Finished!! Burgoyne Surrounded Top!

Man, oh man, if you had told me I would make this quilt and get the top done in a month's time, I would have certainly thought you were crazy. Yet I have done it, and I couldn't be happier with my finish!

I've gone back to see when I started this madness, and it appears I cut out and sewed the first block on Saturday, January 11. I wrote about it here. That makes one month and two days to the finished quilt top. For me, that is an accomplishment. I tend to get about 3/4ths done on something and then begin something else.

My interest was piqued after I saw several of my favorite bloggers all working on different versions of the same quilt. After just a bit of investigating, I discovered that it was a quilt along sponsored by American Patchwork and Quilting magazine called Tone It Down, in the February 2014 issue. The idea was to make a quilt with gazillions of different fabrics; from a distance it all would look uniform, while up close, the scrappiness would be evident.

The block is called Burgoyne Surrounded, and while I knew that it was a block with some history attached to it, I had to look it up for particulars. John Burgoyne was a British general who led an attack on Saratoga, New York, in the American Revolutionary War. He surrendered to American troops after being surrounded. It is said that this victory for the Americans was the turning point of the war.

When I was planning my version of the quilt, I decided on using a patriotic theme, as the block was historical in nature. I had no idea that it represented such a pivotal battle in the fight for freedom, so that makes me really glad that I did go with red, white and blue.

In my pictures I see more contrast than I want to see in my background fabrics. In real life, it is not nearly as pronounced. This makes me think that I might consider giving it a tea-bath. I think it might look more uniform if the lighter backgrounds had that darker tone. If anyone has any thoughts on this, I would be very interested to hear them.

Do you think you would be interested in seeing some of the other quilts? You can search the blogs of the following quilters for an incredibly wide variety of "takes" on the Burgoyne Surrounded quilt. I have to say, these ladies probably worked like the dickens to get their quilts completed. But to anyone reading their blogs, it was like they started one day and were nearing the finish the next! It was intimidating! I think I worked about as steadily as I could, and it took me a month. Maybe those gals have elves that come in at night to work on their quilts, like that old cobbler in the fairy tale. Hmmm, wonder how I get myself an elf?

Here's the list of quilters/bloggers who participated for the magazine:
Amy's Creative Side
Bunny Hill Designs
Thimble Blossoms
Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.
Quilt Jane
All People Quilt/Jennifer Keltner
Jolly Jabber at Fat Quarter Shop
Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings
Moda Lissa
A Quilting Life

 If you Instagram, the hashtag is #apqquiltalong.

Hope you have a Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Burgoyne Surrounded

Did you ever think you'd be a glutton for punishment? I certainly never did. But, doggone it, that Tone It Down quilt along sponsored by American Patchwork and Quilting magazine just kept calling to me. Knowing that each block has a ga-zillion tiny pieces meant that I would definitely be voluntarily signing on for some tedious work.

I just couldn't stop thinking about it, though! A few days ago I decided that if I did this quilt along, mine would be patriotic. I put together a nice collection of fabrics, just in case I actually did go ahead with participating.

I finally took the plunge on Saturday. Ultimately I decided that the diagonal lines would be blue, while the circular designs would be red. As far as backgrounds go, I decided that I would aim for a very scrappy combination of neutrals - everything from light to tea-stained would be jumbled all together in each block.

I spent a good portion of the afternoon cutting out fabrics for one block, but I intentionally cut more than I knew I would need so that I could get a good mix of backgrounds.

I made sure that I kept my pieces as organized as possible. With so many pieces to keep track of, I knew that being diligent would be beneficial. I'd read some of the blogs, too, explaining the necessity of being organized with this quilt. That was advice I was willing to take!

Another thing I did to help myself was to study these instructions till I practically had them memorized. I knew that I'd get all mixed up with colors so I wrote myself notes to keep my reds and blues where they belong. It really did help.

And here's my first block. There are 89 pieces in it. Yeah, that's a lot. And I may well be a glutton for punishment for doing this, but I think I will be so thrilled with it once it's done that it will be totally worth it. It's the type of quilt that made me fall in love with quilts so many years ago. Traditional designs. Traditional fabrics. Traditional colors. Even though I have evolved into appreciating more modern fabrics and colors, my original preferences were always traditional. I hope this quilt looks old and antique-y when it's finished. 

I have a full day of sewing at Terry's coming up on Friday. I would like to have much cutting done so that I can concentrate on sewing more of these blocks then. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!