Road to Arkansas--Christmas Quilts

My cousins, Bobbie and Joyce,  from Arizona came to see me this past summer and we got to talking quilts.  They liked this pattern and wanted  a green one and a blue one so I worked on it tll I liked the results.  They are twin bed size and made of cotton.  Bobbie likes the look of the ties so I tied them.  I could imagine them being quilted with pretty designs but made them like the girls said they wanted.  It was a fun project and I proved to myself that I can do this.  I am a beginner in quilts and needed a simple pattern to help me get over my nervousness.  I hope they like the finished products! 

Quilt or Comforter?

So what is the difference between a quilt and a comforter?  I was told that if it is quilted it is a quilt.  If it is tied, it is a comforter.  This one is definately tied.  It is heavy and has a sheet on the back which is folded over on the edges.  Even though it has a lot of dark fabrics in it, I think the yellows and golds really brighten it up.  It measures 89" long and 77" wide.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

The turkey is in the oven and everything else will be ready soon too.  Now waiting for the family to come.  I don't know for sure who will be here but I know we will all have a good time.  There is so much to be thankful for in this household and the list keeps getting longer.  I wish for all of you a safe and blessed Thanksgiving!  Safe travels to you who are hitting the roads, planes, trains and automobiles!

Discarded Baby Quilt

Last Saturday I found this quilt at the same place I had found the magazines.  It has been washed several times but there are no stains on it and it has no holes or rips anywhere.  I liked it because it is still bright and well made.  It is machine quilted in the ditches and a wavy quilt line on the green outer edge.  This little quilt measures 36" x 46".

Quilter's Newsletter Magazine --- A Score

Today I went with my 2 daughters and their families to a Church Rummage Give Away!  You name it and it was there and the price was so right on everything.  I came home with a bag of Quilter's Newsletter Magazines from 1986 to 1991.  There has to be 30 of these magazines which I shared with the girls.  I found a couple patterns I have been searching for over the last few years, opened up the first magazine and there it was!

There were craft magazines and  books galore.  I was feeling a bit guilty for taking the pile but several of the ladies at the church commented that they have had these magazines in their last few rummage sales and Give Away's and no one ever takes them so they were slated for the trash bin.   I believe there are 30 of these magazines.  The girls were as excited as I was to see them.  Maybe my projects will become more interesting in the future!   

Denton Family Quilt

This quilt was made somewhere between the late 1940's and early 50's by my Mother-in-Law and her neighbor lady Hattie.  When my inlaws first married and moved to the farm, they were short on bedding and the neighbor lady came to the rescue.  This quilt is made of mostly corduroy but there is a good bit of curtain fabric and flannel which have worn away after all the washings and use.  After the family cleaned out the farm house last month following my Father-in-Law's death, this quilt was still there so I brought it home.  I like how it is a crazy quilt and shows how they used what they had on hand.  It is full bed size and very heavy.  The back is a heavy printed flannel.  I have always loved it since the first time I saw it on the bed there.  It is very worn but still has that charm to it. 

Tumbling Blocks

This tumbling block quilt is from Wisconsin.  It is 70" x 63".  The sides were cut off like they had been worn out but then whip stitched together again.  It has a cotton batting inside and the top is lined with a cotton fabric.  Other than the sides, it is in beautiful condition.  It has been ditch quilted.  There are 2 shades of pink, the green and  white cotton fabrics.  I think it is cheerful and I have wanted to try my hand at making a tumbling block quilt.

BUTTERFLY QUILT PATTERN 515 Laura Wheeler Designs

I am so excited with this find!  The pattern is quite brittle and I thought about pressing it flat but it is falling apart.  There are 73 finished butterfly blocks and enough pieces cut out but not put together for maybe another 30 blocks.  There are also a few finished half blocks and 1 finished quarter block.  This is a Laura Wheeler pattern probably one advertized in the newspaper or a magazine.  The box they were found in is an origional Laura Wheeler box that looks like a large shoe box that has a lable printed onto the end of the box with "HOME MADE" on the ends.  I do know where it came from and who put all these blocks together and about when.  The lady who made them was my husband's grandmother and I believe she made these between 1949-1950 as I know she became ill towards the end of 1950 and died before she could set the blocks together.  My father-in-law gave them to me.  He almost tossed them thinking they were no good anymore.
The butterflies are made of feed sack material.  Grandma would receive stacks of feed sacks from her sister who owned a Turkey Farm back then and she would save all the feed sacks and share them with her sisters. 

I need to soak these blocks and freshen them up.  Six have worn spots on the bottom edges of the blocks and I am trying to decide if I can use something to back them for strength.  I think I would love to finish this quilt.  I have only seen one other quilt this Grandma made, but am told that she made hundreds of quilts in her lifetime.  

