Hello fellow quilters!

As this is the first time I've ever produced patterns for my work, there are some kinks to be worked out. I've been indicating corrections and notes on the patterns or the packaging, so you will have the latest info. But, to keep everything in one place as well, here's a running tally of corrections and useful info for some of the blocks:

Austria: The instructions for the border ask you to cut 16 white AND 16 red rectangles. You need only eight of each color. When making the Austria block, don't worry too much about exact placement of your background greens they are just background “texture” for the Edelweiss flower.

Belgium: Construct the houses alphabetically. Sections A &B make the first house; C, D & E make the second; F, G, H & I make the third; J & K make the fourth; and L, M & N make the fifth house. Add section O, the side of the canal, last. Although the pattern works just fine as is, we have found that in sections F and G it’s a little easier to align the fabrics if you treat the #2 pieces as #1s and vice verse. Have fun with your houses and experiment with interesting architectural and textural fabrics!

Denmark: Although the pattern works just fine as is, we have found that in section D it’s a little easier to align the fabrics if you place the #2 piece first and then add the #1 piece.

France: When choosing fabrics for the tower, look for patterns with linear elements reminiscent of wrought iron, such as checks, wovens, scripts and squiggles. If the background of these fabrics is close to your sky fabric, all the better! Speaking of sky, this block looks very nice with a dark sky patterned with lines or dots reminiscent of fireworks--just use more light fabrics in your tower. Why not try a provençal print for the border, if it goes with your color scheme.

Germany: Section A, piece 12 should be light stone, and piece 16 should be medium stone. I particularly like to use striped fabric for the medium stone, as it accentuates the architecture in the triangular shapes atop the gate.

Ireland: This is an optional block which fits in the same space as the Sweden block. The packaging shows a “lucky clover” which has four leaves, but the actual pattern has been altered to a more accurately Irish three-leaf shamrock (to represent the trinity). In order for the Ireland block to fit in the same space as the Sweden block, you need to add the three strips representing the irish flag to the right side. Cut one strip each from a green, a white and an orange fabric 1 1/2" wide by 12 1/2" long. Sew them together along their long sides and then add them to your finished shamrock block. Use 1/4" seam allowances throughout.

Poland: In section B, piece 11 should be flower bower fabric, and piece 20 should be background. Section D piece 4 should be dress fabric. When assembling the sections, sew them together in the following order: A and B together; C to D and then add E; sew A/B to C/D/E; finish by adding section F. When sewing sections together, it is helpful to stab a pin through each corner to match sewing lines then add pins perpendicular to the edge as usual. This folk dancer needn’t be dancing in "sky," she could just as easily have a green background, or any other color that coordinates nicely with your chosen scheme.

Sweden: For anyone not familiar with the Swedish Dala horse here’s a link with more info. I made my horse beige with a green "field" background, but yours could be the more traditional red with perhaps a tan background...

Switzerland: Section A, piece 12 and section B, piece 9 should both be mountain fabric. Small flowers on a green background make a great looking mountain meadow, or check your stash of holiday fabrics for swirling snowflakes to use as the sky!

I have made an optional block for Luxembourg. It is three crosses on a green ground representing Gen. Patton's grave and the American Cemetery near Luxembourg City. You can download the free PDF file here. It is sized to replace the six nine-patches under the Denmark block.

Back to Travel Europe Quilt.

Please, thise patterns are for personal use, not commercial venture. © 2005 Kristin La Flamme