Two new Austen Family Album blocks finished!

On Monday this week I got the good news that my dear Sensei in Japan had shipped the solid taupe fabric I needed. She said it would take about a week to get here. Both of us were shocked when it showed up here in Florida on Thursday! So I've been busy with the two blocks I needed to make to be caught up when the next block which should be announced tomorrow.

The London Roads block was named for Jane's brother Henry who had at first planned to be come a pastor like his father and brother, however he found a second career in the army and then on return to civilian lifeAusten Family Album Quilt.

became a banker in London. Jane spent a lot of time in London with Henry and his wife. He acted as her agent. You can of course read more detail in the

In this block I used lots of the taupe fabric which lets the street arrows really stand out.




Edward Austen, another of Jane's brothers, led a bit of a charmed life compared to some of the others and the block Good Fortune is for him. please check out this blog entry to get the whole story of the twists and turns in his life.

As you can see, these blocks are simple in comparison to some of the others. they went together fairly easily, with just the usual matching of points and seams to attend to.

Let's see what tomorrow brings with block #11 in this quilt block of the week adventure.



Which is your favorite so far?

Current Works in Progress

I have all of my things moved into my new apartment. I continue to shift and re-pack and place things daily. One of my friends, after asking me what I had been doing that day and hearing my reply said something like, "Honestly, how much more can you shove that bed aside to fit another piece of furniture in to the bedroom?"

Some days I take some time to sew something in my sewing room.  It's a pleasant experience to be able to have both machines and the cutting table set up in the same room and to have a closet where the supplies can be kept. I also unpacked my "new" iron. It's actually a refurbished Rowenta that I bought several months ago and decided to keep for the new place.

I follow several blogs written by quilters and sewists. Recently Julie wrote about an excursion with my lovely Japanese Quilting teacher. It made me think I should be continuing to use the things I learned in her studio all of those Wednesdays in Ichikawa. Along came an interesting challenge in the form of a blog about a quilt-block-a-week project. I must confess that I have not been a lifelong fan of Jane Austen but have recently realized that part of my literary education may be lacking.  So, this seemed to be an interesting way to kill two birds with one stone. I have subscribed to http://austenfamilyalbumquilt.blogspot.com/ On Sundays (this is the second week, so it's not to late to join in) a blog post is written about some aspect of the Austen Family and also contains directions for a quilt block. The patterns are historical ones the blogger has researched.

The first week was a "Shining Star" for Jane Austen. Great! It was easily translated into a paper piecing
pattern.  I have nearly 3/4 of that block sewn. This week, a tribute to Jane's sister, Cassandara called, "Sister's Choice." Oh dear, it's divided into five rather than four so becomes more difficult when making a 12" square. Looks like I will have to bite the bullet and actually cut and piece that one.





I'm using some Japanese fabrics in traditional woven designs. So far browns, reds blue-grey and taupe. I can see that I will need to be a bit better at finishing each weeks' block in that week, or I will soon be hopelessly behind. Still who could resist such an inviting environment to practice and experiment with this special area of sewing skills?