Embroidered Flower Quilt

This is our flea market find last week.  It is 39" wide and 48" long.  As you can see, the blocks are quilted all over but the sashings are ditch quilted.  There is a pocket at the top back to hang it up.  It is signed on the back by the makers (2) and has a date 2001.  The quilting is done by machine. 

Sun Bonnet Sue

This is a pillowcase.  The skirt has three layers so the bottom ruffle really stands out.  I have been looking at various Sun Bonnet Girl patterns for a quilt for my granddaughter (s) and trying to find the right one that I would like to do.  Bought a couple books with all kinds of them thru and thru and they are all so different.  The pillowcase came from the thrift store for 25 cents!  I have seen other quilts and pillows with various versions, all slightly different.   This book is from the Oxmoor House Quilts Made Easy series.  It has about 8 or 9 patterns for Sun Bonnet Sue and Overall Sam.

Bow Tie Blocks

While working on my round of the Round Robin quilt, I wanted to try the Bow Tie pattern.  I hadn't done it before so worked on some sample blocks and then played with different ways of putting them together.  I found it fun to work with this pattern and I would love to make myself a quilt .  There seems to be as many ways to lay them out as there are pieces of material.  The first time I saw the pattern, it was on a quilt in a magazine and I kept going back to the magazine to look at the photo.  It just seemed to catch my attention and I am happy with the results.

More blocks set together

My daughter is always telling me to think out of the box.  Ok, these blocks are out of the box--of quilt blocks.  This top has thirty 10" blocks.  There are about that many more blocks not sewn together.  I am not sure what I am going to do with all of these but it is fun to look at them and think about it.  If I just put a border around this, it would make a twin size quilt.  Likely it will go back into the box until I discover it again some other time. 

Round Robin Quilt Tops

Have you ever worked on a Round Robin quilt?  This is a first for me.  The top picture was started by my daughter in January.  Now it is my turn to put a round on it.  What to do, what to do? I think this quilt top is pretty and full of action.  I hope I don't screw it up.  It is already 74" square. There are no rules to this Round Robin other than you can't discuss it with anyone else doing it until the day it is exchanged.  There are to be 7 rounds on each top.

The second photo is the one I have been working on.  I decided to do the bow tie pattern to frame in what was done before.  My daughter will work on this one now.  It is at 61".

String Quilt in Blues

My cousin found all the pieces for this quilt in a thrift store in Nevada and she and her mother put the quilt top together.  There were other quilt blocks in the box and I think she bought the whole thing to make several quilts.  This is full size.

Minnesota Quilts

This book is such a treasure load of stories and photos of quilters and quilts.  I know other states have books about quilters and quilts from their areas and I am glad they are out there to share  our love and passion.   The stories cover vintage, antique and modern works from all over this state and I am amazed at the talent and creativity being shared.  Isn't this a wonderful crazy quilt?  I would love to make something this pretty.   It is different than most of the crazy quilts I have seen and I just love it.  This book is just filled with amazing works of art.

Sports Quilt

This is a Sports Lover's Quilt!  It is 80" x83" and has 36 blocks depicting various sports interests.  I am sure the person who made it had fun with it.  It is hand quilted thru layers of some pretty durable fabrics, not just light weight cottons.  There is a heavy cotton batting in side and in very excellent condition.

Out My Kitchen Window

As winter winds down and spring is coming on, I want to share a moment in time, a moment of pure glory.  I looked out my kitchen window and there was the most lovely sight.  It lasted only a few moments and then it was dark.  The sun was setting and the light was so bright.  If I hadn't looked up, I would have missed it.  We had had a freezing rain and then snow, not a lot of snow but still enough to make a beautiful coating.  The sun sparkled off the ice beneath the snows and it just shimmered.  I am in awe.  Thank You God for this gift!

Carpenter's Wheel

This is a Carpenter's Wheel quilt that Mr. Puff-n-Stuff gave me.  I love the colors and the size.  It is 93" square.  The white fabric is also the backing.  On the front, a lot of the white pieces are pretty worn out and need to be replaced.  The rest of the fabric is quite solid and still bright. 

4 Patch in a Square Quilt Blocks

Here is another sample of the quilt blocks from the box.  There has to be about 50 blocks in the box and little by little I want to share them.  Thank you sister Bonnie for sharing them with me.  These blocks are a reverse of each other, kind of a night and day version of 4 patch in a square.  The blocks are 7" square.

The Project

I am trying to use up bits and pieces of scraps of my stash bag.  I like blues and browns together and going without a pattern in mind, this is the beginnings of what I hope to be a pretty quilt top.    I like the churn dasher block and have used it as my center block.  The rest is just kind of happening. 

Garden Twist Pattern in 3 sizes

My sister-in-law, Joan, came across this set of patterns but couldn't remember where they came from and why she would have them.  She is not into making quilts but loves having them around her house so brought the pattern to me.  I am going to put all 3 sizes on here just as they were given to me. 

