Block 1

Hello Ladies,

I'm Kel from NSW Australia. I'm so happy to be part of this BOM and hope to be able to keep up with you all. 

I completed Block 1 at the original full size and colour scheme, red and green. I wasn't feeling the colour at all and I didn't like the large size either. Picky aren't i!

So I printed out the pattern again this time at 75 percent and came up with a block 12 inches square that will finish at 11.5 inches. Weird i know but I'm happy with the block and it's size. I think it's a far more manageable size and less background fabric! 

As far as colours go I'm going with Teal, Red, Pink and green. And possibly some browns for good measure. I didn't like the rosebud thingies so I decided to leave those out as well. I think I'm going to take a leaf out of Gay's book and do the little petals when its all sewn together. Not entirely sure but I want to keep my options open.

Sew, without further ado, here is my block one original and my smaller block.

Keep on stitching,

Kel

From alwaysapplique blogspot

Block #1 Assembled

Phew it's all glue basted now.  I just have to machine stitch it.  I'll trim it to a 16 1/2" square once that's done.  Here it is:

I'm not happy with the upper right bud and it's position.  Do you advanced appliquers know if you can move pieces once they are glue basted with Roxanne's Glue baste?  Please advise.  The adjusted pattern for the center can be found here.

Block 1 finished

I am excited to be finished this block. Thanks to everyone who shared their variations, I was inspired to redraw my center and reduce the block size to 12 inches. Unfortunately I did not read the instructions carefully and did not realize I should have reversed the buds so I will be reversing the buds in my future blocks.

 

 

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Hello! Benjamin Biggs Blog Button

Hi everyone -- Karen here from Karen's Quilts, Crows and Cardinals Blog.  So happy to be on board with this great project.   What a lovely bunch of Block 1's you guys have completed -- they are fantastic.

I haven't completed my Block 1 yet but I did manage to throw together a button for us all to put on our individual blogs that will link back here to the BB blog.

I'm having trouble getting the Grab my Button code to show up on my blog so sharing it here so you can start using it on your blog.   This is what it looks like: 

Benjamin Biggs Wedding Quilt Button Picture (no need to copy this):

Of course it's not that big -- I have it sized to 150 x 150 as are most Blog Buttons -- I hope you like it!

Benjamin Biggs Wedding Quilt Blog Button Code:

<center><a href="http://benjaminbiggs.blogspot.com/" title="Ben Biggs Blog"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7296/11934970433_321fa0f70d_o.jpg" width="150" height="150" alt="BB_Button_Rev2_150Sq" /></a></center>

If you have a Blogger Blog -- just Add an HTML Gadget and paste this content into the HTML code area and (if I have my settings right on sharing the image) it should magically appear for you (fingers crossed).

Let me know how that goes ok ?

Also, for those that haven't seen it I made a modified version of block one so it is a little less chunky -- here it is below - if you're still interested in it let me know and I'll send you the PDF directly - just leave a comment with your email.  It is also available in the Yahoo Group and in the Facebook Group but I plan to take it down at end of month when the Block 2 gets published (to play fair with the Just Takes 2 team).

Happy Stitching !
Karen

Block 1

Thanks for letting me join in the fun of the Benjamin Biggs quilt with you all.
I hope to keep up on this long journey to a finished quilt.
My name is Kerry, I'm from Melbourne Australia, and I've been enjoying quilting for many years.
Here is my first block which I really enjoyed stitching.

I'm stitching this entirely out of my stash, except for the background fabric.
I've really loved looking at the other pics of finished blocks, looking forward to continuing to enjoy everyone's stitching.

JoY - Block 1

Thanks to everyone who's participating on this blog.  I enjoy all of your posts and appreciate the opportunity to learn from so many talented quilters!

Here's my block 1:

 

 

And a close up with a little more detail:  I really struggled with my background choice (posted here), but after seeing this first block finished, I'm happy with the outcome.

 

 Can't wait for February-  Jo :)



Block # 1 finished

Nice to be underway with the rest of you...

Pat in snowy Wisconsin

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Block 1

When I saw this quilt I knew I had get on board. I missed the last big quilt along and I drooled every time someone posted pictures of their blocks.

So this time I jumped in, gathered my fabric. I made a few changes like adding cheddar and reducing my block to 12 inches. 

It will be fun to sew with everyone else and encourage each other to finish. 

So here it is, my first block completed and that puts a smile on my face!

Brandie

Here is my Block 1.  I am trying to do this one using my stash,  we'll see how far I get.  I did go in and change my setting so I'm not a no reply ,  not sure I did it correct.

Quilter 501 - Block 1 - French General fabrics

I absolutely love this quilt and have just finished my first block.  I have decided to only use my French General fabrics and to do it in needle turn applique and broderie perse.  The backgrounds will be assorted solids from the collection....mainly shades of beige.  The darker grey, denim fabrics will be used for the leaves, arcs and stems. 

 It is an experiment, but I have a resolution to use stash materials this year on new projects.  :)

A finish

Happy to say I've completed my block for month 1.
Although I LOVE traditional red & green quilts, I decided to make this as an anniversary quilt using colors that my husband is most fond of. I'm using reproduction fabrics in shades of purple, gray, tan and olive greens.

This will be a fairly "controlled" scrappy quilt. Even though I'm using lots of different fabrics - I will repeat the same 2 fabrics for all of the rosebuds and leaves in the corners of each block to lend order and continuity to the quilt.
My applique method of choice for this quilt project is hand applique'. Doreen L.

