"Quilty Pleasures"-- FRIVOL 4

In between thread changes of embroidery designs, I sometimes resort to stitching up someone else’s pattern for relaxation—I do feel guilty about NOT working on my own original art, but in this case, it’s even worse—I pieced a KIT, so even the fabric choices were made for me!

You may remember the "Frivol" tins from Moda were in the shops about a year and a half ago. I once had one in my hands at the checkout line—it was $45 which was a bit steep, but the tin was so cute. Before I checked out, I noticed this:

Extra fabric was needed—MUCH MORE, and so I felt really put off and put it down before I ever got to the cash register. I’m not sure how I thought they would fit a 50” x 50” quilt in that little tin, but my Frivol story almost ended there.

Until…

I am a fan of Elizabeth from OPQuilts.com blog. She has such a great sense of humor, and is always working on something fabulous. Apparently, she purchased all twelve Frivol kits as a subscription when they first were offered—a retirement gift for herself. She’s making this her “Year of Frivols,”-- finally stitching one a month. There's no lack of creativity there-- this is her original pattern in the latest Keepsake Quilting catalog.

So if Frivol-making is good enough for Elizabeth, it's good enough for me.  I really don’t have a lot of quilts around the house which may surprise you. So I thought I could use them for a little decoration here and there, and especially a little mental down time. 

These aren’t available in stores anymore, so the hunt was on! The first one I found at a quilt show, Frivol #5, for 50% off. From then on, I spent the next few weeks Googling , Ebaying and Etsying until I had them all. I did get most for 50% off but #1 and #12 were RARE and I ended up overpaying. Plus, by the time I paid shipping, well you know. It was all about the thrill of the hunt at that point. Mine, all mine!

Unlike Elizabeth, I don’t feel the need to make them in order, and certainly won’t be making one a month, so I started with #4 Windermere—it looked so crisp, WHITE, and spa like.

 I pictured it here on the far wall of my master bathroom.

Included in the tin was a layer cake of Brenda Riddle fabric, quilt instructions, a cute saying, and a couple of flosses. I had to make 156 flying geese. 

I LOVE piecing, but much prefer sampler quilts to repetitive block making. To prevent boredom, I sorted the fabrics into pink, blue, green, yellow and warm gray, then only stitched enough geese for each row—first two, then three and four, and finally eight and nine geese, drawing evenly from the colors to make sure I was left with a good mix. It was a great strategy--all four interior blocks were the same, and that actually was much easier than trying to randomly layout 156 geese at the end as the pattern suggested.

I goosed my way through July and August. Actually I was more like a snail. 

Finally, finished it Labor Day—here's the artists rendering again: 

This is what I ended up with. LOL 

Looks like a tape measure could have saved me some geese, but still, it fits, and I am pretty pleased! 

The pattern is called Lakeland.... part of the enjoyment of sewing is musing on names for my quilts while sewing them together. This one had me stumped—until Eureka!—or maybe more like “DUH!”...  the lake I live on is called "Triangle Pond"... I kid you not.

And so "Geese on Triangle Pond" was born...

There are more snapping turtles, frogs, and sunfish down there than geese, so it's a bit of a creative license. But I love it. For quilting, I am just going to do some straight lines in a rippled pattern, like water droplets on my little lake. 

So let's all liberate our Frivols kits from the closet, folks! Next, I’m thinking #8 would make 6 placemats and a nice table runner. I wish I could sew as fast as I can Photoshop!

Happy stitching!

xox

Carol