Indianapolis Amish/Design Wall

Only two quilts to share today, but lots of detail shots because these photos came out so well. You can really see the luschious, deep saturated color.

An Amish star quilt...

Oh, I loved this one!

I had a notion to make a new quilt for my back porch. Most of the 3 inch 9 patchs were already made, so this is going fairly quickly. The sashing will probably be a gray - a secondary mourning type. Initially the plan was for black, but the blocks keep telling me "no!".

Some of the blues began life as bricks for the Texas Braid quilt. The leftovers from that will be around for years!

I'm not sure if I'll use half blocks around the edges, or introduce another fabric for triangles to finish the design. If it ends up being half blocks, I may just make full blocks and chop them off. This is supposed to be easy-breezey, so we'll see if I have the nerve to do it!

Retail Therapy

No sewing since my last post, but there has been some retail therapy!  I visited a couple of local shops with a visiting quilting friend.  Luck was with us -  Needle and Thread was having a fabric sale.  We ran into friends that told us about a shop only 10 miles from my house.  What kind of quilter am I - how could I miss a quilt shop that close to home?  Scrapyard Quilting had a nice sale table with repros!  I did some damage, but it put a smile on my face!  I fell in love with the combination of these two fabrics.  I'm pondering the quilt options.     

To make your visit worthwhile, I'm including two more quilts from the Frugal and Fancy Exhibit.

The Star of Bethlehem quilt (1880) was made by Anna Marie Arnold Clemmons, Shelby County, as a gift for her husband.  The quilt includes two inscriptions: 'J Clemmons married A W Arnold March 22, 1866' and 'Presented to J Clemmons on his 34 birthday by his wife'.

Whig Rose (1845-1865) was made by Lavina Rudicil Rubottom of Franklin County.  The quilt was presented as a wedding gift to relatives in 1887.



I'm anxious to get back to the sewing machine, but the calendar isn't co-operating.

Indigo in Indianapolis

I love blue, I love baskets, and I love little blocks, so this one has it all, in my book...

The batting may be thick, but it doesn't detract much...

An indigo whole-cloth...

Detail - Still has that beautiful sheen...

Progress

I've completed a fourth of the quilt - upper left corner.  The pattern is Twilight Hopscotch from Simple Comforts by Kim Diehl.  I changed the block construction to reduce seams in the background fabric - my main block is the 9/4 patch with star sashing.  The book directions are reversed.  The original star centers were scrappy double pinks (below), but didn't work for me.  So, I decided on a common cheddary center.  I was short of fabric by one piece, so the outer four corners are a little darker fabric from same color family (upper left star). 

Don't you love bonus hst!!!  I'll have alot of these blue/gray hst from the star points that will finish at 1 1/2".  My little brain has already skipped ahead to planning a new 'little' quilt.




Jan and I went to two quilt exhibits last Saturday - great quilt day!  I've included two choice applique quilts from the 'Frugal and Fancy Quilt Exhibit' (info on sidebar). 

Indiania Fancy quilt by Clariss Rohrbaugh Strong (February 12, 1854).  The quilt border serves as the quilt label. 

The quilting on the Pomegranate quilt by Mary Jane Summers McClellan (1850's) was exceptional.  I see so much more detail thru Jan's eyes - she pointed out the quirkly centers.

                                                                       Amazing quilting!