A Happy New Year

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!  Happy New Year!

The hardest thing about blogging for me is coming up with titles for my posts!  This week it was easy:  I took the title from this postcard.

One hundred and thirteen years ago, in 1911, my great grandmother sent this New Years card to her mother and father, my great great grandparents.  Here's the text of it:

Dear parents:  Thought I would send you a card telling you the mine buildings partly burned last night.  How is Pearl's foot?  Will and Richard aren't well.  

Bessie

Bessie turned 21 years old on December 28, the day before the card was posted.  She and her husband Will Risley had been married for 2 1/2 years, and their son Richard (my grandfather) was about 18 months old.  Pearl was Bessie's younger sister, 15 years old at the time.

Communication in rural Indiana was so different then than it is now.  It's unlikely that either family had a telephone, so letters and postcards were very important for sharing local news and family concerns.

Bessie was a quilter, and I am lucky enough to have some of her quilts.  I wonder if she sewed to keep her worries over Will and Richard and Pearl in check, or if she even had time with a sick toddler and husband to look after.

We had a lovely Christmas celebration this week, with food and presents and games.  And of course, the obligatory group photo.

Our oldest daughter made us some new picture ornaments for our tree.  The top two are her children, Mr. H and Miss E.  (Mr. H has since decided to cut his hair and looks much older.)  Somehow we didn't have an ornament with Little Guy's photo, so my daughter made one for him too.  Picture ornaments are always my favorites, even if they become tattered.

In spite of all the festivities, I actually finished a quilt!  That's because all I had to do was bind it lol, and I did that completely by machine.

The quilt was a Block of the Month by Barbara Brackman called Antebellum Album, which celebrated signature quilts made in the 1840s and 1850s by school girls, North and South.  It is free, and is still available online (Click HERE).

This was the first block, called Wandering Lover.  I started the quilt in late January 2018.  

It's not meant to be a Christmas quilt.  Red and green were very fashionable colors for quilts in this time period, and I had lots of the reproduction prints in my stash.

My friend Joey Mahieu quilted this one for me recently.  The main blocks have these wonderful feathered circles quilted on them, which were placed perfectly, as you can see in this block.  Ms. Brackman encouraged participants to write and draw in permanent ink on our blocks.  On this one, I wrote May the Circle Be Unbroken.

You can see more of Joey's beautiful quilting in the feathered border.  I love running my hands over it.

The backing is a wide back from Connecting Threads.  The binding is a green print that is also in the top.

I'm keeping this one, and I'll probably bring it out at Christmas just because of the colors.

Are you thinking about the upcoming New Year?  I'm trying to decide what to make for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks.  

This is a problem I need to tackle.  It's my "Big Scraps" basket.  I define Big Scraps as those at least 6 in. wide but smaller than a fat quarter.  As I get big scraps, I bundle them up by color and stuff them into this bushel basket until needed.  I'm sure you tell it's getting out of hand.

This year I'm going to concentrate on using these big scraps to make RSC quilts.  I wonder how many quilts I can get out of this basket?

Now for something completely silly.

I bought a little waffle maker!  It was an impulse buy, for sure.  I was walking by it in the store.  It was adorable, and made cute little 4 in. waffles.  Not even expensive.  And they had purple ones!  It practically hopped in the cart.

Following the directions carefully, I made little waffles this morning, and they came out great!  The young grandsons will be here several days next week.  We'll see if they like waffles.

This year is coming to a close in just a few days.  As always, 2024 was a mix of good and bad times, joy and heartache.  Next year will probably be the same.  The joys make it worthwhile and help us weather the bad times.

I'm wishing joy for you in the coming week, and all next year.  Happy New Year!

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy, Home of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

  

A Little Green, A New Kit, and Back from the Quilter Part 3

Welcome to Treadlestitches!

