Friday, June 23, 2017

A Little Quilt

I finished a quilt this week.  In only 2 days, it was pieced, layered, quilted, and bound.  That's because it was a Little Quilt.
Were you quilting in the 1980s or 1990s?  If so, you probably remember Little Quilts.  They were a wonderful craze.  These adorable wall quilts were made from scraps and mostly quilted by hand.  You had all the fun of making a quilt and it was done before you knew it.
My newest Little Quilt started right here, when I got home from the annual rummage sale at the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts and dumped all the great stuff I bought out on the kitchen table.
I could hardly wait to get it out of the bags so I could look at it.  And pet it.  And arrange it in a rainbow of color.  I felt like whirling around with excitement.
Take a look at the center foreground of the photo above.  If you are very sharp-eyed, you might see a small stack of house blocks.  The blocks measure only 5 in. finished.  There were 7 of these completed, plus several sections just needing to be joined.
So I joined them.  I only had to make 2 roof sections from my scraps, and 12 blocks were done.  I set them with light fabric cut from a remnant, and added cornerstones from my cut strips.  The red gingham border is a scrap I bought at the quilt show in May, and the outside corners and binding are also from my cut strips.
The quilting is very simple, mostly in the ditch.  All the houses are outlined.
The backing was a scrap in the pile called "Going to the Basement".  One less thing to take down there.

Little Quilts are still around, and you can still buy the books!  Click HERE to go to the web page.  They even have a newsletter.
In other news, I finished all the blocks for my triangles quilt this morning.  There are 99 of them.  You need a lot when the block is only 6 in. finished.
These were fun to make.  Some of my "new" scraps from the rummage sale went right into these blocks.
Here's what else I did this morning--strawberry jam!  I picked strawberries yesterday at a local You Pick farm.  It rained off and on, but that didn't stop anybody.  Gather ye berries while ye may.
As I was picking and enjoying the snick of pulling a ripe strawberry from the vine, there were lots of other sounds around me.  Children's voices were my favorite.  One little girl seemed very concerned about the dirt, and reminded her mother to wash the berries when they got home.  Another announced "It's Raining Time!"  when it started to sprinkle.  A little boy asked if he could pick the "baby" berries.  There were even a couple of conversations in languages I didn't know.
It has been at least 50 years since I started going to the strawberry patch with my mom and grandparents.  I plan to keep going as long as I can.

I always try to enjoy the little things in life.  And the best little things are quilts!
Wishing you joy this week and always,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches
As usual, I'm linking up with Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts and Myra at Busy Hands Quilts.
Come join us!












4 comments:

  1. I do remember Little Stitches! Wow, I was a new wife and mother back then. I didn't jump on that idea because I needed "real" quilts for the beds and little time for sewing and quilting.
    You got a gold mine! What pretty fabrics and those little houses. Little Stitches love!

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  2. You hit the jackpot with the haul from the Museum rummage sale! House blocks almost complete!! Whoo hoo!

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  3. Wow! What a find at the rummage sale! I certainly understand about petting, rearranging and dancing over such a find! Though I've never heard of Little Quilts, I'm off to learn more about them! Eeeesh! How did we learn more about our craft before the Internet? :) Thank you for sharing!

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  4. You did amazing at the Museum rummage sale! Little houses make the cutest little doll quilts.

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