Our Fancy Forest Saga

Once upon a time, a year or so ago, I saw the Fancy Forest quilt by Elizabeth Hartman on display at Quilt Market.  It drew me in like a magnet.  A really strong magnet, like you might find if you have an MRI!  The pattern book came home with me, and taunted me from my collection of "Things I would make if only I had more than 24 hours in the day!". 

But, we all know that there are only 24 hours in a day.  Many more pressing things take priority over whimsical quilts that have lots and lots of pieces in them.  But I knew that if only I could make it, my little grandsons would think I was the most fabulous grandma ever!  I even tried to coax my own mom into taking on the project, just so it would get done and I would have a little part in it!  She didn't bite.

Then, along came the kits from Robert Kaufman Fabric!  This was really, really hard to resist!  The fact that I could have all the right colors in all the right places was such a temptation.  I'm generally not a person who goes with a kit, although since I've been working at Bear Patch and picking and choosing for kits, my thoughts on buying a kit have changed.  In this particular case, a big part of the attraction of this quilt is the range and shading of color groups.  Having all of that worked out by the designer was very compelling!

Then, along came Laurel, who was determined to make this quilt for a Bear Patch class!  I could maybe even use the class as motivation to make my own!

But, fate intervened, and Laurel had a great fall.  Unlike the nursery rhyme, Laurel will eventually be put all together again.  But it will be awhile before Laurel can put the Fancy Forest all together!  

So, we put on our thinking caps and came up with an alternative plan--it takes a village to pick up the pieces for Laurel!  Now, 3 more people have been sewing little forest animals from Laurel's beginnings, and our Fancy Forest Family is making a quilt!

Laurel made the Fancy Foxes before she had her great fall!

I stitched the Frances Fireflies--not butterflies, because these have a little white light on the tail!

Marlene finished up the Bunnies that Laurel had started.

Linda put together Hazel Hedgehog blocks.

I worked on the Allie the Owl blocks.

And Marlene made the Thistles!

We are so happy to now have all the blocks sewn, and ready to be finished next week when I have some serious sewing time!  We are starting our class in a couple of weeks, and we have a few spots open in either the 1PM or 6:30PM sessions.  And, we have kits!  So, whether or not you are in the class, this kit is available for purchase.  It includes the pattern ($24), and is $230.  This includes all of the coordinated colored fabrics for the blocks, the black and white used for accents, the Robert Kaufman's Essex yarn-dyed linen blend for the background, and fabric for binding.  That's a total of 17 3/8 yards of goodness!  The number of kits available does have a limit, so don't procrastinate too long on this one!  Call 651-429-1039 or email info@bearpatchquilting.com for more information!

Update: 1/20/17

All of the animals have come together! Yay!