Here's where I'm going to be for the rest of the day, happily sewing at the treadle.  I have errands to run, but I'm going to have to wait, because of this:

We're getting an old fashioned snow storm this morning.  It's been snowing all night, and the weather people are predicting 4 to 6 inches.  No plows have been in our neighborhood yet, which tells me they're working hard clearing the main roads.

Even though the world outside looks more like midwinter than spring, it is the last Saturday in March, and this is my last set of blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  These were originally going to be 4 patches, but I changed my mind and sewed them into 16 patch blocks instead.

I think that alien is trying to get out!

Here's what I'm working on today.  The free pattern is a pdf download from Quilted Twins, and is called Mosaic.  (Click HERE for their free patterns page, and scroll down.  It's on the left.)

Look what happens when you put two blocks together! The original used white solid for the chaining pieces, but this turquoise print stands out as well, especially with the pastel scraps.

And this is my kind of kit, too, the kind that's already cut!  

When I get the top made, this quilt will go to the Mennonite Central Committee comforter project, which is part of this year's Hands to Help Comfort Quilt Challenge 2023, organized by Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

The kit came in this box.  Isn't it fun to get an unexpected package on your doorstep?  Especially when it's chock full of quilty stuff!  And of course it was sent by a friend, the very generous Joey Mahieu, who cut the quilt kit herself.

I was working on pink stuff when she was here, and might have mentioned not having a lot of pink scraps.  Not a problem any more!

She also sent me orange scraps, which I never have enough of, and even some yummy browns.  What's better than a box of scraps? 

As I have mentioned before on this blog, Joey is an outstanding professional quilter, and recently did three quilts for me.  Today I'm showing you the third one.

Back From the Quilter, Part Three

Snicklefritz the cat wanted to try this one out while I was taking photos.  Like all cats, he appreciates quilts.

This is another Barbara Brackman series from her Civil War Quilts blog.  It was called Antebellum Album, and highlighted girls from both the North and the South who attended girls' boarding schools, where they often made lifelong friendships.  (Click HERE for the first post--the series is still up.)  I chose red and green for the colors because many album quilts were made of that combination in that time period.  I started the blocks in 2018.

Ms. Brackman encouraged us to add ink drawings and words to our blocks.  I am NOT any kind of artist, sadly, but I gave it a try.  The lovely feather circle quilting shows up well on this block. (Thanks, Joey!)

It was so interesting to read about the lives of these women and their families, and how they weathered our terrible Civil War.  I made most of the blocks given, although one or two gave me a hard time so I substituted other traditional blocks, plus I added three blocks to make a total of 15.  The setting with alternate blocks was one Ms. Brackman suggested.

Here's the back, a Windham print by Nancy Gere.  I love wide backs!  I plan to bind it with one of the green prints from the top.

 I am so happy to have all 3 of these quilts finished so beautifully!  I could not have done this myself, and they might have remained UFOs forever.  The labels I will put on each of them will tell their story, and will include both my name and Joey's.

If you'd like to contact the Marvelous Mrs. Mahieu about quilting your UFOs, click HERE for her Facebook page, and HERE for information about the shop.  [No affiliation, just a friend and a satisfied customer.]

It's still snowing, so I'm going to get back to the treadle. Stay warm, and happy quilting!

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy, Home of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

 

 

A Tale of Two Loves

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

When I say two loves, I'm talking about quilts, of course.  (My life may be crazy, but it's not a soap opera.)  I have two desperate all-consuming loves in my quilting life--antique quilts/reproductions and modern/bright colors.  I can't choose one or the other.  Thankfully, I don't have to.

It might seem weird, but I work on both kinds of quilts at once.  So this week I have a finished quilt and a top to show you.  The top celebrates the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month, red.

 In 2018, quilt historian and pattern researcher Barbara Brackman hosted a block of the month on her Civil War Quilts blog.  (Click HERE for the first post.  All the patterns are still online, for free.)  It was called Antebellum Album, and celebrated the friendships among Northern and Southern women and girls before the Civil War.

