The quilt of a thousand pieces begins with the first cut, or something like that.



I started cutting pieces for the 1930s reproduction fabric "Tumbler" quilt. (No, I don't think it will literally take 1000 of the tumblers but I will have to get out my other tumbler quilt and do some measuring and calculations to see how many I will need). Right now I am cutting 4 patches from each 1930s reproduction fabric I have (and I have a lot) and will go with that. I may also bring in some of the solid colors I have if I seem to be running out of prints.

I also found a project I started, and kind of abandoned, in the box with my 1930s reproduction fabrics:



Probably 6 or 7 years ago, I started a Grandmother's Flower Garden using paper piecing. As you can see, I didn't get very far - five finished blocks, one partial block, and some pieces cut for future blocks. (I think I started this back when I was in the apartment, and abandoned it about the time I bought the house because I was so busy with painting and packing to move and everything).

I had forgotten how pretty they were. I should probably pick it back up; it seems a shame not to do anything with these even if it takes me years to finish a quilt top.

My template and a bunch of already-cut paper patches (I was using the "blow in cards" from magazines: they're free, they're a good weight for this kind of work, and there's something psychologically satisfying about taking something I regard as an annoyance and putting it to a useful purpose. I guess I'll have to start saving blow-in cards again.)

My favorite of the flowers is this one:



I fussy-cut the printed fabric so as to get a pleasing design, and also capture some of the main picture elements of the fabric.