Block One Decisions

I am almost finished stitching on the first block and have already started rethinking my fabric choices.
Not that I don’t like them but I am already working on the Chester Criswell quilt which is a two year project and it’s all red and green.  I am using darker reds and a different green so I thought it would look different but it seems to look so much the same.  Are there any other colors in this quilt.
Maybe a darker background would help. What do you all think?
Nancy R.

Just could not resist....

....joining in with each of you. So enjoyed working my way through the Cherry Tree quilt which I am presently hand quilting.
I love seeing all of your choices in fabrics - from the classic red and green to the warm cheddars. Since my Beyond the Cherry Tree was done in multiple reds and greens, my choice for this quilt has a different approach. The red floral you see is a Moda - 3 Sisters - Portobello Market. Found yardage a few years ago and it has been waiting...before I washed it, the finish had a sheen to it like chintz. Was disappointed when it disappeared but still love the color and print. The only other fabrics will be the blue and maybe a touch of the cinnamon now and then. The background is a light caramel.

I wish each of you happy stitching and look forward to sharing our journey together..now I need to catch up with everyone and return to working on Block 1...


Pat in snow covered northern Wisconsin

 

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Kathleens bb 1

     4 months ago I had wrist surgery on my right hand. 3 months ago I needed more surgery on the same wrist.

     My wrist is very stiff, I go to physical therapy once a week, and my wrist still hurts but that was not going to stop me from trying to sew this beautiful quilt. 

     My sewing is not great. I was not real happy with my sewing around the red so I added a triple stitch around the red to cover my hand stitching.  The rest is hand stitched.

    I am going to have to be careful how much hand stitching I do. With that in mind the decision was made not to include the flower buds.

     It is fun to sew again.

  

   Thanks for letting me part of your group.

   Kathleen Mary in beautiful Nelson Bay, Australia

The Start on My First Block

Hi everyone!  This will be the first large applique quilt that I have made.  I liked the posts of "revised versions" of the first block, so I took freezer paper and cut out a version that suited me.  But after eliminating the four teardrops in the center part, and adding the two cuts, the center background part looks like a crab!  LOL  I haven't added the small flowers to the corners yet, and I will post again after adding them.   

Thanks to Brenda and Gay for offering this block of the month for us.  It is very pretty, and thank you Sharon for setting up this blog.  It will be so much fun to see everyone's progress.

Judy Hansen
smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com

First Block and fabric choices

Just introducing myself - Hilda from Everystitch blogspot. I'm so pleased to have the opportunity to join  you all in making this quilt with patterns so generously provided every month.
The quilt is a stunner isn't it ? - so full of vintage charm and character and I especially love the gorgeous swag border!
I'm not sure whether to call this "Block 1" or "Block A-1" but have used the "Block 1" label for now.
So here is the completed block.

I've gone with repros in red and poison green because I love them and have quite a few in the stash to use up!

I have used the back basting needleturn applique method. It's a method I've enjoyed using before. For me, it is easy,  fuss-free and makes my placement accurate. But I do know there are other methods that work very well too :)

Here are some pics of the process for this block:

Pattern printed and fabrics selected

Tracing the design onto my background - using light box underneath

Starting with the large piece of applique

Thanks so much for the opportunity to make this quilt and ... roll on next month's block!

Hello, My 1st Block

First of all I would just like to send out a HUGE thank you to Gay and Brenda for bringing Benjamen Biggs to us. It is very generous of you both to provide these patterns. I am enjoying all the additional information on each block, the quilt, and the Benjamin Biggs family.

My favorite quilts are appliqué and 19th century albums so it was not a hard decision to start this quilt. I like red and green appliqué but I have decided to do my Benjamin Biggs in cheddar and olive green fabrics and have gathered a good stack of these to start.

It is a lot of fun to share this quilting journey on a blog and I look forward to the great ideas and inspiration to come.

Happy Stitching All,

Cheri

underquiltedcovers.blogspot.com/

 

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Another Version

I'm not as far along as Marjorie, but I, too, found a version I like better.  In fact the more I studied the pattern for block 1,  wondered if the maker had gotten the patten that already had the seam allowance added when she went to work on it.  That block would look a lot different if my supposition is correct.  However the one that caught my eye when I googled the name is this one at that quakerquilthistory.com site:

It's the fleur-de-lys block upon which the Apple Pie Ridge block is supposedly based, and I've decided to make it my block 1 instead of the other.  I think it's more in keeping with the blocks to come. So then where was I to get a pattern for this block? Going with the info that the Apple Pie block was folded paper cut-out work, I decided to construct my pattern thusly.  The first thing I did was save the image and enlarge it with my big picture program.  I enlarged it to a 14" square.  I then printed it out and saw if it was the right size.  It was. Then I printed it.  

I then chose one quarter of the pattern to be my guide.  Since this block was appliqued by someone, I  evened out some of the parts to compensate for the vagarity in the shape.  I then trim all the background off.  I folded a 14" square of freezer paper into fourths and stapled my patten onto it.

Cut all around the shape except where it touches the folded edges.Looks like below when open. The freezer paper template is ready to use in various applique methods. The template can be found at my blog under free patterns tab.

Here's where I'm at so far:

Block 1

I guess I'll start us off. I'm a huge fan of green and red applique, but I am quilting Beyond The Cherry Tree and almost have the top complete for Sally Post. With that said, I'm tired of seeing the same greens in my quilts and thought I'd change this quilt up a bit. I don't have a plan, I'll raid my stash when each block is released. I can't say that I love this block in the quilt or this one, but it isn't about one block, it's about the quilt as a whole.

I look forward to seeing everyone's blocks!