Each month Ms. Brackman wrote an interesting post about a real person, and provided us with a pattern for a 12 in. block.  The blocks had suggestions for inked inscriptions.

I am TERRIBLE at inked inscriptions, but I tried.  The one above says May the Circle Be Unbroken.

When I got the blocks done, I had to figure out how to set them.  Ms. Brackman's suggested set made a square quilt, but I wanted mine to be rectangular.  Eventually, I made 3 more blocks, and alternated them with the suggested pieced blocks.  

There were a couple of blocks I had trouble with, so I just substituted a different one.  (It's perfectly legal to do that, BTW).  I chose traditional red and green for my color scheme, but many of the other quilters used more modern fabrics, and they were great.

This is another one I'm going to have quilted by someone much more talented than me.

 

And on the other hand, I finished the little Pennants baby quilt.  I'm calling it Pennants, but I didn't have a pattern for it.

Here's the basic recipe if you'd like to make one.

First, get some 4.5 in. strips of colorful fabrics, and a few light strips in the same size.  Everything in this quilt is cut from 4.5 in. strips.

Next, get a triangle ruler that will help you cut 60 degree triangles.  I made 8 rows of triangles, alternating bright and light.  You need 5 light triangles and 4 bright triangles per row, plus 2 bright half triangles.  I mostly just used full triangles for the half triangles, and squared them off after they were sewn.

I added 4.5 in strips of light as the first border, cut from a print I've had for a while.

Isn't this fabric cute?  I got some pieces of it second hand.

This is the selvedge:  Tiny Town by Max & Nobie for Moda.

The outer border is made of forty 4.5 in. squares (4 in. finished).  Snoopy surfing is my favorite.

Here's the back, a Windham fabric, Colors and Count (I think), and the binding is orange.  I am really crushing on orange right now. 

Look who turns 6 months old today!  It's our Baby Buddy!

 

This week has been one of the crazier ones lately.  The kids get here earlier, since Big Buddy has to log into his virtual school before 7:30 every other day and Baby Buddy has to get dropped off before their Mama takes Little Buddy to preschool, where I pick him up at 11:00.  It is much harder for their Mama, getting 3 kids off to 2 or 3 destinations, all of them with whatever they need, plus getting herself off to work.  I'm sure we'll all get used to it, but it may take some time.

 

This is a weird year, and all we can really do is roll with it.  Sewing helps.  It really does.

 

Happy Labor Day weekend, Americans!  Stay safe.

 

Cheers for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches 

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Playing Catch Up

It's the end of Thanksgiving weekend around here.  We had a good time with all of our kids, their spouses, and our grand kids.  My little buddy learned this "trick" from Grandpa, and now he thinks the cornucopia basket is a hat.  As you can see, it makes him very happy.  As he says, "Silly Grandpa."

I did finish a project, but I can't show it to you yet.  Ssh, it's a Christmas secret.  I've got the binding to do yet, and that's going to be whipped down by hand.

I'm playing catch up on a Block of the Month.  Until yesterday, I had only six blocks done for Barbara Brackman's Antebellum Album, but had gotten stuck.  We get block #11 this Wednesday, so I got out the bucket of red and green scraps and made these four.

Only two of these are the official blocks.  The hourglass and the flower are blocks I added to replace a couple I was having trouble with (which is why I was stuck).  Block #3 just would not print out right no matter what I did (I'm sure this is my fault, not Ms. Brackman's), and I really didn't like Block #10.  So I looked through the wonderful pictures of antique quilts Ms. Brackman puts on her blog, and chose these blocks from the photos.

Here are all ten of the blocks laid out on the kitchen table.  I'm not sure how I'm going to set them together.  I do know that I DON'T want a square quilt.
If I need more blocks, no worries.  I've got LOTS more scraps.
Civil War Quilts:  Antebellum Album
Above is the link to the instructions for Block #10.  From there you can get to all the posts.

