her first projects was a plate with yellow wild roses on it. :) Good luck in the drawing! Blessings, Melva
Beautiful quilt! I'm not fond of EPP but I like working with the half hexies!
ReplyDeleteLovely quilt! A grandmother's flower garden is on my someday list so this inspires me. My favorite flower? Hmmmm. Basically anything with a scent. So I'm mad for shrub roses, scented peonies, lilacs, sweet autumn clemantis, star magnolia, and viburnums. Love herbs growing in a garden for that same reason. Thanks for sharing this on Wednesday Wait Loss!
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