Wondering What Bertie's Been Up To?

Before the stitching and embellishments .....

I'm not a Fall person.  Many of my closest friends and loved ones revel in Fall - they adore it!!!  And I don't really have anything against the season itself - it's nice to have a little crispness in the air instead of all that stifling heat.  It's just that to me Fall means the imminent onset of Winter, and I am definitely not a winter person!  Of course, one thing I do like about Fall is the COLOR!!!

Picture taken on my trip to the Blue Ridge Mtns a couple weeks ago

It's as if God knows that the only way to keep some of us from dreading Fall is to embellish our world with an irresistible abundance of COLOR!!!  With happy abandon, He tosses out bright splashes of paint in those deep rich oranges, reds, yellows and golds  - everywhere you look!  Our sun-blinded eyes just soak it all up like a parched sponge.  And don't get me wrong - I do love that!

Bertie certainly has certainly gotten into the Fall mode!  The first picture above is my October Bertie's Year BOM block, currently in progress - such a FUN block design!  And here's my November block ..... all those wonderful leaf colors!  These are not the fabrics that came in my kit however ... serious rant coming up shortly!

I am so far behind on this BOM!  I was doing great until about July - getting each one done in time to hang and enjoy it each month.  But now I have FIVE of them in the basket that need to be done!  So I thought it would be a good idea to take them to retreat with me next week and just crank them out.  Here are July though November, all fused down and ready for hand-stitch embroidery embellishments :)

However, instead of just taking an hour or so to pop out the laser cuts and fuse them to the background, I had to spend HOURS in preparation for several of these blocks.  Why?  Because once again, I had to hunt down and substitute stash fabrics for the ones that were supplied with the kit..... and I hate to whine, but I'm not happy about that :(  And of course, using my stash fabrics means that I have to do all the prep work too, like drawing, cutting, etc....  I thought that was why I paid more for the laser cut kit, right?

Bonnie Sullivan has done such a wonderful job designing this series!  I love each and every block!!!  Her original blocks in the pictures on the pattern are always so colorful and have such fun bright fabrics - fabrics that are not included in my kit!  (Please Note - Bonnie Sullivan does not supply the kit)  What I get in my kit is positively DULL!!!  See the difference here with the October kit?  The top fabric is a dull brown they supplied for the pumpkin - yuk!!!  The bottom wool is from my stash.....

Candy corn substitutions.....

Now which one of these says "candy corn" to you?  Definitely not that ugly brown & gold on the right!!!!  Seriously???  They gave us THAT for candy corn????  And do these look anything like the colors in the sample picture above?  No, of course not!  Bonnie's candy corn looks like candy corn!!!!  Of course the bright wools on the left are what I substituted from my stash.

This dull, boring green at the top of this picture is the same green we've gotten in every single kit all year long.. ugh!!!  I decided to use the more interesting green wool at the bottom for October and November - the COLOR months .....

And then here's the fabrics they sent for November - next to Bonnie's sample picture - sheesh!!!!

See how bright and colorful her fabrics are in the sample picture?  Are those the fabrics we got in the kit?  NO!!!  Not even close!!!!  Look at these dull browns .... not a bright orange or gold in the lot of them!   Notice the fun polka dot in the corners of Bonnie's block - of course that fabric is not included in my kit either.

And that leaf - seriously????  It is the definition of boring!!!  And nothing like the bright, interesting orange in the sample..... and certainly nothing like the true beauty of Fall leaves!!!!

So enough of the rant!  Substitutions were made - the blocks will be fine - and I'll get over it.... but don't look for me to buy another kit anytime soon.

On a much happier note, while I was playing in my stash last night, I came across this fun Laurel Burch Cats panel print ....

..... and inspiration struck..... What if I????

Yep, I totally changed my mind about how I'm going to make my Sew Sweet Simplicity BOM blocks!  Instead of the applique or embroidery in the center, I'm going to put these cat blocks in the center and construct Jacquelynne's sampler blocks around them using lots of those fun, bright colors!  Stay tuned.....and don't forget, there's still time to get in on this fun BOM HERE - my GIVEAWAY is HERE!!!!!

I'm also playing with lots of gorgeous fabrics for more Patchwork of the Crosses blocks.  Look for a lot more of these to come!

This set of design mirrors really helps me get an idea of how to fussy cut to get great fun designs....

So, what are you relaxing and playing with today?

I'm linking up with Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching

and Patchwork Time's Design Wall Monday.

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=