Antique Quilt Number Two

Here's another antique quilt I have that uses feed sacks.

It's a simple four-patch surrounded by borders.  Each block is about 8-inches square.  I always think that it's kind of amazing, that after years and years and years, quilters still use the same patterns.  I've made lots of quilts that have incorporated a four-patch. 

The back of the quilt is made of the feed sacks, too -- all the same color.

 

One of the feed sacks is slightly darker.  I'm not sure if this was because it was from a different dye run than the other three or if the other three are more faded.  But there is a definite, visible difference.

 



I purchased this quilt at an antique shop in Beaufort, North Carolina.  It was in wonderful condition and was on consignment.  The owner of the antique shop even called the owner of the quilt to see if he knew any of the history behind it.  Unfortunately, he didn't.  It wasn't a family quilt, but he did know it originated out of Virginia. 

It's machine pieced, but it is hand quilted.

There is some minimal damage to the quilt, but it was so clean when I bought it, I didn't wash it.

I love all the bright, cheerful colors!

And just like the first antique quilt I blogged about, this one doesn't have a separate binding.  However, this time, the front of the quilt was pulled around to the back and used as binding.

 



Again, like a great number of antique quilts, there is no label on this beauty.  So I have no idea exactly when it was constructed.  I wish I did.  It's in such wonderful shape and you can tell the quilter, despite whatever limited resources she had, carefully planned this quilt out.  Four-patches aren't repeated and each four-patch is bordered in such a way that there are no two squares exactly alike and the eye travels from one color to the next without wincing.  She made use of what she had in the best way possible and didn't spare any fabric for borders -- a common trait among Depression Era quilts. 

So please, please....label your quilts!  That way if your quilt makes it into someone's blog in the future, there will be some kind of history to go on!

Love and Stitches!

Sherri

Jumping on the Wool Wagon

I fought it.  I really did.

I fought it hard.

But despite my best efforts, I succumbed to temptation and have started wool applique.

I honestly had no intention of doing so, despite two of my best quilting buddies in the world (thank you so much Theressa and Judy) telling me how much fun it is.  However, this little bird came to town....

 

His name is Bertie and he has a quilt called Bertie's Year and it was simply too adorable to pass up.  There is a block for every month of the year that features the little guy up to all kinds of antics.  Patti offered the entire series as a block of the month at Dragonfly.

 

The left side of my brain promptly kicked into gear...

 

"Don't do it...don't sign up for another class...Have you looked at your project sheet lately?  The list of classes you've been asked to teach?  Have you looked at your sewing room?"

 

"But it has a lot of embroidery," the right side of my brain responded.  "I haven't done embroidery in years!  Lots of new quilt patterns are featuring that!  It would be an asset to my quilting resume..."

 

"It will probably take an entire different set of rulers and fabrics and threads than you already have...and don't have space for until Bill finishes your new studio," left brain continued.

 

"The fabrics are included in the kit..." whined right brain.

 

"You absolutely don't need anymore handwork.  None."

 

"But Judy's  teaching....."

 

Yup.  The last one did it.  Judy Poteat is teaching the class.  One of the best quilters I know.

 

Her work is perfect.

 

She's as patient as God.

 

She can make anything.

 

When  I grow up I want to be Judy Poteat.

 

Right brain won the argument so now me and Bertie have a great time together.

 

My mother gave me all of her DMC floss when she moved into her condo, but I still broke down and purchased some pearle cotton to do the embroidery stiches with.  The pearle cotton shows up better on the dark background than the DMC floss does.  I use the DMC to whip stitch down all the wool pieces.

 

It is different than cotton applique.  I use a chenille needle.  It is thicker than an applique needle and longer, so it takes a little getting used to.  The wood doesn't fray, but we're appliqueing on flannel...

 

A fabric that I am having a love/hate relationship with.  It's a perfect complement to the wools, but it does fray like crazy and it is soooooooooooooo stretchy compared to cotton fabric.  We border the applique squares with half-square triangles.  It's  simple step, but sewing and pressing the flannels does have a learning curve that I'm yet to conquer.   I did the January block and absolutely hated the way it turned out.  I purchased another kit to re-do it. 

 

I love my little feathered friend and am finding the wool applique relaxing.  And it is fun re-visiting all those embroidery stitches I honestly thought I had forgotten a long time ago.

 

Love and Stitches,

 

Sherri

 

 



Antique Quilts

I love antique quilts.

I especially love the quilts made with fabric and feed sacks from the 1930's.  I love those colors and the ingenuity behind them.  It was pure genius for flour, feed, sugar, and tobacco manufacturers to make their sacks out of material that could be "up-cycled" into dresses, shirts, and quilts! 

