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.  

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

Butterfly Baby Quilt

This baby quilt is made using the 12 butterfly blocks I found in the box of other blocks and quilting fabrics a couple weeks ago.

WIP

I placed these blocks on a navy blue sheet because I think I want to use this color and wanted to see what it would look like with the strips between them.  I am no sure of the placing just yet, keep playing with it.  Should I place them all in the same direction?  Should I do random placing?  I am looking at both ways.  The blocks 12" x 12" and I have 30 blocks.  I think I want to do this same pattern in small blocks and have them all the same fabric too.  For this quilt in the making, I like the scrappy look.  Anyone out there have an opinion?

9 Patch Baby Quilt

My cousin, Sarah Wilson Waterman received this quilt for her first son.  She said her parents found it in an antique shop in Missouri so it is from the 1970's or before.  It is a nice combination of blocks, 9 patch and I am not sure of the other block.  It is like the Attic Window block but completely framed.  This is a crib quilt.

Kim's Patchwork Quilt

This quilt was made about 1978-9 for my daughter, Kim.  It is double knit with a light weight double knit on the back.  She was 6 years old and we were very short of bedding at the time.  My mother-in-law, Ruth, gave me a bag of scraps and thus Kim had a quilt.  Now she has it on the  bed of one of her children.  It is twin bed size, big enough to cover her bunk bed when she was little.  Patchwork is a common method of making a fast quilt.

Grandmother's Choice

It took me quite awhile to find the name of this quilt.  Grandmother's choice.  At first I thought it was a variation of the Tennessee Waltz but it wasn't.  This quilt was another from the Iron Range.  It is in perfect condition other than slightly faded.  It is all cotton and not quilted but tied.  The maker did a beautiful job matching corners and the blocks are nice and even.  It is heavy so possibly has a blanket inside.  It is a full bed size.  The backing is a solid olive green cotton.  The only thing I didn't like about this quilt is that it was finnished with a dark brown zig zag stitch but it isn't straight and in places the backing comes over the front. Other than that, I really like this quilt.  Would it be wrong to take the zig zag stitching out and add a binding?

Crazy Quilt # 2

This is a family piece.  It is 76"x 105" and I am unsure how old it is.  My cousin inherited it and she said it was old when she got it about 25 years ago.  It is made of 30 blocks.  I like this style of quilt.  My grandmother use to make them but she didn't embroider on them.  She would just call them "Family Quilts" because they were made from clothing of the family when they wore out and the material was salvaged.  I can tell you this quilt is very heavy.  It has wool and other heavy fabric pieces.

Mae's Crazy Quilt

    This quilt is very special.  It was made by Mary Elizabeth "Mae" Mather Wilson and is owned by her great granddaughter, Erin, my cousin.  The quilt was made before 1910 and is shown in Mae's cabin at that time.  It is made out of heavy silks and velvet and has all the wonderful embroidery stitching.  The quilt is made of 4 main blocks set together and is twin size.  Mae made it to be used and she took very good care of it.  Erin said it is in perfect condition and still vivid colors.  As I study this quilt out and study out the one on the bed, I think these are 2 different quilts made by the same person.  Does anyone else see what I see?  The color photo has a green border around it and the quilt on the bed has no border.  Also the fabric in the pieces is different as the colored photo has solid colores but the one in the cabin has patches with a sort of print. 

Stars

Stars cover this queen size quilt.  I realize this isn't the best picture but I want to share it.  My neighbor gave it to me when she didn't want it anymore and I think it is beautiful.  I don't know the pattern name.