My Flower Garden

I promised you a picture of my next quilt, My Flower Garden. I didn't have a pattern so went to the library and found a book that had it in. Made a template out of cardboard but later found one made out of tin with sandpaper on the back so it would not slide.

I learned that it should be with a yellow center, then a plain color and then a floral and the green representing the garden path. Putting them altogether with muslin.

Everyone of thsse blocks are different and they are not really easy to put together. Needs a little practice. As you can see in this picture The bottom is scalloped around the flowers. Some people cut the blocks and made it straigth as it is easier to bind. I acturally sewed this binding on by machine but of course did the last by hand.

This is a picture of the hexegon used to make these blocks. At the corners are larger dots. You sew two pieces dot to dot. Then another one doing two sides..I meant a lot of cutting off and knot tieing. I always started in the middle and sewed the first row all around. then started on the second row. Just going from dot to dot.

Here's a closeup of one of the blocks. What makes this so much fun to look back on is that both of these prints were my clothes. I had a dress out of the outside print and I think a skirt out of the black with red flowers

Another closeup but also showing how I did the sides. Just partial blocks made a straight side but it is still scalloped with with the hexagon.

Just another closeup of the end. I have quilting inside of each hexegon. Didn't know about taking the 1/4 in in those days. Now I use the tape as I can't get it even otherwise.

Hope you have enjoyed looking at some of my older quilts. This went on our bed in our new home and then when it became impossible to sleep in the same bed, He's hot and I'm cold. I had an old twin bed in the same room and I bought a completed top at a house auction and quilted it. It's has much softer colors in it more like the 30's.

This is a crazy picture but it shows how I finished the corners.

A little trip back in time. I made this between 1964-66. Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for stopping by.

New and Old

Thought I would show you another project I'm working on. This is the first place mat I've finished quilting..

There are 5 more all with different fruit.

These were some printed pieces that came to be from a friend who cleaned out all her quilting stuff. Thought they would be good for the table.

Then here is the first double wedding ring quilt I made..Started this one after I finished the butterfly quilt. I had so many scraps and this is what I used. I think I only bought some muslin for the top and backing

It is all hand pieced and hand quilted. This isn't one that you could even sew the rows together on the machine. I did sew the binding on the machine and it is scalloped all around.

I tried to keep the big rings in one color. As you can see these are very much fabrics from the 50's and many were from clothes that I had made for myself and my daughter. The date I have on this is 1960- 62,
I don't know if you can see the quilting design in the center but it is rather intricate. I used my Mothers cardboard templates for this. Cutting the colored pieces out holding the fabric and template in my hand and with scissors cut around the fabric so I'm sure a lot of them weren't perfect.

Here's another closeup of the blue ring.. I doubt if there are many people making quilts like this any more. Just to time consuming. But we expected to take a couple years to make a quilt. We weren't working on two or three projects at a time. I usually finished a quilt before I started another. That means the quilting an all.
This was on our bed until we moved into our home that we built up here on the mountain in 1964 and then I had made a Grandmother's Flower garden quilt. Which I will show you next time. So come back.

Buzz Saw Block Swap

Since Kairle, over at Happy Valley, showed what she was working on yesterday, I thought I would show you what I've done the last couple days.

These are my Buzz Saw blocks. This is the Friendship swap which the Quilters Hollow does once a year. I know I don't need another bunch of blocks but, I like making blocks.

I have the red set all done That consists of 12 blocks with 4 of these little ones making up a block. They are fun to make but when sewing all those strips together it does get a little boring.

I've finished for the day. Have about 2 sets of the green all cut and ready to sew the strips but I've had enough for today.

Besides it's almost dinner time and I'll have to get the chicken out of the oven soon.

The fun with this swap is we'll get back a big variety of blocks and then we can set them any way we want.

Since I've finished most of my projects for the month, I need to find the second quilt I made. The first of the Double Wedding Rings. But it's put away and I need to dig it out to take a picture. So stay tuned.

Mystery Wheel

Another project finished for the month. This is a mini or pint size of a mystery quilt which Kairle gave us a couple years ago. It's been finished laying on top of a case just waiting to be quilted. Had the backing with it.

So I took it down and got it quilted last week and then the binding on and just finished it last night.

I used out of my stash for this. The first on , a large size I made with TB fabric. This is the prettiest paisley but sure couldn't see any markings on it to quilt the border. Ended up marking on the back. Since I had stitched in the ditch on both sides of the inner border I had that to follow when marking the back. I doubt if you can see it through. But it is done.