Dating the actual quilts from this era (or any era, for that matter), can be tricky.  Just because a fabric or feed sack was manufactured in the 1930's doesn't mean that the quilt was made in that decade.  It could have been constructed in the 1940's or even later.  Quilters back then were no different in many ways from quilters today -- most of us have fabric in our stash that is years old, but if it fits our current need for color and shade, we pull it out and use it.  Who cares if we bought it in 1989?  It works.

Couple that with the fact that most quilters prior to at least the early 1990's didn't see the need to put a label on their quilt...and dating a quilt can be difficult and complete accuracy is nearly impossible.  At one time there may have been an oral history behind the quilt, but unless someone saw the value in writing it down, the actual completion date and maker of the quilt is often lost to history.

So it's easy to see how accurate dating is difficult.

I  have several 1930-ish quilts in my collection.  They're made from feed sacks, but other than that, I'm not sure where they originated from and who was the quilter.  I've had really good luck finding these in thrift stores...like the one below.

This is definite a quilt that was made just for warmth.  No fancy piecing or quilting is involved.  Someone took feed sacks, opened them up into the rectangles, pressed out the creases and sewed them together on the front (above) and back (below).

It is machine pieced and machine quilted on a cotton bat.  The quilter used diagonal quilting lines to hold it together, but did change the color of her top thread to match the material.

 

No material was spared for binding, she simply left the backing a bit larger and pulled it to the front and whipped it under to cover the edges.  I've discovered that this is typical for a lot of older utility quilts.

It's also kind of pretty, as the binding changes colors as it goes around the quilt. 

This isn't a very intricate quilt, as quilts go.  There is no special piecing or quilting.  In my mind I can imagine that the quilter was racing to get the quilt completed before cold weather set in for the winter.  She was busy with a thousand other things, so the quilt was constructed as simply and as quickly as she knew how.

It is in remarkable shape.  No holes, no worn places.  I purchased it in a thrift store at the beach.  It needed a good washing, but other than that, it is in terrific condition. 

I have a few other of these feed sack quilts in my small collection that I want to share with you this year.

Love and Stitches....

Sherri

Quilting Cuties Christmas

I'm still tying up loose ends with Christmas.... so bear with me with this one last Christmas 2014 post.

I believe I have told you before that I belong to a quilting bee called The Quilting Cuties.  This group began meeting at Hancock Fabrics in Greensboro -- back when they had a real block of the month where you came in, had a demo, and an actual teacher to walk you through the quilt process -- in 2001.

Ellen Freeman led both the High Point Hancock's (now closed) and the Greensboro Hancock's Block of the Month Club.  And when the corporate higher ups decided to no longer offer the BOM, we still decided to meet as a group and Ellen was our fearless leader.

I remember reading the Greensboro newspaper one day (back before nearly everything I read was on line...) and seeing the ad for the BOM.  Until that point I didn't know anyone else that quilted and was entirely self-taught.  Eager to learn and desperate to meet other quilters, I signed up, showed up and met the woman who became and still is, my quilting mentor -- Ellen Freeman.

Ellen led our group for several, several years until her husband retired and they moved to Shallotte, NC.  When she left, she put me in charge of the bee and we're still rockin' and rollin' right along, currently working on At Piece with Time. 

Ellen still gets back from time to time.  She even came to the High Point Guild September 2013 and gave a workshop on needle turn applique.  She was able to come to the Quilting Cuties Christmas party this year and brought along lots of show and tell.

A cute Christmas wreath made from a Twister....

A North Carolina quilt.   Ellen led our bee in a version of this quilt.  When she moved to the coast, she "beached it up," adding flip flops and a sea turtle.  She also changed up the cardinal.  The ones we did were made out of Drunkard's Path.  The one in this quilt is bigger and I think prettier. 

This American Flag is made of tumbler laid side-to-side instead of end-to-end.

Cute snowman....

Samples from classes she has taken through her guild....

Wall hanging.  I think she's loving the beach....

This table runner is from a guild workshop.  Each member brought enough strips for every guild member in attendance.  Members then exchanged strips and made Dresden Plates from then and sewed them into a table runner.

And lastly, a red work quilt that her guild is doing as a block of the month.  Ellen changed some things up on hers, but it's really cute.  I've seen more and more red work (brown work, blue work...) on quilts the last couple of years.  Hand embroidery on quilts is making a come back in a big way.  You've always seen touches here and there, usually to show details on applique, but the last few years I've seen more and more quilts, both in shops and in shows, that feature blocks and blocks of hand embroidery.

