Catherine quilt

Introducing the latest addition to my WIP quilt collection

the Catherine quilt

if you ve been following me for a while you will remember that last year i joined in a Churndash block swap with my local quilters group, the swap was organised by the gorgeous Cathy Pitkin

Last year at Bathurst, my trusty little Bonnie (singer featherweight) sewed together the last of the 110 churn dash blocks i needed to complete my quilt.
and then
my lovely little collection of churn dash blocks sat in a shoe box waiting

until about a month ago

i had been thinking about what i would work on at the Bathurst retreat this year
i have a lovely jelly roll with an idea of quilt . . . . . should i start something new?
i have A LOT of hand stitching ( i am currently about 3 months behind in the Lucy Boston blocks)
and of course i have the border to crochet on my cosy stripe quilt

i looked at my WIP's and there in their little shoe box was my churndash blocks.
and i thought that's what i want to work on, i want to put the top together.

so i wandered down to Onpoint (my local quilt shop) and the lovely Cath spent an awful lot of time helping me choose fabrics, Cath was favouring the pink i was favouring the antique gold but hadn't ruled out the blue.

i went home to contemplate my decision
i looked and looked at the photo's. and finally in the morning as i sat with my cup of tea i knew i was heading back to Cath's to get the antique gold.
i wanted this quilt to look old, really old like it had just came out of a really old trunk that had been stored in an attic. i wanted it to look like a civil war quilt.
the Gold was the only answer.

so i ve been playing on my design wall, moving blocks around

working out the final placement of the blocks and contemplating the name of this quilt
well that's not really true i think i always knew this quilt would be "Catherine"

when i first started looking at the background fabric i tried out a very purple / plum fabric i quite liked it and it was a major contender,
i was showing the ever fabulous Cardygirl and she commented that it was very moody like
"Wuthering Heights"
hmm my brain clicked with the name.
sadly the purple fabric was no longer available.

then the saddest of things occurred and the beautiful Cathy Pitkin passed away
leaving a hole in our little sewing group that could never be filled.

then as if it was just mean't to be when i picked up the first three bolts of fabrics to try out for the background the antique gold was in the first three.
the fabric is from the Jo Morton fabric range
called
"Catherine"
so that was it a serendipitous moment

it could only be called Catherine in honour of my lovely friend

I ve been crunching the numbers, working out the size of Borders
and i believe that other than choosing  another fabric for the border
the Catherine quilt is almost ready to start

and i could nt be more excited, i think i am a little in love with this quilt already.

Ciao

Googy Girl

"Life is like a cup of tea, it s all in how you make it"