Small Star and Stripes

In our big family room, the breaker box, ugly and gray stands out like a sore thumb.  I wanted to make a little quilt to cover it.  Right now I have it pinned to the wall but will have a better hanger soon.  The Stars were practice blocks from a class I took a few years ago and the rest of the fabric is from other projects.  I tried to keep the colors that are in the star blocks.  It turned out pretty good.  There are a few areas I am not completely happy with but all in all, it is what it is.  I am now working on another smaller one so I can trade off from time to time.  No one wants to see the breaker box.  

Signature Quilt

This Clipping came from my cousin, Judi Wilson.  She said it was made by a group of ladies from a Wisconsin Homemakers Group.  Are there Homemaker groups still around?  I was part of one many years ago when my mother-in-law was alive and we would go together.  Many of these groups made quilts and projects that are still floating around out there.  Some of Judi's and my lady relatives made this quilt and my our aunt sewed it together.  Their signatures are on the quilt.  The pattern is simple and beautiful for a group project.  I would love to actually see the quilt but am happy to see the clipping.  Thank you, Judi!

Flower Garden Quilt and a Baby Doll

This quilt is a shinny cotton.  The top is machine sewn together but hand quilted.  It is very heavy.  I couldn't believe how heavy it was when my husband handed it to me.  It had no holes in it nor any worn spots and is queen size.  He didn't pay much for it which surprised me too.  This quilt was also in the Antique store in Crosby but I don't think it is very old.  It has been washed a time or two but is in perfect condition.  Each flower is quite large.

Last week my husband and I went to Crosby, a little town about 60 miles west of us and started going thru all their antique stores that are open.  This town has many antique stores but most will be closed until after Memorial Day.  I found this little doll in the back of the store and fell in love with it.  It has a stamp on the bottom of the left foot that says Japan.  It is in bisque and roughly done but I didn't care, I thought it was so cute so I bought it----for $5.00.  The gown is made from 2 rectangles from a tablecloth or napkins, with openings for the head and arms and it has pillow case lace around the bottom and on the front and around the neck and the little gown is heavy.  This baby will go no where weighted down by the gown!  The lady in the store said it has been in there for a couple years because no one wants something so rough.  I thought it was cute and care not one whit what it is stamped with nor how rough the bisque is.

Scrub Top 9 Patch

My daughter is a wonderful nurse.  Loves her job and the patients.  She began cleaning out scrub tops that were worn out and stained and asked if we could make a quilt out of the backs.  Here are some 9 patch blocks with another 9 patch in the center.  The problem is that some of the fabrics are more stretchy than others.  These are just laid out here and we still have the sewing to do but I think it will be a cheerful and usable quilt for her.  The  cut blocks each are 6" square and with the seams and strips, it will be a nice size.  We are trying to use up as many of the scrub tops as possible.  Some are faded from wear but still sturdy.  The back will be pretty much like the front, maybe with just the large 9 patch blocks and not the smaller one.  So, this is what I have been up to lately. 

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.