It was so good to see Ellen again!  I hate she's living so far away, but she's loving life at the North Carolina Coast and she's president of her guild (Brunswick Quilters).  I'm just hoping it won't be months and months before I see her again.  I always come away from her feeling like I can do anything and her work is so inspiring!

Love and Stitches...

Sherri

Beginnings and Endings

Happy New Year! 

I know it's still just New Year's Eve Day (Both an eve and a day!  It's a miracle...those of you who watch the TV show Bones should catch that....),  but Happy New Years anyway.  Good bye and good riddance to 2014 and hello 2015.

I don't make New Year resolutions.  I stopped doing that a long time ago.  I make New Year Suggestions.  Suggestions sounds a lot less stressful than resolutions.  Some of these are universal.  I want to eat more healthy.  I want to lose a few pounds.  I want to be kinder to people and less judgmental.

As a quilter, I want to clean out my sewing area and organize it.  And keep it that way.  

You may stop laughing at me now.  I really want to do this.  Really.  Especially if I ever get my new quilt studio finished. 

I absolutely don't need to find any additional new patterns that I just have to have. There is a two page spread sheet taped to my refrigerator  completely full of projects I want to do before my children put me in the home for old quilters.  So this year I have strongly suggested to myself that I will not add to that list.  I need to finish some tops and get some flimsies quilted. 

Seriously.

As 2014 is waning, the end of this year has also found be giving up a position that I have loved for the past three years:  President of the High Point Quilt Guild.

The guild held its first meeting the second Thursday of January 2012.  I knew there was interest out there for a guild in my area.  Greensboro had two guilds.  High Point had one during the 1980's but it disbanded years ago.  I told myself that I would be happy if we had 15 people show up.

We had 35 ladies present and were nearly sitting on each other's lap in the tiny community room we had rented.  They elected me president that night. 

Those women and men (we have two male members) have become some of the most awesome friends I've ever had.  Our guild grew from those 35 charter members to 60 in three years.  It has been an honor and a privilege to be their president.

At the December meeting, I inducted Angie Peele as the new president.  Angie is wonderful person, full of great ideas, and is so organized.  She's participated in the Guild's Round Robin with me and I can tell you from experience, she also quilts beautifully.  Her piecing is perfect. 

After that, I was going to sit down, but they weren't through with me yet.  The guild gave me this...

A little bit of background would help here.  Our guild's logo is the Friendship Star and its color is purple.  The purple thing is very convenient for me since one of my two favorite colors is purple (the other is pink).  So this purple Friendship Star quilt is just awesome. Lots of folks contributed to the construction of the quilt and Shelle Mancl and Linda Hudgins quilted it.

Judy Poteat did all the machine applique on the letters.

Another guild member, Liz Simmons, made me a wonderful bag to keep my quilt in until I can put a sleeve on it and hang it.

Linda then generously contributed more machine embroidery to the bag:

I was just so taken back at the moment, I couldn't talk.  I don't even remember what I said to thank all those wonderful guild members.  And I simply cannot believe that they did all of this right under my nose without me knowing a thing about it!  I can't believe that I never accidentally got an email, overheard a conversation, or saw "contraband" be passed right under my nose.  Nancy Blanchard said she handed off her block to Lisa Wagner when I was standing right beside of her.

I gotta be Captain Oblivious.

It wasn't until I got home and spread the quilt out that I realized something very important. 

The quilt was signed.

Every. Guild. Member. Signed. A. Block.

And that was when I cried.

These folks have no idea what they mean to me and how much I appreciate them. 

So next week when the guild meets, I have no agenda to write up, I don't have to be there early to set up, I don't have to make announcements. I don't even have to stay after to clean up if I don't want to.

I'm just a "regular" guild member.  No more Thursday evenings devoted to guild work.

It's going to be kind of nice.  I want to fully support our new president, who I know is going to do a fantastic job.  I will continue to handle the retreats and trips, but other than that, I've been given some space to find my new "niche" in the guild.

And that is kind of nice, too.

Love and Stitches,

Sherri

It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas Here....

So the tree arrived last Tuesday.  I am an avid fan and customer of Backyard Produce and I can pre-order my Christmas tree from them in November.  The first week of December it arrives at my door ready to drag in the house and set up in the stand.

This is a wonderful service to all married women who like me, has a husband that would rather go for his yearly physical than be dragged all over town looking for that perfect tree.  And yes, I've gone the route of purchasing an artificial tree and trying to get him to participate in putting the tree up.

Again, I will refer you to the yearly physical exam thing.

