Elizabeth

I have to start this post with a simple statement.  I LOVE me some Tula Pink!  Her quirky way of looking at simple things engages my brain like few other fabric designers can.  I mean who ever thought to themselves, ‘I think I will make an entire fabric line based on a purple raccoon’?  Simply fabulous!

About a year ago, the man and I were driving around Knoxville Tennessee and Google helped us find the greatest little store.   I had seen pictures of Tula’s ‘Elizabeth’ line but hadn’t fondled any of it yet.  I wandered through the fabrics oogling the batiks and solids then, across the room, I saw it…the modern fabric section.  I spotted the Kaffe Fassett fabrics and then next to that, the entire Elizabeth line, in all the colorways!  I was so excited, I think I squealed a little and scared my husband.  I rushed over and started pulling them out and thinking…which ones and how much?  Even when I don’t have to, I make it a point to set a money limit for myself.  This keeps my budget right and my stash in line.  I try to only buy fabric that has in immediate purpose and not just because I like it (of course there are always exceptions to every rule).  These plans proved to be harder than usual on this particular day.   I ended up choosing 3 yards of this:

Isn’t she lovely?  Being a big history buff as well as fabric collector, something about this face spoke to me.  I didn’t have a plan for her, I just knew I NEEDED it. 

So I get it home, wash it up and just leave it where I can see for a while.  She still didn’t have a home, when I got this magazine in the mail. 

It is my habit to savor my quilting magazines (even though my reaction at the mailbox looks something like this):

I make a cup of tea and wait for the kids to go to bed and while the man watches TV, I tune it out and flip through the pages one at a time.  Sometimes I am lucky and there is lots of inspiration to be found on one issue, sometimes I am not and I simply toss the magazine on the floor next to the bed to be added to the stack of stuff to be donated to the Quilt Guild’s rummage sale donations.   This particular magazine was loaded with ideas of quilts to be made but there was one pattern in particular that jumped out and screamed “this is where Elizabeth needs to live!”  The pattern was called ‘Fresh Fleurs’.   The pattern is a modern take on a traditional log cabin block with a focus fabric in the center and large logs that go around and create the look of mitered boxes.

 

There were a couple of different layout options, none of which I was too crazy about.   I opted to use fabrics from my stash to compliment the purples and oranges in the motif, there was even a fabric that I have been sitting on for years that worked great for the border.  I made a few blocks and played with the layout, then decided that I wanted more color so made a few more blocks with the center fabric framed with orange and played with the layout some more.  Finally the finished plan could be seen, a few more blocks needed to be put together to finish that plan and this was the end result.

Quilting this one was lots of fun!  I wanted to keep the modern feel but pay homage to the classiness that was Queen Elizabeth.  I opted for a pattern with feathers and a sort of lacy feel. Overall, I am pretty happy with the end result.