It Happened Again

You will remember that I recently rehabbed a vintage quilt by sewing the blocks into an entirely new setting. Well.

Not long after, I received a message on Ravelry from someone who happened to see my post (she was visiting the quilting group) and linked me to a post where someone was offering two old tops. Sure enough, someone was offering two tops that were found in an attic they were cleaning out. (First time in 85 years, apparently!) The first they thought was from the 30s and the second from the 70s.

We ended up connecting and he agreed to send me the tops. I had half a thought that I might get into trouble if old quilts keep finding me! (But I quickly quashed it.)

Then the owners wrote me and said that someone in the family wanted the checkerboard top for a baby quilt; he was very sorry. But I didn't mind because I was only taking the second one because I liked the first one! So, perfect all around.

A couple weeks after that, my package arrived!

What did I have?

Twenty-five blocks sewn in a 5x5 grid; 4 blocks sewn in a row; and 4 single blocks. I can't imagine what layout they were thinking of with that number of blocks, or maybe they were planning to make a few more.

Some of the blue pieces have evidence of stitching and I'm wondering if it's from the same reinforcing stitching that I saw in the last set of blocks. But in this case, they took the time to remove the reinforcing strip. The blocks looked to be in good shape. It was all hand sewn.

First order of business was to separate the blocks. I knew I couldn't use them in the existing arrangement.

And here they are!

I gave them a good soak and light swishing and then an extra long soak because I forgot about them overnight. A quick spin in the washer and they were ready to hang to dry.

The water came out very brown which was icky. But I wonder if it was some of the brown dye bleeding. A few of the blue stars have brown spots and I don't know if they were already there or if it was transfer from the dye.

Once washed, they all needed a good pressing. Each block went from this:

to this:

Back

Front

So satisfying!!

Although the blocks are not a uniform size and some of the seam allowances are a lot smaller than a 1/4 inch, the only one that could pose a big problem is this one:

Can you see how "not flat" that is?!! I don't think I'm going to re-sew it. I can just push it down and flatten it which makes the blue fabric pleat over itself but doesn't affect the outside shape. Or I can choose a layout that doesn't need that block.

This morning I laid out the blocks for the first time. I'm thinking of setting them on-point with alternating blocks.

There are a lot of ways you can fill in the blank squares. Solid fabric squares is one option, or quarter square triangles (hour glass blocks) can be a striking arrangement too.

I trimmed the last set of blocks so that they were all the same size. I think I may add sashing to these blocks so I can cut them the same size without cutting off parts of the stars.

I was thinking these small blocks (only about 7") wouldn't be enough for a big quilt, but setting on point and alternating with other blocks makes them almost fill this double bed. Add a few borders that hang over the side and I'd have a bed quilt!

That would also mean making a couple more blocks because there aren't quite enough for this 5x7 arrangement. I used to have a blue that I think would have match pretty well, but I'm not sure I have it any more. Matching the brown would be a lot harder.

But on the other hand, they don't have to blend in completely. Having different blocks would just highlight the fact that this is a "mother/daughter" quilt--that's what they call it when one person makes the blocks or starts a quilt and another (from a younger generation) finishes it. An endearing name, isn't it?

Linking up with Quilting Patchwork and Applique

County Fair Quilts (2019)

Ready? I said I'd do this a couple weeks ago, so I hope so!

I'm going to keep it simple this year and pretend like we're walking through the Home Arts building.

First up, as always, are the raffle quilt blocks. Here are the ones that made it onto the quilt (usually 20, if they have enough entries):

 Here are the top six, if you'd like a closer look:

 Then we have the quilt blocks that will be made into pillows:

Hanging above are this year's blocks. Below on the shelves are last year's pillows.

And here are all the extra entries. There were a lot this year.

Some of these didn't meet the rules for the use of the fabric or didn't fit the theme. The block way on the top left was judged to not fit the theme ("Grandma's Scrap Quilt"), but look how great it is!

So cute!

After this year's blocks comes last year's blocks made up into the raffle quilt:

Click here to see the blocks last year to compare to how it looks now with the sashing. Always an amazing transformation.

Next is the Grand Champion of the larger quilts:

 That was a lot of fussy applique. Almost everyone exclaimed at this quilt as they walked by.

A Tshirt quilt for a USPS deliverer:

 A couple wall hangings:

 This is the quilt that bested my blue and white elephant quilt. It was hand quilted:

 A few more wall hangings. The hippo one is really cute.

 The following quilt was hanging from the scissors lift instead of along the wall:

(It hides the lift and the big garage door behind it. Shhh.)

Butterflies!

There is a lot of detail in the border of this one:

All those pieced triangles!

 Next is the row of wall hangings that fit over the photograph and art displays.

 Look! More hippos! There were two of this quilt!

You can see the one below on the left was the Grand Champion of the smaller quilts.

Beautiful! And on the right is another Tshirt quilt. One of the local high school teams is called the "Eddies" and you can see Eddie at the top centre.

That's the end of the second wall. There's nothing on the third wall (no room), but when you turn the corner you see my quilt hanging by itself in a corner:

It might look lonely, but it must have worked since it got the People's Choice Award! (It's also one of the few spaces for a big quilt.)

Carrying on along the fourth wall, some more wall hangings or smaller quilts:

 A lovely Christmas quilt:

That's the end of the hanging quilts.

