I thought I had already done all the easy paper-pieced blocks, but found this one yesterday. It only took me about half an hour, and that includes selecting the fabrics and ripping the paper off of the back. I'm not sure why the software labels it as an intermediate-level block.
The name of the block is "L-7 Town Square". My adopted town of Wellsboro has a lovely square which is called The Green with a
statue of Wynken, Blynken, and Nod (see the photo on the sidebar to my blog). The poem by Eugene Field is one of my favorites.
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe---
Sailed on a river of crystal light,
Into a sea of dew.
"Where are you going, and what do you wish?"
The old moon asked the three.
"We have come to fish for the herring fish
That live in this beautiful sea;
Nets of silver and gold have we!"
Said Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.
The old moon laughed and sang a song,
As they rocked in the wooden shoe,
And the wind that sped them all night long
Ruffled the waves of dew.
The little stars were the herring fish
That lived in that beautiful sea---
"Now cast your nets wherever you wish---
Never afeard are we";
So cried the stars to the fishermen three:
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.
All night long their nets they threw
To the stars in the twinkling foam---
Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,
Bringing the fishermen home;
'T was all so pretty a sail it seemed
As if it could not be,
And some folks thought 't was a dream they 'd dreamed
Of sailing that beautiful sea---
But I shall name you the fishermen three:
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.
Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,
And Nod is a little head,
And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies
Is a wee one's trundle-bed.
So shut your eyes while mother sings
Of wonderful sights that be,
And you shall see the beautiful things
As you rock in the misty sea,
Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.
Although the pieces are not small, there are several set-in seams (also known as Y-seams) that take a little time to handle correctly. Mine are far from perfect, but I'm pleased with the results. I usually try to avoid set-in seams if at all possible. (see my post about this block).
This is what my basement quilting studio looked like for most of this weekend as I was deciding on fabric to use for a backing on a child's quilt. I have a lot of odd-shaped pieces that are not quite big enough to use alone as a backing, so I spent way too much valuable time trying to decide on whether I should piece a backing with some of the odd-shaped pieces. Nothing was working right and after deciding that the time that I would need to spend piecing was not worth it, I just picked another fabric that was big enough, even though it was a bit boring. By boring I mean that it was not as kid-friendly as some of the smaller pieces. The front of the quilt is very kid-friendly and I will quilt it with a fun quilting design that will show up on the back.
The name of the block is "L-7 Town Square". My adopted town of Wellsboro has a lovely square which is called The Green with a statue of Wynken, Blynken, and Nod (see the photo on the sidebar to my blog). The poem by Eugene Field is one of my favorites.
I raided my stash to find fabrics that I could use to make the blocks look like birds that come to our feeders here in north-central Pennsylvania. It won a ribbon in our small county fair, but I was a bit disappointed to see it hanging vertically rather than horizontally, so the birds looked quite strange. They weren't even recognizable as birds unless you tilted your head sideways! I guess the fair organizers were trying to save valuable hanging space...
The birds are a Northern Cardinal, American Goldfinch, Eastern Bluebird, Tufted Titmouse, Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Baltimore Oriole, and Blue Jay.
Someday I hope to get around to making another one that we will keep!
The forecast is for snow showers and very chilly temperatures today, so I guess the days of cabin fever are approaching.
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