Evensong fabrics + first blocks

Guess what? Things are going really well with my Evensong Quilt! This is a new-to-me EPP project, pattern and kit available from Jodi of Tales of Cloth. The block is the traditional Rose Star, scaled to a generous size.

Just before New Years I spent a delicious afternoon playing with colors and fabrics for my Evensong quilt. I landed on this concept:

The dark Tilda Peacock will be my background color. The blocks will be made up of happy multicolor prints like these, plus the Tilda Chambray basics. In fact, each block will include one element in a chambray, to bring a touch of unity and rest to the quilt.

To get started, I chose a fussy-cut print for the large hexagon block center and then found ideas for the surrounding layers. I really enjoy fussy-cutting when I’m English paper piecing, so discovering prints like that green floral makes my day (especially in this case the green print came from my scrap pile).

I like to arrange the cut pieces on my background fabric to get a sense of the block before stitching. In this case I realized that the small dark floral might get lost in the Tilda Peacock background color.

Instead I opted for this arrangement - same pieces, different placement. Now the edge of the Evensong block is nicely defined on the background color.

Once I got started, the hand-sewing went pretty fast. I like the size of these blocks. They are larger than Ice Cream Soda blocks, but not gigantic. The big hexagon center makes for less stitching overall and shows off fabrics quite nicely.

Look - I’ve already finished three blocks! Today I cut pieces for two more, as I’m eager to keep going.

The idea to use a Tilda Chambray in each block was a good call. The chambrays are pretty pastels that bring such a soft, lightness to the work. Yay!