Wednesday we had the grand darlings over and they helped decorate the tree.  The oldest "E" is almost two which means the ornaments were on the tree, not past my knee level.  It took some persuading (because we all know how cooperative almost two year-olds are), to move some to the back and to the top of the tree.

But fun was had by all. Especially the adults who had hot chocolate and Baileys....

 The kids had cup cakes....

 This last Christmas ornament was made by a wonderful friend of mine, Joann Cloer.  She's in my Tuesday night Sit and Sew and in the High Point Guild.  It has a special place near the top of my tree. 

It's a busy time of year, and I am helping out quite a bit with my guild's 2015 Raffle Quilt.  We're using Sue Garmon's pattern, Ruffled Roses -- with her permission and blessing.  Between that and just the busy-ness that comes this time of year, not a whole lot of quilting is going my way.  I am getting woefully behind! 


But I have plans for 2015.  I will "pass the baton" of guild presidency to Angie Peele.  Being president was a job that I loved with all my heart and truly gave it everything I had, but it seriously eats into your quilting time!  Traditionally, Thursday nights were the evenings I gave to the bee that I lead and guild work.  And sometimes guild work took a little time everyday of the week if we had something big on the calendar.  I jokingly called it my "second full time job."  Some weeks it was, but I can honestly say it has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.  And the baton is being passed to one of the most capable and organized women I know.  Not to mention that Angie is wonderful quilter.  Her work is simply beautiful and positively perfect. 

With some more free time on my calendar, I hope to get some good pictures of my antique quilts and post those for discussion. 

I also hope to wrap up At Piece with Time.

I also am designing my own quilt for a future Quilt Along. This was on my bucket list.

So...until next week, don't get so busy in the holiday rush that you forget the Reason for the season.

Love and Stitches,

Sherri

It's All About the Journey...

I admire quilters that can piece and quilt quickly.  It's a state of quilt Nirvana I have yet to reach.  My sewing machine rarely makes it past medium speed.  And since I also have to  quilt on a domestic machine (if I'm doing it myself), that also takes more time than I would like to admit. 

Some quilters I know are just so...talented.  It all seems to go so quickly and effortlessly for them.  Others just have more time than I do. 

And others need very little sleep. 

I am not one of an of those quilters.  I need sleep.  I don't have a lot of time to spend at the machine -- at least not as much as I want to have.  That coupled with the fact that 99 percent of  what I makes generally has some kind of handwork involved...I just not as fast as I want to be.

Couple that with the fact that I tend to gravitate towards large projects....

But sometimes there are tiny, nuggets of jewels that find their way into those large projects...

And this brings me to Dear Jane.

I began my journey with Jane a several years ago.  This is a major effort for any quilter.  It's well over 100 tiny, 4.5 by 4.5 squares that are intricate.  Most of them are paper pieced.  Quite a few are traditionally pieced.  Some are appliqued. 

A few of these blocks are a pain in the neck.  You can generally tell which ones are going to be this type.  Last week, I honestly thought the block was going to drive me up a wall, not because it was complicated, but because there were so many steps.  You cut blocks out, cut them on the diagonal.  Sewed them back together.  Cut them out again and applique them into a circle. 

I'm talking about block L-13.  I am so close to getting the center square finished that I'm champing at the bit to complete it and anything right now that even looks like it's going to slow me down tends to set my teeth on edge.  And I was so afraid that this block would be "one of those blocks."

However, like a lot of things I've done in quilting,  I was pleasantly surprised.  It went together quickly.  It appliqued easily...and I love the way it looks.

Now I am on the last row of Jane.  Thankfully, most of these blocks are paper pieced.  One will have to be mirrored.  Two are definitely challenges.  Then I will move on to those wonderful "kites" that border this quilt.  When I'm through, I will have three years of my life invested in this sucker.

Have I learned a lot?

Heck, yes!  How to paper piece better, set in tiny pieces without breaking out in hives, and the graceful art of realizing that finished is better than perfect (most of time time). 

Would I do it again?

Yes.  And I plan to that very thing.  Most quilters that do one Jane generally will do another one.  It truly is all about the journey with this quilt and not the destination.  My next Jane will be done in Batiks and I will only do the blocks I love.  I will enlarge them to at least 8 inches (finished) and will not do the kites on the border, but design one of my own.

Every quilt I make teaches me something....flexibility, a new technique, how to push myself out of my comfort zone, how to muster the determination to finish a complex issue.  Quilting is all about the journey of getting to the finish line.  Don't get me wrong, I love to finish projects and need to finish more of them.  But in the rush to get things done, I would be horribly ignorant if I missed the lessons the journey is trying to teach me.

Enjoy the journey....while your eyes are on the finish line.

Love and Stitches...
Sherri