Bookshelf Quilt Assembly Progress

 Design Wall Monday--see more design walls on Judy's Small Quilts and Doll Quilts blog. 

The bookshelf quilt project for my niece, Emma, got a lot of attention over the weekend--this was mainly because of the rainstorms canceling baseball, as we would have spent about 3-4 hours Saturday at the park watching our older grandsons play!  I was determined to make a lot of progress. 

The bottom right section got a large reworking and some short, fat books to hold up an initial E, for Emma. I used Steam-A Seam to applique onto the black background and zig-zagged the edges. Some book spine details and staggered groupings completed this section. 

For one of the middle sections, I had framed this cherry embroidery I made a few years ago.  I wanted to pose it on an easel and there was a lot of decision making after I had already chosen the warm orange and green framing.   

This project produces a lot of messy piles, but I decided on the frame fabric and built it slowly. 

I liked the texture this brown and black print leant to the block. 

The simple easel  turned out pretty nicely, if I do say so myself :)  It also filled up a lot of the shelf.

After quite a bit more design and assembly, the six sections were finally ready to sew together by Sunday afternoon. 

I am happy with the focus items in each section.  There seems to be enough of the black background showing to highlight all the groupings.  The top and bottom shelf pieces are not yet attached as there is more to decide about an outer border, perhaps a crown and some feet for the bookshelf. Then, of course, will be the backing, quilting and binding to complete!