Nine Patch and Stars

I have a pile of these blocks laying in  a tub in my sewing closet.  Just laid them out for ideas.  The dark fabrics don't exactly match but I like the layout so will see if I can find enough of matching backgrounds to make a top with.  I think this would make a fun quilt.

Dobbin's Fan Pattern



This pattern came from a magazine from 1976 called Olde Time Needlework.  I would love to have the whole magazine instead of one page.  Have you out there in blog world heard of this magazine?  The story that goes with the photo is that back in the early 1800's there was an album quilt and it found it's way years later in a covered wagon to California and then worn out and mellow, it became a horse blanket.  A woman took the quilt and copied off her favorite block, a fan and called it Dobbin's Fan.  Cool story.  Reminds me of the children's story book by Gail Radley called "The Spinner's Gift" which is almost the same story. 

I really like this pattern.  It looks elegant.

I have been going thru my quilt books looking for inspiration and took this book off my shelf.  It was published in 1996 and had several quilts that will be fun to work on.  I am not a very experienced quilt maker but love the idea of quilting.  I love this little 9 patch with the stars.  It is so cheerful!  I think I want to give it a try.  I marked 10 projects that looked like something I would want to do.  I can see some being full sized quilts and others the small quilts would make a pretty wall hanging.

Baby Quilt 1995

This is another baby quilt my sister made.  She said she made big 9 patch blocks and cut them apart  but added another piece to the block to change the pattern yet again.  The quilt was made in 1995.  I like her colors and design.

Red White & Blue Split Rail and a Baby Quilt

These two quilts were made in 1994 by my sister.  The baby quilt is a nice size crib quilt and the other is a twin bed size split rail.  She likes to tie her quilts rather than quilt them and she has made quilts for almost everyone she knows or has met.  I couldn't begin to count the number of quilts she has made in the last 50 years.

LeMoyne Star in Blue and Yellow

This is another of my brother's family quilt.  It is a blue and yellow LeMoyne Star that has been mended and well loved.  Again no details on size or age of this quilt.  I like seeing the quilts that are made to be used as well as those that are never going to see a bed.  This one tells me that it has been of good service and still has life to it.

String Quilt and Stuff

This quilt belongs to my brother, Ron's family.  It is a string quilt made of cottons.  I am unsure of the age or the size as he only shared the photo.  I like how the colors come together.  Hope you do too.  It is a worn, well used and loved quilt.

All of the quilts I have posted on this blog belong to someone in my family.  Some have been found in junk or antique or thrift shops, some were made by the owners and others inherited.  I enjoy seeing the quilts no matter who owns them.  I have a lot of quilters in my family on both sides and my husband's family too has some wonderfully talented quilters.  My sister-in-law, Peggy,  is very talented and artistic.  My Great Aunt Cecle always had a quilt in the frame and a stack of tops to be quilted.  My grandmothers both made quilts.  One made great heavy wool crazy quilts and the other embroidered them.  My mother, Helen, made beautiful embroidered quilts and every grandchild received a quilt while she was living.  My sister, Linda, has made more quilts than I can count and continues now but not as many.  My other sister, Bonnie, is not a quilter but loves them as much as I do.  We have a new generation of quilters coming up.  My young niece, Anna, who is 15, has been making quilts first for herself and now her dad says she is making them for her friends.  My daughters both are making quilts.  My cousin, Diana, inherited a quilt made by her Great Great Great grandmother made of whole cloth black silk and has a border of bright colorful silk pieces that looks like silk tie material.  The quilt is signed by her ancestor and dated to 1835.  This quilt is stunning!

Mr. Puff - n -Stuff and I attended a Quilt Show of Miniatures recently at an art gallery.  I was so inspired.  The largest quilt was 36" x36" and the smallest was a mere 8" x 8" and they covered many designs and colors.  I had never been to a Miniatures show before!

Postage Stamp Baskets

Postage Stamp Basket quilt top made by Linda Day, April 1984, 72 1/2" x 95" ,   There are 4 basket blocks for each white block made of very tiny prints.  The basket portion is pieced and the handlea are appliqued.  It is signed on the lower right block with the maker's name and date. 

Churn Dasher

This is a well worn Churn Dasher quilt that lives in St. Cloud, MN.  It is a beginner level quilt and you can tell that because the last strip of blocks on the left is upside down.  The quilt is for a double bed and tied.  I would say that it was made in the 1970's.

LeMoyne Star Quilt

I just love this LeMoyne Stat quilt.  In the photo it appears that there are different colors of tan background but it is really all the same color.  It measures 80" x 86".  The back is the same shiny tan material and it isn't heavily quilted, just outlining each piece of fabric.  The colors are all bright and in very good condition.  It appears to be a mix of older and newer materials.  The back is the same pretty tan cotton.