Pair of Doll Quilts

Here are my two recent finished doll quilts.  The green one is true in color, but I don't know what happened to the one patch of squares.  Yikes, this one is so much brighter, and not nearly so yellow as it appears.  Anyway, there is a little surprise in the latter - a tiny four patch.  I'm hoping to complete the quilting on many of my already basted, and ready to quilt, doll quilt tops.  They are really a joy to hand quilt - nearly instant gratification, and a fun summer project, I think.  Easily portable to work on on the porch, inside while "watching" tv, at a sew-in with a friend.  I just love everything about them, and hope to hang some on a wall in a spare bedroom.   For now, I do enjoy just looking through the growing stack of little quilts.  Are you on the doll quilt bandwagon yet?

How About this Piece of Fabulous?

This caught my eye on Ebay.  It looked like it would make a nice little tree skirt for a feather-type tabletop tree.  I'm enjoying it now on my kitchen table for a while, though.  Did you notice that the center is a seven-pointed star?!  I didn't until it arrived, and I really studied it.  That makes it even more fun, I think.

A Face Only a Mother Could Love

Taryn at Repro Quilt Lover is giving away two copies of New Discoveries in American Quilts.  I thought the cover looked familar, so I checked the bookshelf.  Yep, there was a copy sitting on the shelf waiting patiently for some attention.  The doll quilt on pg 109 caught my eye and was a great diversion from trimming hst. My constant alternate fabric reads a little stronger than the antique quilt, but a pretty close copy.

Thanks, Taryn, for the intermission!  Now back to hst!

Finally, Some Piecing!

There's been alot of antique quilt inspiration for me lately.  Long dry spell with no sewing, but a quilt from the Elizabeth Richardson quilt exhibit in Bowling Green, KY inspired me to ignore the long list of 'projects in flight'.  My garbled notes needed to be deciphered quickly while still fresh in my mind's eye.  It's been refreshing moving out of my Civil War repro comfort zone - the antique quilt is c 1840.  Fun digging thru stash to find fabric appropriate to the time period - I seldom use solids (and never muslin). 

The quilt has a deep mid-scale border and I found the perfect fabric at Whittle's not one hour after leaving the exhibit.  The time period of the border fabric is later (1876), but the color and scale are a match.  The constant alternate was from stash - Judie Rothermel Old Sturbridge Village Collection.  I'm half done with the pinwheels!

  

Jan and I visited the Quilter's Hall of Fame in Marion, IN to see the antique PA quilts from the collection of Pat and Arlan Christ. 

What a wonderful border on this quilt, c 1890, from the Kreider Estate of Lancaster Co.

And look at this backing fabric!  I'll take six yards, please.

This crib quilt, Sunbonnet Lassies made by Marie Webster, was featured in Ladies Home Journal, Aug. 1912.  It was inspired by the Sunbonnet Babies book illustrations by Bertha Corbett.  The quilting includes picket fences and flying birds. 

Hope there's alot of quilt inspiration influencing you!

Antique Quilt Exhibits

The Rotary Club Antique Quilt exhibit was the highlight of my Paducah visit.  'Eagles, Stars & Bars', curated by Pat and Arlan Christ, was a wonderful selection of patriotic quilts spanning 120 years (c1830 thru c1950).  I've seen the Ocean Wave quilt, c1876, quilt in print, but what a thrill to stand in front of it.  The quilt is from Berks County, PA (dimensions 83 x 92).


















The seaweed background fabric in the Bethlehem Star quilt, c1840, was striking.  This quilt was collected in PA and has a front-to-back rolled binding on a double pink background (wouldn't you love to see the back!) - measures 100 x 104.

The Star Quilt, c1870 originated in PA.  It's hand pieced with a plain backing and back-to-front rolled binding (88 x 89).

Broken Star, c 1930, was collected in OH.  It is machined pieced with a plain backing (78 x 78).

Yesterday was Mother's Day for me.  I visited the Elizabeth Richardson Quilt Gallery (see sidebar 'Items of Interst in the Midwest') in Bowling Green, KY and then shopped at Whittles 'brick and mortar'!  I expected the quilts to be mid 20th century with a few 19th century examples.  The exhibit so exceeded my expectations!  If you're close by, be sure to stop.  No photos allowed, but check out the pics of the opening - http://www.flickr.com/photos/13303252@N06/6939451543/in/set-72157629112832264/.

Antique Mall

Lots going on around my house lately, but a couple of weeks ago I did manage a little antiqueing.  These were the only two quilts at the mall, but I thought they were photo worthy!  I apologize for the brief post - sometimes life gets in the way, doesn't it?

Quilt Show and Labels

The weekend that Jan attended the 'String-A-Long' guild show in Indiana, I attended the Venice guild show, Quilting By the Gulf XIV', in Florida.  I loved the mouse pincushion taking in the show from the vantage point of this antique block. 

This liberated log cabin was one of my favorites from the exhibited quilts.  I took a picture of the detail placard (male quilt designer), but can't read the information to give credit.  Funny coincidence that Jan and I should highlight a similar show quilt - guess we're rubbing off on each other (which is a good thing!). 







I was lucky to time my show visit with the bed turning event.  The opportunity for good quilt shots wasn't optimal, but I wanted to share my favorite.

Taryn from Repro Quilt Lover recently asked about quilt labels.  Happens that I was making a label for this quilt which will be exhibited at the AQS Paducah show this week (WOO HOO!).  If you're visiting the show and there's a 'white-glove' lady in attendance, ask to see the back - it's a strippy with alternating solid/lg hst blocks.

This is how I make a label.  My free-hand attempts have been disappointing, so I've partnered with computer software:

     - Type the line info into Word as you want it to appear on the label

     - Highlight the text, select 'center' formatting and play with font and sizing until it meets your needs

     - Save

     - Iron a 8 1/2 x 11 piece of label fabric to the waxed side of freezer paper

     - Mark a 'x' on regular printer paper and print a sample to determine how to feed the label paper

     - My printer takes the freezer paper without a problem

     - If you have a problem, I've used xerox services at Staples successfully

     - Trace over text with permanent pen (Pigma) - keep this in mind when picking the font

     - Cut label to correct measurements.  The excess fabric goes into my scraps

     - You can wash the label to make sure the text is the desired intensity before adding to quilt