Elizabeth vs. Darcy, Jane vs. William

 As much as I've longed for the end of August - because of the heat - I find it hard to believe it's actually here! The heat seems to have also robbed me of the ability to remember to take pictures of the small needlework projects I've made when it was too hot to have the iron going. They would be termed slow stitch in modern parlance but to me they're just small pieces of intuitive embroidery. They were fun to do and turned out well overall. (I'm still working on valuing process over end result.) We've had better air quality this summer, for which I'm grateful. No wildfires close enough to affect us I assume. The heat may have kept neighbors from outdoor cooking too, which is helpful.

Anyway, some time ago I purchased a bundle of Jane Austen at Home fat quarters as much out of curiosity as anything else. I thought I might be able to combine those prints with some William Morris reproduction prints I've acquired. It's been on my mind for a while. Finally I brought them all out to see what I could do. I made a few flying geese out of the larger scale prints and fussy-cut focal patches for the variable or sawtooth stars I so enjoy making. I may not have made the best choice for background for the stars (it's a bit busy) but from a distance I think it works.

The star in the middle of the photo above is the only bit of William Morris that's made it into the project so far. I'm not sure I'll be able to convince Jane and William to get along together. I've drawn from other prints in my stash to add variety. The colors in the Austen prints are not the sort of thing I've collected. 

 Not that color representation here is accurate. 

This is where I'm at currently. It's only 32" wide and 40" long. After much searching I've found another deep red I think will work as a frame around this medallion. What happens after that remains to be seen. I'm happy to have this be a small quilt, lap size, but it needs to be larger than this!