Signed, Sealed, and (Soon to Be) Delivered

The Star Blossoms quilt is done!  It's pieced, quilted, bound, and ready for its new home.

My version is bigger than the pattern in the book.  The original had 12 blocks.  I made 20.  The quilting was done quilt-as-you-go style.

Orange is my oldest grandson's favorite color.  It's becoming one of my favorite colors, too.  I used lots of orange prints in the blocks, and the binding is a mottled orange.

This is an easy pattern, and I would recommend it, even though I changed a few things, like the size, plus I used my Easy Angle ruler to make the half square triangles.  The blocks finish at 18 in. square, and they use up lots of scraps.  What looks like sashing here is actually part of the block.  There are 14 rectangles surrounding the center section.  It's a great pattern for using up a wide variety of scraps.
Here's the book the pattern came from:  Scrap-Basket Beauties, by Kim Brackett.

This quilt will be mailed to my sister in Florida.  She has had some health concerns in the last several years.  I hope the quilt will be a cheerful reminder that we care about her.

Here's why I didn't post last week:

I went on a quilt history retreat!  It was absolutely wonderful.  Our special guest/teacher was Sue Reich, author of many great books on quilt history.
The ladies above are examining a new find by one of our members.  From left to right, they are Maribeth, Bonnie, Laurie, Carol, Pat, and Nancy.
Sue Reich shared her quilts with us, not only in slides but "in person".

Here's an amazing quilt from the early 20th century.  It's hard to tell from the photo, but this quilt was quilted by machine, most probably a treadle.

Here's another different way to make a signature quilt;  an embroidered wreath of leaves.

This is Sue's book on signature quilts.  The title is Quiltings, Frolicks & Bees:  100 Years of Signature Quilts.  Many of the quilts in the books are in Sue's personal collection, and she has researched several of them to find where the quilts were made and what the lives of the individual signers were.  It's an absolutely wonderful book, full of glorious color photos.

Through my volunteer work with quilt documentation, I know the importance of signing and dating my quilts.  But I can't say I always follow through! Being at this retreat reminded me to label my quilts.

So here's the label for my sister's quilt.  It's a commercial label I've had for years, with details added with a Pigma pen.  I'll sew it on (by hand), and then get the quilt ready to mail.

We also learned about World War I and World War II quilts at the retreat.  I'll write more about that in the coming weeks.

I'm linking up with Crazy Mom this week at Finish It Up Friday.

I wish good and happy sewing for you this week!