I’ve been working on a song quilt (formerly called a nursery rhyme quilt) for a long time now. I’ve made several blocks, and then weeded some out and used them in other projects, and now am left with just the ones that I like together.
I still have a few to go, and one to redo. It started out without any real color scheme. I thought I’d just let each song speak to me and make each piece independently. I liked each block, but I didn’t love it all together, so I pulled out all the blocks that didn’t feel right and will either redo them or put in other songs altogether. This week I'm working on a bunny block.
I sketched the block onto some graph paper and the used it as a pattern for my fabric version. I back baste appliquéd the bunny onto the background, which is my favorite method of appliqué.
As pictured in the sketch, it will have a little song embroidered onto it that Miles and I sing a lot (we learned it at our botanical garden's weekly sing along). I’d like to remake the block for blackbirds, and I’d like to do a longer song, maybe a poem (I am thinking about "The Swing" by Robert Louis Stevenson). Then I think I’ll fill in empty spaces with some half square triangles or some kind of liberated piecing to finish the top. I may do some more embroidery or applique on a border…I like "The Dream Keeper" by Langston Hughes. This quilt is definitely a work in progress, but I’d like to get it finished before my son is too old to enjoy it.
Here are a few of the blocks that I have chosen to edit out of the quilt:
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