Category — Quilters, Quilts, Quilting

At least, I think it’s a quilt from the 30’s. The fabrics look like the reproduction ones available today. I found this quilt at a local flea market for $25. I’m sure the quilt police would be after me if they knew what I was going to do with it, but it’s destined to be cut up and used as backdrop in vintage wooden window frames and the rest made into pillows. In defense of my actions, I will say there is a number of large rips and many places where the fabric is completely worn away. (Yeah, yeah, I know some of you aren’t going for it. . .) *smile*

I like the way the quiltmaker mixed the large and small dresden plates together. Click on the pictures to enlarge them so you can see the fabrics better.

It looks like the quilting is some sort of chain pattern around each plate and then it’s repeated in the first border.

I *love* the way the outside border uses the pieces of the small dresden plates. . .

and the way it just curves right around the corners.
Sewing on the binding took some work!

No quilting makes a quilting blog rather dull. I haven’t done any personal quilting in over 8 weeks and even the quilting I’m committed to doing for others has been a little sparse so I don’t have any pictures to show. (My feeling of apathy is making me look like a flake, but unfortunately my apathy won’t let me care either.)

I thought I’d share a few links to Barn Quilts. If you haven’t seen them, they are old barns with 8′ x 8′ quilt squares on them. I think they are really neat but then, I like old barns AND quilts. It seems these barns have become tourist attractions with bus tours and everything. This Ohio old barn website has quilt barn pictures from Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Tennessee as well as other types of barn photos.

These are a few of my favorites:

If I ever make it back to NY to fulfill my homesteader-wannabe-wishes, and my property has an old barn, I’m going to have to have an 8′ x 8′ quilt square on it.

I managed to snap a few pictures from the local quilt show we attended yesterday. There were two appliquéd quilts that were beautiful–one captured Best of Show. (Pictures are clickable to see an enlarged view)

On the left: Dian Lamb’s “Guardian Angel” First Place - Machine pieced & Machine quilted
On the right: Lynda Caffey’s “Crazy Quilt” Third Place - Any piecing method & Hand quilted [Lynda's quilt has black & white photos of family members, her grandmother's lace and wonderful embroidery work]

On the left: Sonia Wittenberg’s “Black & Brights” - Machine pieced & Machine quilted
On the right: Wanda Smith’s “Block of the Month” Third place - Comination piecing & Machine quilted [This one is done in batiks]

On the left: Wanda Smith “Bear Mountain Cabin” First Place - Machine pieced & Machine quilted
On the right: Diane Johnston “Dad’s Tulips” Second place - Combination of quilting [This one is done is plaids]

Shirley Pierce “Baskets & Hearts” Best of Show & First Place - Any piecing method & Hand quilted

Last night as I was trying to square up Jessica’s quilt top before sewing on the binding, our youngest quilt inspector, Ludo, would not leave me alone to get it done. First he jumped up on the cutting table to see if he could help…

Can I help?

Then, unfortunately, he decided it was a good spot for a nap…

Think I’ll take a catnap right here…

Later on, I finished trimming and went to sew on the binding. Guess who showed up to help again?

You *have* to let me help now…

It’s impossible to sew when he’s laying right there. He attacks my hand the minute I try to put the presser foot down. [sigh] I just let him be and a short time later…

Hmm… think I’ll take another catnap!

Today I finally got the binding sewed on. Not without more “help” from Ludo, I might add… (What is it with cats and quilts?)

This is the mystery quilt pattern Jessica and I both started over Labor Day weekend last September. The mystery quilt is called Chain Event and it’s from an email loop called A Pocket Full of Mysteries. Mystery quilt designer Dorothy Young hosts a mystery weekend a couple times of year. She shares her pattern for free during the mystery weekend. I actually started 2 of this particular pattern and I’ve finished one. It’s my Autumn Night quilt. I entered it in the Fiber Arts Show that’s this weekend. (I can’t believe that there are only 2 pictures from the 2005 show on that link… somebody needs to get some more up there!)

Tomorrow morning, dd Rachelle, dfs Alice, Cindy and I are going out to breakfast and then heading over to the quilt show. Hopefully, I’ll remember the camera and have a few photos to share afterward.

I’m searching for my niche this year… someplace that feels like a comfortable fit. As I’ve spent time over this last week or so updating my quilting journal, setting up this blog and then answering the questions posed in the “ABC’s of My Quilting Style” meme, it’s given me a chance to pause and reflect on my quilting.

I’ve tried to take some of these thoughts that are swirling and twirling around in my head and put them down on paper and make some sense of it all. A task much more daunting than I think I’m up to. LOL Definitely a project that requires chocolate! Just looking over my list of WIPs and Some Day Quilts made me realize that I have a lot of ideas of my own that I need to persue. (As a side note here: A dear friend and I used to refer to ourselves as “the idea women” during a stint as business partners together–we came up with dozens of ideas for products but didn’t even get half a dozen into production. LOL I will probably never be at a loss for ideas!) I’m having a hard time trying to get my thoughts down in words, though; so I’ve decided for now to just leave it as a vague inclination. I’ll just let the process evolve and unfold.

I want to create and play and experiment like a “mad” scientist in his lab; only instead of chemicals, test tubes and such, I want to create, play and experiment with quilting fabrics, tools and techniques. And I want to put the ideas in my head into motion and onto fabric. I know what I like to see in quilts, and I know what I want to try out in my first “experiment.” I guess that’s good for now.