It's good weather for knitting.  We're supposed to get a snow storm this afternoon/tonight.  I've got beans cooking for soup, oatmeal cookies baked, and I'm finishing my blue wool sweater that I started last winter.  I can't seem to knit in the summer, but as soon as we get a frost I want my needles in my hands.
This is the last skein of this blue yarn.  Luckily, I'm most of the way through the second sleeve, and only have the neckband to do after that.

I hope you stay warm and cozy this week, wherever you are.
Cheers for reading,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:
Cynthia at Oh Scrap
Sarah at Can I Get A Whoop Whoop
Angela at Soscrappy

Piecing It All Together

Like all of us, I have a real life.  Chores to do like laundry and dishes and cleaning and cooking and grocery shopping (never mind babysitting!)  And like all of us, I'm trying to fit my all-engrossing hobby of quilting into that life.
Mostly, it works out.
Above is my Little Buddy, helping me take pictures of the little quilt I finished this week.

It's a framed 4-patch, easy-peasy baby quilt for charity.
I've been making this pattern off and on for years after seeing an antique quilt in a magazine.  Naturally, I used my favorite bright and novelty prints for this child's quilt.

Little Buddy and I agree, we like this square best.  That is just the cheekiest T-rex ever.  Not scary at all, even with all those teeth.  I should learn more about rotating pictures, but it's late at night as I'm finding the time to post.  Maybe next week.

I haven't used teal for a binding very often, but it picked up colors here with both top and backing.

If you'd like to make a framed 4-patch like mine, here's the recipe.
1.  Make 4 patches with 3.5 in. cut squares, two light and two not-as-light.
2.  Frame the 4 patches with 2.5 in. cut strips.  You'll need two cut 6.5 in. long, and 2 cut 10.5 in. long.  Add the two shorter ones first, then the two longer ones.
The blocks finish at 10 in. square.
I made 12 blocks, and set them 3 x 4.
The yellow print border is cut 3.5 in. wide.
The finished quilt is fairly small, at 36 in. x 46 in.

I pieced this quilt several weeks ago, when Mrs. Pfaff was still under the weather.  She and I made short work of the utility quilting on this little quilt.  I call this quilting "sort-of straight line quilting".  The lines are about 1 inch apart, and sort-of straight.

So that's what's done!  Here's what's not done.

I'm burning the midnight oil, sewing my flying geese blocks for the Fly Away Home quilt, one of my projects for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

All the blocks like the ones in the bottom of the picture are done.  I need about 30 more of the flying geese blocks.

I've mostly been working on them in the morning, before the boys arrive.

Then there is this project.  I'm piecing these blocks for the Antebellum Album Block of the Month, run by quilt historian Barbara Brackman.  You can see the first post from January 2018 HERE, and follow the links for the other blocks.  We're up to 8, but as you can see I've only got 6 done so far.  Participants are using newer fabrics as well as reproductions.  Mine are very traditionally red, cream, and green.

Here is yet another little quilt to be quilted, maybe this week.  It will be a lap quilt for charity.  Mrs. Pfaff and I are willing and able, we just have to find the time.

We're sliding into fall here!
My Big Buddy starts 8th grade on Monday (hard to believe!).  Little Buddy will still be here to keep Grandpa and me company.
Today he had finished eating some yogurt, more with his hands than his spoon.  I said something like "Aren't you a mess?" while I went to get a wash cloth.
"Hot mess!" he said.
And it was TRUE.
We both had a laugh about that.

I'm wishing you lots of laughs and lots of stitches this week.
Cheers for reading,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches
Linking up with:
Amanda Jean (welcome back!) at Crazy Mom Quilts
Sarah at Confessions of A Fabric Addict 
Myra at Busy Hands Quilts
Angela at Soscrappy
Cynthia at Oh Scrap 

Come enjoy all the linky fun with us!