Vintage Quilts

Whenever my guild has large meetings a few members will bring their family heirlooms or recent antique textile finds to share with the group.  This month was no different.  Here are a couple that I saw...

First was this interesting churn dash circa 1900...it is very dirty but the fabrics are wonderful to look at..of course the brown is shattering so cleaning this will be challenging.  I really like the large pink and white printed check in the alternate blocks.  At first glance it looks like a large gingham but it is a printed fabric.  It has a plain muslin back and I believe the binding is front to back.

Next was a fun log-cabin circa 1940.

These strips are tiny!  The center blocks are red or pink and are 1/2 inch square!  I believe it was foundation pieced on muslin.

It has a wonderful yellow flowered back...the binding is back to front.

Guild Meeting

                                                        Show and Tell...blocks from the Carolina Shop Hop...
Twice year the local guild I belong to has Saturday meetings so the day group and the night group can mingle.

It has been a quiet summer so there was lots of business to handle.  I was giving the program that originally was going to be 30 minutes...then 15...then a glance a the clock told me that business had taken over two hours and I stood between the mob...I mean quilters...and lunch so the program was 10 minutes!  Oh well...I had fun making and researching the blocks...

                                                Our most recent donation quilt goes home with it's winner!
We also did an activity for Quilts of Valor.  If a member brought a block then their name went into the hat for a drawing for a "fabulous prize."  (Actually it was a signed copy of Bonnie's latest book and the great news is it went to a quilter, Angie,  who loves Bonnie's work...love it when it works out like that!)

I laid out some of the blocks when I got home...hope to have at least one of the tops together by our November meetings.  I think with some sashing and borders we will have enough to make three!

Almost there...

I decided I needed to make two more rows on the "Candy Ribbon"  (AKA Smith mountain) quilt.  I had it laid out on the floor and it just didn't look right as a square quilt.

No problem...it isn't as if I had cleaned off the cutting table or anything...Also, I made an extra red star and an extra setting block.  Just warning if you decide to do this with four colors it multiply the confusion level of this quilt 10x!  After a few sessions of laying out the blocks I realized I needed a plan that I could follow each time...even with it I ended up with two "bonus" blocks!

As far as the border goes I'm thinking of using the HST and making sort of a ribbon around the edge.

 It goes with the quilt "theme" and it uses a block from the quilt.  Which not surprisingly I have a large stack of already made.  What do ya'll think?

Remember when becomes remember where...

Do you ever look back and wonder what were you doing this time say,  5  years ago...

Or maybe 4 years....

Or even three..

When I was working on these blocks...which I really like so now I need to go dig in the UFO zone and figure out what I did with them!

A bit of progress...

I was able to get some sewing done this weekend.  I'm amazed at how much fabric this quilt is using!  Feels like I am spending lots of time at the cutting table...

Anyway, it is coming along.  I'm not going to make it as large as Bonnie's Smith Mtn and I've worked out a different border.

Haven't posted  a Dobby photo for awhile...he is getting very heavy!  At least 16 pounds...that is two of my little Brownie!

Back to sewing...

Now that my DH is back to working at least half days I have time to get back in the sewing room!  A couple of weeks ago I took a workshop with Bonnie Hunter at the Aiken, S.C. guild.  It was a fun class!  Of course then I went on vacation and my block and fabrics sat in the hallway for a couple of weeks...but I'm back!

Now Bonnie's quilt was done is two colors - Blue and Brown.  I originally started making blue and green blocks.  The problem is I have another blue and green quilt in the works.  So made a few yellow and red blocks...then I remembered I have a yellow and red quilt in the works (for in the works read UFO!)  So I thought why don't I use both of the blocks...

Problem is when I laid them out I wasn't so excited...too linear.  one row would have green and blue and the next yellow and red.  So back to the secondary block...a change up in the center square put the blue and green next to each other so the blocks would end up on the diagonal.  Much better!

So I succeeded in making this a much more complicated quilt then Bonnie intended...that's me!  I am using lots of scraps though and for that she would be happy!

Also, my leader and ender project for this are these half-square blocks based on the top gifted to me by a guild member a few weeks ago.  The hst are 1-1/2 inch finished. so the blocks are 6 inch finished.  No hurry - just fun and a good way to use up the 2-inch strips left over from other projects!

Cumberland Island

Well my DH and I weren't at top form for our holiday/vacation but we enjoyed ourselves anyways!  He got to play lots of trivia, nap and try different food to advance his diet while I got to take photos, nap and not have to cook ten different things to see if he could eat one or two of them...win-win!

On our way to Florida we stopped at St. Mary's Georgia so we could visit Cumberland Island.  The island is part of the National Park Service and can only be reached by boat.  It really is a beautiful place.  I plan to go back when I can spend more time...and perhaps when it isn't quite so hot!

The island has Saltwater march, maritime forest and beaches.  There are few structures there. The photo above is the remains of the Carnegie house, Dungeness.

 Of course my favorite is the horses...feral horses.

There were lots of wild turkeys too...since they aren't hunted I guess being that close to a picnic table doesn't make them nervous...

New to me quilt top...

Things are still a bit off schedule but getting better...

I made it to my guild's daytime bee today.  One of the new members gave me a 1930's quilt top she found years ago at a church yard sale.  She doesn't collect vintage or antique but it was the end of the sale and she didn't want it getting tossed.  I think it is a great little top.  A  bit fragile in places but a wonderful collection of fabrics...particularly like the wide assortment of solids!

Love the little block with the nautical theme...didn't I just see something like this in the current Hancock's catalog?!

A few weeks ago Bonnie Hunter posted directions for a block she drafted based on an antique quilt she saw at a mall.  Amazing how my brain has been numbed from not piecing or sewing for a month...this block just was not going together for me!  It worked in the end but I've never worked so hard!  Decided I needed to sew for 30 minutes a day if only to get the sewing-brain-cells a bit of exercise!