little dutch tulips

 hello friends, 

I am back this week to share a little project that has been occupying me in the evenings, and oh , what a wonderful way to fill those evenings, while sitting next to hubby watching television!

You may recall that for Christmas I received this wonderful book, written by Susan Smith, called Somewhat in the Middle. 

It contains some amazing projects designed by Susan. The photos in this book are pure eye candy! But one quilt in particular really caught my eye ( and this may have been the one that prompted me to want this book! ;)). Just look at this beauty:  

( image source: Somewhat in the Middle, by Susan Smith, published by QuiltMania)

I decided that I really needed to start this quilt immediately ....don't you have patterns that are bossy like that?? Anyway, even though I have a healthy ( AHEM!) fabric stash, I did not have enough Delft- Blue- looking- fabrics. A sane person might have waited and done some shopping for the right fabric before starting the project, but not me, no sir! That project had to be started right then and there. So I pulled my blue scraps and got to work. I still wanted to honor the blue theme, but just with a slightly more scrappy look than the original quilt. And here are some of the results: 

I have to admit that at first I didn't like the really scrappy blues...but now I just adore the different fabrics and I am totally smitten with these blocks! 

I did decide to keep all my backgrounds the same color, as well as all the circles, just to have some cohesiveness, but other than that anything ( blue) goes!

Susan uses needleturn applique in all her quilts and I am not a fan of that so I have been using fusible web for my blocks.  

BUT, because I really love doing handwork in the evening, I am using my favorite 12wt Sulky Petites to stitch down all my fused appliques by hand. 

The only thing that I'm opting to do by machine is the circles, because that fabric is very busy and it would be almost impossible to see the stitches ( and yes, I want the stitches to show!), and stitching all those circles by hand would be deadly boring. 

A few people have asked me if I have a circle cutter, and no, I do not ( but wish I did for this project!). But having  great scissors with serrated edges is very helpful!

My husband was curious how many blocks I was going to make. My answer: until it stops being fun. Ha!

I think the original pattern has 56 blocks and I think I have made around 12, so if  I'll make 56 remains to be seen. I do know that using up lots of blue scraps is very satisfying indeed ;).

I have included some links to some of the products I am using, in case you NEED to start your very own Dutch tulip collection . As always, using my links to buy a product doesn't cost you a penny extra, but does provide me with a small commission, which I'm grateful for.

Somewhat in the Middle book by Susan Smith ( click)

Tim Holz serrated scissors ( click).

Fusible web ( click).

Sulky 12wt cotton petites ( click).

Until next time~ happy creating!

Monique