There is always one set up on a bed. This year it was a maze illusion quilt:

And since the number of produce entries was down this year, some of the shelves were used to hold two more quilts:

The superintendent mentioned that mine might have been displayed here, but one of these had a white backing and she didn't trust hanging it against the wall. Since my quilt had a dark blue backing, she thought that was safer!

And there you go. Quilts at the fair. I love seeing other people's work and I hope you have enjoyed seeing these too. I think clicking any of the pictures will get you a larger view and I encourage you to take a closer look at them.

Holland Tulip Time Quilt Show 2019

Last week I took a jaunt to Holland (Michigan) and enjoyed the quilt show they host during Tulip Time. Come along on a virtual tour.

The first few quilts featured flowers prominently.

They're Not Your Poppies by Karen de la Durantaye

Sundays with Auntie Rose by Karen de la Durantaye

And, of course, what would Tulip Time be without tulips?!

Abounding Tulips designed by Marilyn Fisher
top by Delaney Ann Prins; quilted by Janet Haines

The traditional style quilting was wonderful on this one:

Detail of Abounding Tulips

There were several impressive applique quilts:

Happy Scrappy Glorious Album designed by Kim McLean and
Barbara Schippa; top by Barbara Schippa
quilted by Janet Haines

Flower Pots designed by Kim McLean
top by Kathleen Myers; quilted by Darla Parks

Lolli Dot designed by Kim McLean
top made and adapted by Nora Slikkers
quilted by Karen Kielmeyer

The blocks in the following quilt were pieced but all of those lines were appliqued.

Ties That Bind by Ellie Bremer

The quilt has about 31 yards of 1/4" wide bias strips, each of them stitched down on both edges!

Detail of Ties That Bind

As I go to more shows and read more online, I recognize more patterns and designs. Do any of you recognize the following?

Farm Girl Sampler designed by Lori Holt
made by Sue Fabiano

These are blocks from the Farm Girl Vintage by Lori Holt. My sister and I did a quilt-along of these blocks in 2016. (Click here for posts about that project.)

The following is a "One Block Wonder" quilt.

Aurora Borealis - one block wonder design
Made by Janet Judson

I was really intrigued with these when I first saw them, but I doubt I will make one at this point. The blocks are hexagons made up of six identical wedges. They're all cut from the same fabric. Each hexagon is unique because it is cut from a different part of the fabric, but all the colours are consistent. Once the blocks are sewn, you  have just as much work to decide how to arrange the blocks as there are so many options.

The following is a small quilt I have the pattern for and still hope to make. The first picture shows you the scale of the pieces (tiny).

Here is the full quilt. It's about 24" square.

Diamond Log Cabin designed by Little Bits
top by Mary Raak; quilted by Char Koppernal

It's paper foundation pieced, which is a technique I like, but every time I try to start this, I get stuck on which fabrics to use and how to arrange the colours. The one above looks like it was done very close to the original pattern sample, if my memory is correct.

Following is a quilt that catches my eye every time - you don't have to wonder why!

Elmer the Elephant designed by Violet Craft
Made by Greg Hugel

This one is done in a wider variety of colours than others I've seen.

Speaking of elephants, this is a cute one!

Ellie designed by "bj designs & patterns"
Made by Arla Beukema

And hanging right below it was this endearing goat.

We Could All Use a Goat (a.k.a. Frasier)
by Karen de la Durantaye

It was an original design done in foundation paper piecing. I was surprised to see that the black is not applied bias strips, but is all done in the paper piecing.

Detail of We Could All Use a Goat

There were a good number of modern style quilts:

Winter Birds designed by Nancy Halvorsen
Made by Myra Morrison

Two of them had distinctive 3D effects,

Heart of Hearts designed by Ellie Brown
top by Barbara Vanden Bosch
quilted by Living Threads Ministries

like these fluttering hearts:

Detail of Heart of Hearts

and puffy flower petals:

Flower Burst design inspired by online picture
made by Living threads volunteers
quilted by Living Threads Ministries

Labyrinth by Barbara Schippa

You are My Sunshine by Dawn Veltema

Potters Wheel designed by Briar Hill Designs
Made by Sarabeth Carr

There was an aisle of Christmas/holiday quilts:

This collection was from a shared class:

The common feature was this "bricked" background made from only two fabrics.

Tree Shadow by Kathy Ryzenga
from a technique taught by Gloria Loughman

It looks like one fabric is cut apart but arranged so the its original pattern is maintained.

These three quilts were made by a mother, daughter, and granddaughter. They worked on them together once a week over a school year.

Design: Jenny Haskins Heritage Quilt

There were made from silks, lace, and other fancy fabrics. They shared some blocks but others were unique as far as I could tell.

The following quilt was inspired by and made from her wedding dress (once her daughter decided not to wear it):

Wedding Dress Recycled designed by Cheryl Scott
top by Cheryl Scott; quilted by Deloa Jones

Her favourite part was the lace panels so that is what she featured in the design.

Medallion designed by Edyta Sitar
Made by Nancy Einfeld

There were many more lovely quilts, but I'm not going to post them all.

After the show, I shopped at a quilt shop in Holland that I hadn't visited before. It was a nice shop but I didn't make any purchases that day.