Sentimental Stitches

It's hard to believe how fast the days are flying by. So much to do and so little time! You continue to amaze me with your interest and enthusiasm for Sentimental Stitches. It really does make me want to do more and more - for that I am very grateful to each one of you.

I really went wild with this month's Beyond The Cherry Trees block. Not in the mood to continue my great debate between "keeping it real" and "making it practically perfect", I actually tugged, pulled and gathered our floral wreath so it looks like it's pretty close to a compass drawn circular design.

What do you think?

This one is such a pretty classic design. Looking at the center of the block I could tell right away something was quilted in there other than the usual clamshell background.

This is what the center looked like before I began tracing the hidden stitches with thread.

Our quilter did a pretty good job of completely filling the open area in the center with her design.

The double flower motif in the lower right corner actually continues down into the block below.

This little flower is tucked in the lower left corner and appears to have been added to continue the mass of blooms coming from the block below.

The red flowers have center circles of cheddar fabric. They are sew on top of the flowers rather than reverse appliqued as we've seen in previous blocks.

You can see in this picture all of the hidden stitches in Block 11 which is directly below this month's block. I know I'm going to enjoy working on this block and maybe using it again in another quilt.

The first block in the new Nancy Page Club Quilt of Many Stars is available. I included instructions for both rotary cutting and machine piecing or foundation paper piecing. You'll have this one done in no time. If you made the Shipshewana Amish Mystery Quilt the block will look familiar to you. I used one like it in that quilt.

This month we have one of my favorite Sally Post Floral Sampler blocks. One of my beloved Traverse City cherry trees!

Next month we'll have our final signature block in the Sally Post quilt which means the new Dream Garden block of the month begins in May. I'll post the fabric requirements next month.