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Thursday, May 12, 2016

Morris Hexathon Block 1

Our friend Barbara Brackman has a new project for us; a 26 week block of the week effort she is calling the Morris Hexathon.(Side note here, my spell checker is not at all happy with the word Hexathon and keeps changing it to Heathen!) Focusing on her new fabric line by Moda "Morris Earthly Paradise" she will be giving us a story about William Morris's  England with stops along the way at places that were important to him - as she comments, it will be a virtual tour of England. As a bonus we will get a different hexagonal block pattern each Saturday.


For week one the block is named "Westminster" and is a six pointed star inspired by the tile-work floor of Westminster Abbey in London. In the photos on Barbara's blog she orients them so the red and green colored tile block has the red diamond at the top so I have tried to imitate that here.

In all likelihood these blocks are best made using english paper piecing but I am going to plan/hope to make them using the sewing machine. If nothing else it will be good practice in stitching y seams!

If you have been following my quilt blog for some time you will know that I usually choose to work in a controlled color palette. The "Morris Earthly Paradise" collection while very lovely and authentic is multi-colored and does not suit my preferred method of choosing to work with a limited number of colors.


On Saturday May 7 when the project began I was on a high hillside in West Virginia. It has been raining every day for almost two weeks now and that combination of very clean air, spring leaves and a longtime thought to work in a green and brown palette all came together at a most serendipitous moment. Being in this location was akin to being in nature's cathedral; quiet and inspiring. Once I got home I found two good, not yet used, two-yard pieces of green fabric in the pile of fabric that I had used for a previous Barbara Brackman project "Grandmother's Choice" and they have become the nucleus of this new project. I will combine them with browns from the Westering Women pile and a few from the fabric cupboard as well.


In the past I have had fun here on the blog with posing my blocks.In the 1980's we lived in central London and Westminster Cathedral (not Westminster Abbey - they are two distinctly different buildings albeit on the same street) was our parish church. At the time they were updating the seating and had a fundraising effort. My husband had donated money consistently for the effort and as a way to thank him they offered to give him some of the pews that were being phased out. So here I have posed my block on our Westminster Cathedral pew.


Can you catch a glimpse of that brown "moose" standing behind the trees? Nature has colored this scene so beautifully.



Thank you, I will have a seat. That is an F for Finished!


2 comments:

Cheryl K. said...

Your pew makes a very good prop. It looks just like a chair, but pew it is. Your block is striking on the plain wood background as well. Nice moose!

Robin said...

Very nice pattern, especially your color choices.