More of my la passacaglia

Last night I took a little road trip with my friend Shirley Mooney. We went to Levin because Shirley had been asked to speak at Town and Country Quilters. Together we talked about Millefiori Quilts, and the guild members were very interested to see the wide range of quilts being made from the books by Willyne Hammerstein.  Many of the guild members have made Grandmother's Gardens with English Paper Pieced hexagons, but most of them hadn't seen quilts like this.



I took a little break from my la passacaglia after I got the bottom half joined up in October (it's the top half in this updside down photo).  The break didn't last long though, because I'm back at it, and the end is in sight. Well, I say the end, but what I mean is getting all the rosettes joined up.  Putting filler pieces in to create a straight edge is another matter, and actually quilting it is a totally different matter, but just getting all the rosettes joined up will be a major achievement.

I keep laying it out each morning and modifying my plans slightly.  I'm pleased to say that I haven't had to unpick any of the rosettes yet. I don't sew the rosettes together unless I'm really convinced they are right.  I loathe the idea of having to unpick, because the thread is so fine and the stitches so tiny.

I do have a stash of rejects, or those that haven't quite made the cut yet.  They may be used as fillers on the edges, in places where they are going to cut in half. The colours and patterns in the rejected rosettes just don't quite fit in the centre of the quilt.

Some of the pieces in the rejects box

In the Millefiori / la passacaglia facebook group we have over 4,000 members now, and it's exciting to see people reaching significant milestones.  We have about 15 quilts in the "Finished Quilts" photo album, although some are just tops at the moment.  I joined the group back in January, so I've known some of these people for almost a year now. We've all shared the journey and encouraged each other along the way.

We share photos and tips like these:

three different ways of using the same fabric

different ways of using the same fabric

Anyone can ask to join the group - just search "Millefiori / la passacaglia" on facebook and request to join.

I've setup a new page on my blog so all my la passacaglia posts can be viewed from there. Just click l passacaglia under the header photo.


The following lovely people have left comments on previous posts, but unfortunately I can't reply because they are showing as No Reply Bloggers.
Karen Poole