This has been a very busy day for me but I wanted to get this written. I sure appreciate the comments I've been getting . At least I know someone is reading and looking at the few pictures I put up.

Thanks for stopping by.

Vintage Stitches

Finally this quilt is finished. Now the front and back have been done for two years but as you can see it is big and when you see the back further down you will see it is a reversible quilt. So I didn't want to hand quilt it. Needed an overall design done on the machine but not by me.

We have another member of our group whose name happens to be the same as mine, She is much more quiet though. She got a frame last year after moving into a new home with room and when I said something about getting someone to quilt this she said she would as soon as she got bigger poles.

So about a month ago she said she had her poles and to send it. Which I did and within a few weeks she had it done.

This is the top. The large light blocks in the center have designs significant for each month. Some of the women embroidered the blocks . Some colored them in, Which is what I did with the second set on the back. The tumbling blocks is a printed fabric

Here is the back. I did this differently than the pattern called for.

Here is a closeup of part of a block and I think you can see the quilting which is a Pantograph of large swirling feathers

Here is the April block for Easter. I colored them using regular crayons and heat setting them.

It seemed to take forever to get the binding on this. It is queen size and I'm very glad to have it finished.

My New tote

Just wanted you to know that I have been doing a little sewing. Between quilting things and sewing on binding you have to do a little something else.
This pattern was in the Aug. 07 McCall's quilting magazine and I had made one for another swap with a gal on the Carol Doak group. Wanted to make one for ME. So with a package of Charms of the new Lakeside collection of Thimbleberries I put this together.

It really isn't as easy as it looks with putting fusible fleece on the backs of both the front and the lining it makes for a pretty thick sew.

One nice thing is it take a little magnet on each side as a closer.

Nice a big . Holds a book that I like to take along to the beauty parlor, the doctor's office which we have many to visit.

So that's my show and tell for today.

Butterfly Flutterby

I love the heading Kim gives to my posts,.So usually don't change them.

This is about my very first quilt started in the mid 50's before my DD was born. We lived in an apartment and I needed something more to do and also wanted a quilt.
But what pattern to make?

My husband said to make a butterfly quilt. I hadn't seen a pattern like that. He said his grandmother had made one. She lived with them in his teen years, before she died.

My Mother-in-law said she thought there was a box on the attic with some of Grandma's quilting stuff so up we went. Aren't attic's wonderful? This was sure was. Always cleaned once a year and everything in it's place.

Sure enough we found the box and the butterfly pattern, Even the original newspaper clipping where she got it. I think my DD has the box now.

So I proceeded to make a block. Now I started sewing when I was about 13 and my Mother had made quilts off and on all her life but I never paid any attention to what she did.

I knew how to follow a pattern. I think I had gotten a couple books out of the library but you know the quilting books of 1950's was nothing like today's.

No body told me this was a difficult pattern to make but when putting it together it is not easy. You have to make the two sides and then sew the body in while sewing the whole block together.

My Mother visited while I was pieciing these blocks and made one block. Said it was to difficult for her. That block is in the quilt but she got the odd shaped background pieces on the top of the butterfly backwards. I just left it.


It was all hand pieced and hand quilted. Not fancy by any means. As you can see the wing tips and center are the same in all the blocks, Half with gold outside and half with brown chambray. The body was scraps left over from a circular skirt I made for myself. Had yellow roses.
The three pieces in the wings are all scraps from things I made or some I brought back with me from my Mother's She had a huge box of scraps.

I figured that there are 82 complete blocks and then one the one row there is a half block to fill in and at the ends there are just pieces. This is the way the pattern had it.

This is taken from the side so you can see the half blocks.

Another closeup to see the fabrics and my terrific quilting. LOL

The whole quilt. This was completed in 1960. In the apartment we had a long narrow living room and at the end was a big unfinished storage area and I found an old quilting frame there. Ask the owner if I could use it. So set it up and was able to quilt this much easier with a little one under foot. My daughter was born in 1959.

She used this on her bed until she left for college and so the top is very worn. Should have done like my Mother used to do, Put a protective piece of muslin over the top to keep from wearing the binding. Course this was before we learned to double the binding to wear better.

Thought maybe some of you would be interested in some of my old quilts. Next one I made was a double wedding ring using the templates in cardboard that my Mother had made and used.

It is very scrappy. More later. Thanks for stopping by