Collection 18 - Where Did That Name Come From?

Wow Collection 18! We are really steaming along these days. Anyone managing to make a collection a week? I didn't when I made the quilt. I could often make one block a day but that wasn't day in and day out. I would often spend a day every now and then cutting out multiple blocks, 10 or so even, and then stitch away merrily. When I had finished those ten, or almost finished them I would then spend another few days cutting blocks.  It was the easiest way I found to keep going.

Anyway onto the point of this post, the block names.
Sunflowers 
(yellow and green in the middle) 
This was to me the obvious name for this bright block. Just as sunflowers stand tall and bright moving to always face the sun this block stares right out to the viewer.

Louis XIV 
(pink & white stripe on grey - top block)
Ahhhhh I mucked up my Roman numerals  This was supposed to be Louis 16th (XVI) but by accident I reversed the letters and it says Louis 14th.  Absolutely no idea of anything about Louis XIV :-(
Louis XVI was the last king before the French Revolution in 1792 and was married to Marie-Antoinette.... of the 'let them eat cake' fame. They married when he was only 15 and didn't have children for many years which wasn't the norm at the time. They ended up having four children and adopting several children of various staff when their parents died. 
He was very insecure and wanted to be liked by his people and in this hope introduced changes to the running of government to benefit the people.
He was beheaded on the guillotine in 1793 and his body was buried in a mass grave with other beheaded people. 
Always found Louis XVI interesting and the fabrics just reminded me of him.

Hydrangeas 
(purple floral on pale apricot- RHS top)
The name of course came from the fabrics. Everyone grew these flowers when I was a child. Did you know that the colour is affected by the acidity of the soil? Blue it's alkaline, red it's acidic.

Writer's Lament 
(blue on white on a purple-pink fabric - RHS bottom)
You have all had those days when you must write a report, letter or something and there is no way you can word it so it sounds OK.

Jet Plane 
(olive green on cream- bottom block)
The shape reminded me of the propellor found on old fashioned planes. These days we don't see the propellers but they are still there.

Evening Star 
(striped on blue - LHS bottom)
I really like stripes and wanted a block that allowed the matching of the stripes. The simplicity of this block made it perfect.

Flights of Fancy 
(pale floral Japanese print on cream - LHS top)
A fancy fabric circling a central pole .. to me it seemed obvious :-)

Collection 17 - Where Did That Name Come From?

Collection 17	Aren't the colours what you would expect in a Fresh Start?	C17 Fresh Start
The Thief of Time  is a clock found on a back alley in Paris. He looks like a tall skinny fellow who would sneak in to your home in the late of the night. I wonder if they will ever fix it so that it works again.	C17 The Thief of Time	My favourite author for many years was terry Pratchett and I love his Discworld novels. They are traditional stories with the characters begin changed to be witches, trolls, dwarfs and even Death. From one of these the Gathering of a coven of witches was brought to mind.
C17 Scattered Jewels	The colours in Scattered Jewels scattered among the floral background gave this block its title.	C17 Gathering
I have never wanted to make a pineapple log cabin and after Pinepaple Mixup am positive that I won't make a quilt using it.	C17 Dust 'n Crumbs	Dust 'n Crumbs is a quilt that I made using those crumbs, small scraps left over from other projects. It may surprise you but I have a large single bed quilt made of scraps just as small as those used in this block.
C17 Pineapple Mixup	One day I will appliqué curves and points just like Merelyn ... if I actually start and practise it could help to improve my skills rather than just dreaming. My version is machine appliquéd and even then doesn't look anywhere near as good as Merelyn's	C17 M's Clover

Collection 16 - Where Did That Name Come From?

Collection 16	Still Too Small was my second attempt at this block and it was as the title says still too small. Solution just add another border.	C16 Still Too Small
Yvonne's Mystery was designed for a friend who wanted a quilt using Flying Geese... well the geese did appear in the outer border!	C16 Yvonne's Mystery	I always thought of a play pen as a gaol and the bars through the middle of this block gave me the same feel :) Warped sense of humour I suppose you could say.
C16 Bull's Eye	What other name would be appropriate for Bull's Eye? Does the name Tim Tam Spread really need explaining.. just think of the effect of a glorious afternoon or two relaxing with a packet, or two, of the food of all foods.	C16 The Playpen
Rhonda is a friend I quilted with for several years. The name Ravishing Rhonda came from Margaret when she was trying to find a way to have Rhonda's name appear at the top of her R names in her mobile phone.	C16 Tim Tam Spread	Or imagine what happens when two dozen packets of Tim Tams split out of their box after travelling across the world in a box poorly packed by a younger brother!
Ravishing Rhonda	Margaret is a wonderful friend who 'loaned' me much of the pastel fabric  for Racontuer. I wanted to make a pastel quilt and there was only one thing stopping me .. an almost total lack of pastel fabrics. Magaret's Choice was one of the first fabrics Margaret 'loaned' me.   I wonder if she wants them back?	C16 Margaret's Choice

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Collection 15 - Where Did That Name Come From?

Collection 15	Wow isn't it amazing how quickly we are racing through the collections. We are almost a third of the way through. a few people have sent along their photos and it is great to see these. I would love to see more and my photoshopping skills are improving. So why were these blocks named as they are? Searching, hey it's a maze and although you can easily find your way out most times you can't.	C15 Searching
Goldilocks, again this was to me the only choice. Aren't the 1930s fabrics cute. Mind you I'm positive I could never finish an entire quilt using just those.	C15 Goldilocks	e.coli this late at night I am assuming the only thing one can about the naming of this block. Was it on one of our cruises that I made this one or was it the time I ate seafood which didn't smell quite right. We never did go back to that shop.
C15 Bond Street	There are many of my memories within the blocks of Raconteur, the nights of Monopoly and cheers when I held the Bond Street card in my hand - it was my good luck charm. As a child I fought to win like every other child. Now I dislike the game and that same aspect. For every winner there are more losers and I won't play. Thankfully our children have discovered many other games which aren't quite as cut throat though cut throat are still their favourites.	C15 e.coli
September, for some reason the soft blue suggested the cool evenings of September.	C15 September	The star within the star suggested an enveloping of arms and protection.
C15 Bees to the Hive	Bees to the Hive, don't the dots look like small insects and although the hives look like little Pacmen from the arcade packman game of the 70s I took them to also be hives.	C15 Enveloped

Collection 14 - Where Did That Name Come From?

This collection is a side collection, used to fill in the side edges of the quilt to make them straight.  This is a quick collection to make as everything here is made with machine piecing and foundation piecing.

Pebbles in the Storm (blue on pink) shows the ripples formed as water rushes down the street and around small rocks during a storm. Don't we all just love the rain ... particularly these days with increasingly long droughts. Parts of Australia have been in drought for many years.

Cheryl's Pendant (mustard on cream) - one of my friends always wears the most exquisite jewelry and this particular pendant she had bought on a trip through the Middle East a few years previously.