Block Adoption: An Atlantic Canada Wall Hanging

Full disclosure: I am going back through some picture/projects that I never blogged about. This project was completed in August 2020.

A few years ago (probably more than I want to admit) I was at the thrift store and came across 5 orphaned blocks. They were from the Cantik Batik Canada Mystery blocks designed by the talented Shania Sunga. If I have one weakness in life, it's batiks. (In reality I have many weaknesses in life, but I do LOVE batiks). And here they were, these 5 blocks made of beautiful batiks, fully put together. How could I just leave them there? And so they came home with me.

In the picture, the blocks I got were Northwest Territories (top left), Alberta (top middle), Nunavut (top right), New Brunswick (bottom left), and Nova Scotia (bottom right).

As is true with a lot of fabric I buy, I didn't actually have a plan for them. I wasn't planning on making the entire Canada quilt, I just knew that I couldn't abandon the blocks at the thrift store :). After thinking about it for a bit, I decided that I would like to do just the Atlantic blocks together. I had a friend who followed along with the blocks as the program ran, so she lent me her patterns (and her scraps!) so that I could do my own Newfoundland and PEI. It was even perfect because two of the blocks ran vertically and two of the blocks ran horizontally - it was like they were meant to be put together into a wall hanging. 

Newfoundland block
(sorry about the terrible lighting)

After completing the two other blocks out of my stash (and the provided scraps), I had to figure out a plan.  I already know that I prefer straight stitching on raw edge appliqué. I decided that there were enough little pieces that I did not want to try straight stitching around them through 3 layers. However, I also knew that I didn't want to do quilting over top of the beautiful images. So I made a plan for each block about which parts I would do through a single layer and which parts I would quilt through all 3 layers - trying to balance how much and which parts of the block were quilted all the way through.

As we were in a pandemic, I tried to make do with supplies I had, so I pulled threads that were "close enough" and borrowed from a friend for the rest. (Greens were my downfall).

An example of the stitching I did through the single layer.

I used my computer to design some things I might be able to do with the 4 blocks.

I decided that I liked the look of the strips of different lengths. At first I was thinking that I would pull out colours/fabrics from the blocks and just randomly use them. However, as I started pulling fabrics and laying them out, I decided it would be nice to make the top border be the "sky" and use sunset colours and have the bottom border be the "ground" and used greens for land and blues for water. 

I couldn't decide whether or not I wanted something in the black bit in the middle of the quilt or just do something in there with quilting. In the end I decided to add the blues and yellows to try to pull the blocks together (the blues being the water from in all 4 blocks, but specifically the two vertical ones, the yellows pulling in the yellow sunset and yellows in the tree of the two horizontal blocks).

The next decision was to figure out how to quilt the rest of it. I decided to lean into the "ground" at the bottom and "sky" at the top, so I tried to do waves at the bottom and clouds at the top.

Practice stitching - very important!

The real stuff

This is where I decided that I actually needed to go to the store. Not only did I need shampoo, but I felt like I wanted to make sure I had thread that I was happy with as it was going to show up on the black. I don't normally like to shop at big box stores, but since it was a pandemic, I decided that 1 store where I could get groceries, household supplies, and thread was better for exposure risks.

For the middle section, I did stitch in the ditch on the coloured fabric, and then carried that stripe design through into the black bits as well.

And now time for the photoshoot:

 

 

This project was gifted to a friend's mother (who was my second mother in high school - I still call her "Mommy"). She has a grandbaby that was born out East during the pandemic who she hasn't been able to go and meet in person. While this in no way makes up for that, I thought if she couldn't go out East, I could at least bring a bit of out East to her :).

The other 3 blocks that I got at the thrift store are still waiting for their project :).