Block 21 Parasols and P.R.

For the Grandmother's choice block this week we had something a little new and fresh; create a pretty parasol. It seems the parasol was somewhat of a platform for advertising the cause of Women's Suffrage. Not just any parasol but a pretty one that was as much to keep the sun off as to deal with the rain. Slogans could be printed on the umbrella and it became a dual use item for the suffragettes.

 Before even choosing my fabrics for the block this week some adjustments were needed to the basic instructions on the GC blog post. The first issue I had was the even number of the squares on the parasol fringe - it bothered me that I could not balance the pieces so I took the instructions modified for foundation piecing by "craktpot" and redrew the fringe with seven pieces and it made me much happier.

Next came fabric choices and somewhere someone had made a comment about it being polka dot day. Once that got into my head my hand just kept grabbing for a polka dot fabric to use and the choices of just which ones consumed quite a time. I went along with the suggestion of Becky to hand applique the parasol to the background despite the huge challenge of getting that handle to look somewhat reasonable. Alas, the needle tip at the top of the parasol was way beyond my needle skills so I opted for a nice chunky top to match the handle.

 And as for the title on the discussion page, Pretty Parasol, I had just the thing to pose my block with.

This parasol is way too pretty to get wet or sunburnt and has, unfortunately, lived in the coat closet since I received it as a gift a couple of years ago so I was happy to at last put it to good use.

I imagine next week we'll be back with a pieced block and although most of the regulars on this project sigh when the word applique is mentioned this block was fun to do for a change.

Back again with a comment...I just found the reference to polka dots. It is on Barbara Brackman's main blog here - check out her posting on January 18 when she declares that Tuesday, January 22, 2013 will be National Polka Dot Day. So here's my little challenge for you - either wear something polka dotted that day or stitch something with it and let us hear about the result.