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!

Put A Label On It!

 I sewed this label on last night.  I bought a package of these labels a while back, and they really seem appropriate.  While I don't have a bun in my hair and don't fill up the chair quite as well as this lady, I do admit to the cat and the treadle.
I wish I had labeled more of my quilts.  Sometimes I just write my name and the date on the quilt in permanent ink, but often I don't even do that.  Mostly I can't remember when I made a certain quilt.  A label would really help.

Here's a huge label I made from an old sewing machine advertisement.  I even recorded which machine I used to make the quilt--a Singer model 27 dated 1892.

In my volunteer work with the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts, I always make sure to take a photograph of any labels we may be lucky enough to have on documented quilts.  We don't think we'll forget, but we do!  And the next generation will not have any idea.  So label your quilts already!

Okay, I'm down off the soapbox now.

Here's the Reproduction Chain quilt I was working on last week, all done.

The binding is stitched down, now I just have to wash it to get the chalk marks out.  Today I'm doing our regular laundry, so I might get to it tomorrow.

So on to the next project, right?  And the next one for me is my Jane Austen block of the week quilt.

Back in May, I posted about Barbara Brackman's Jane Austen Family Album quilt.  I was only 5 blocks in then.  I've got 30 done now, and I was setting them together this weekend.

Here I've got 4 of the 6 rows laid out on the floor, with sashing and cornerstones.  I had a completely different idea about how I was going to set them, but it didn't pass the audition.

These blocks are very very different.  I didn't use a controlled color palette.  In fact, I used all sorts of different scraps of fabrics I'd been saving for years.  And of course, like any sampler, the block patterns are wildly different.

You can see how different they are.  I had planned a light sashing, but it just couldn't contain the blocks.  By the way, the block in the center is Bright Star, the one Barbara intended to represent Jane Austen herself.

This is one of my favorite blocks.  It's called Friendship, and the center square is a toile with two women talking together.
There were 36 blocks in the series, but I had decided to make only 30 before it even started.  I've never liked square quilts, and 30 seems about the perfect number for 12 in. blocks.

I'm going to quilt it in 3 sections so I can move the quilt around easily while I work.  I think I'll probably want to quilt each block differently.
Making the Jane Austen sampler has been such a learning experience.  Every week Barbara shared interesting facts and visuals from Jane's time period and details about her family and friends.  It was like taking a free class.
Here's a link to my previous post, which has a link to the Jane Austen Family Album block of the week:
Sundays with Jane

I've also been watching all of the movies based on Jane Austen's work--well, most of them.  I'm not really interested in zombies.

This one is my absolute favorite:  The BBC version of Pride and Prejudice, starring Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy.



It's an old one, from 1980 or so.  I like it not because I'm a huge fan of Colin Firth (but what's not to like?), but because it is so true to the book, and the character actors are so good.
We're still deep in winter here, but there is a hope of spring, and we know May will be here eventually.  Until then, we've just got to keep warm, and keep sewing.
Happy Quilting!

Saving the Stories

This is Sarah Petticrew McWilliams Hawes, with her son Samuel Raymond Hawes.  Sarah was born on October 16, 1872, in Ramsey, Illinois.  Sarah's granddaughter brought three more of her quilt tops to our documentation day on Saturday, plus many wonderful family photographs.

This is Sarah's Carpenter's Wheel quilt top, made in the classic blue and white.

When she was 18 or so (about the time this photograph was taken), Sarah left the family farm to start her own millinery business, making and designing hats.  She told her family she left home because she was tired of pulling off her brothers' muddy boots for them when they came in from the fields.

Here is another of Sarah's quilts.  The set is unusual.  The quilt owner also has an extra block, and a pillow made out of two more blocks.

All of us who are interested in quilt history owe a great debt to the family historians, who care for the quilts and preserve the stories of the people who made them.

Our documentation day last Saturday at the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts was the usual mix of excitement, hard work, and joy.  There always seems to be a theme that runs through the quilts we see.  This time it was labels.

Over half of the quilts we saw on Saturday had labels!  This is an especially nice example.  This quilt maker also adds a list of the quilt shows where the quilt has been exhibited to the label, with the awards and ribbons it wins.

We only saw one crazy quilt on Saturday.  This one was made as one whole piece, rather than several blocks or strips.

Usually we give a range of dates when the quilt could have possibly been made, based on the fabrics and other clues.  Not necessary this time!  We have the date, but, unfortunately, the quilt maker didn't put her name on the quilt, so she remains unknown.

This is a close up of the fan in the corner.  The embroidery stitches were amazing throughout the quilt.

We are one of the few quilt documentation projects in the whole country that documents newly-made quilts.  Six of the quilts we documented on Saturday fit that category.

Check out the wonderful colors!  And all of the newer quilts had labels (great job, ladies).

I'm not sure if we've ever had a documentation day without a Grandmothers Flower Garden quilt!   (I should look that up.)  This is a particularly nice example.  The maker made two of these for twin beds, and a larger one for a full sized bed.

The edge is beautifully bound.  This was not easy to do!

Here's a terrific scrap quilt.  We're calling the pattern Nine Patch Cross.

This quilt was made from a nice deep scrap bag.  It is absolutely fascinating to look at.  Some of the pieces are the same print in different colorways.

And here, nearly 100 years later, is another quilt of the same "recipe"--simple scrap pattern, lots of different fabrics, pulled together with red cornerstones.

My favorites are always the scrap quilts, and lately I've been drawn to quilts made in the 1960s, like the one above.

There is such a variety of these funky prints, plus all the plaids we used to wear then.  The red corner squares really stood out when we hung it for photography, and they pull things together even though they are not all the same red print.
This quilt was made by the owner's grandmother, who lived in rural Georgia and made quilts for warmth.   Although most of the year was warm, the winters were cold, and there was often no heat in the house.  The maker's daughter said she recognized her Sunday school dress fabrics in this quilt.

All of the stories of these quilts are now recorded, and will soon be entered into the Quilt Index online.  The people who make documentations possible are our volunteers.  Many, many thanks to Maribeth, Bonnie, Kathleen, and Carol.

Now, how about sewing a label or two on your quilts?
Piecefully yours,
Sylvia