Small Quilts

I love making small quilts!  Especially Reproductions!  This is a doll-size version of a baby quilt from "Small Endearments" referenced by Kathie  a few days ago.  Can't remember the measurements of my quilt but the center Toile is about 12".  That Toile is one of my Favorites from "The Rising Sun" Smithsonian collection back in the mid 1990's!  There are SO MANY more wonderful reproductions available now than when I made that quilt!  And, I love to handquilt so that is how I spend my the quiet evenings.

This little quilt I made in the early to mid 1990's after "Miniature Quilts" magazine and books were first published.  Might be able to study the fabrics to determine just when!  This little quilt is also a "Charm Quilt" having 99 different fabrics.....well 101 if you count the borders!  Charm Quilts are Another Favorite of mine and I will get photos of my 3 old tops (I have more tops than quilts!).

Maine Variable Star Quilt c.1820

This quilt from my small collection is c.1820 and recently returned home after a showing at New England Quilt Museum in Lowell MA of Maine quilts.  The quilt is huge.....too large for my double bed.  For its age, the fabrics seem in remarkably good condition!  There are splits in some of the chintzes here and there and the binding is worn, but it doesn't detract from the beauty of those

glorious fabrics!  Lots of ombres!  The handquilting is very good.  There have been a few tasteful repairs which were done before I bought it several years ago....don't like the glaring white block in the center of the photo!

 

This chintz is the alternating block and I think you can see the handquilting.....

This last photo is one of the light setting triangles....sheen from the chintz is still visible.  Many of the fabrics in this quilt are chintz and I will always wonder how a woman in early 19th century Maine acquired such a large collection of them!!

The Hewson Fabrics are here and they are wonderful!!

The Winterthur Museum John Hewson Fabrics by Andover Fabrics arrived last week and they are wonderful!!!  Can't wait to start making a Medallion Quilt with them!  The quality of the fabric is stupendous!  The vase shown above is about 21" high and the floral below (see the little "corner" which is how the floral spray will be placed in a corner to tilt diagonally toward the center vase?) is about 17" high.....will probably applique in place using broderie perse if I can't figure out a way to piece it in.  There are butterflies galore to leave in place or applique by broderie perse wherever you desire!  The accompanying background fabric is the same fabric Winterthur and Jo Morton have both used before.....a faint linen-look appearance with a wonderful "hand".  Google "John Hewson" to find antique quilts using his prints made in Philadelphia beginning in the 1770's.  Many are in musems and will provide inspiration for you to make one of your own!!

Vintage Charm Quilt

 This is a small charm quilt I made several years ago using vintage triangles given to me by a quilting friend.  They belonged to her mother and are from c. 1900.  Those claret (purpley-red) fabrics were popular in the 1890's.  There are a couple "Neons" also from the 1890s"s.  All in all it is a good representation of the fabrics available at the time....no two fabrics alike....that is what makes it a charm" quilt!  I think in today's quilting world, people believe "charms" to just be small size squares.....which they can be of course....but need to all be different!!  I think the oldest fabric to be the blue/brown floral chintz (still retains glaze) shown below in the close-up.  I was fortunate to have other period fabrics to use for the backing/binding.  Each triangle is about 3-1/2" tall and I did have to re-size them to make it all go together well!

Older Quilt and New Top

I made this Triangle Quilt several years ago from a pattern in an Australian magazine.......love triangles (these are 1.25") and that Civil War line from Judie Rothermel, "Bits of Blue and Grey"!  Took forever to handquilt but am enjoying it on my living room wall.  Had to take it down to pin up the Medallion quilt top that I'm showing next.....only place in my house I could think of to do it!  Putting pins in plaster walls is a challenge .........the wallpaper is as far as the pin will go!

 I started this Medallion quilt last winter and it languished until August before I could get back to it.  Inspired by a quilt in Gwen Marston's "Liberated Quiltmaking II".  It was fun looking for my early 1800's reproductions and now have found that I need to have a new category for storage so I can find them more easily!!  And of course, I now want to make a larger one to fit my double bed!  One of my friends suggested that I just make this one bigger, but I think the Toile center is too small for a larger quilt.  I might make Two.....one with random-length strip borders like this one and one with planned borders.....same fabric on all four sides!

My husband went to Fryeburg Fair today so I had time to myself this evening.....anytime I don't have to cook a meal is a Holiday for me!!

Hope you think I put the time to good use!!!

Crossroads to Texas

This fabric came mid-summer but I have been too busy/tired to update my blog.....am hoping that all obligations will be done after the weekend of Oct 22/23 when I vend at my local PTQG chapter's quilt show!  Sure looking forward to Nov and hunkering down for the winter and some serious Me Time Sewing and Reading!  Crossroads has a wonderful Cheater (aka Printed Patchwork) as does many other collections recently.  Stay tuned and I will try to show you a collection of the cheaters I have accumulated in my shop!

Collections Comfort from Moda

More new reproduction fabric!  This one is Collections Comfort the 8th in a series of fabric lines based on antique quilts in the collection of Mark Dunn, owner of Moda Fabrics....this from an 1861 quilt from MA.  Did a wonderful job on the border fabric in photo #1!  Fabric is printed so that four 10" borders may be cut from one length!  I have recently seen an antique quilt in one of my many books with that large floral border, but I can't remember which book!  Don't you just love to look through books of old quilts?  I could spend way more time than I do if I didn't have Life tugging at me all the time!  Now I May have another fabric match here, but I won't know for sure until I go to New England Quilt Museum Oct 15 for our final gallery walk of the Maine Quilt Heritage show.  The fabric on bolt #3 down from the top in photo 2 seems very similar to the backing of my c.1825 Sawtooth Star!  Can't wait to check it out and will let you know if my memory has served me well.......or not!

Little Gatherings Backgrounds

These Little Gatherings from Primitive Gatherings are just right backgrounds for all those dark and medium fabrics I order too much of!!

Begonia

Isn't this Begonia just beautiful!  Has been hanging on my shop porch all summer but really came back to life when the weather cooled!  I take it inside at night but now we have a stretch of 70 degree days coming, prolonging that first frost that I dread!  May try to overwinter this plant by cutting back and storing in the cellar.

Lately Arrived from London and a Fabric Match!

Lately Arrived from London by Barbara Brackman has arrived!  And a gorgeous line it is!  And guess what!  The backing on one of my late 19th century Log Cabin quilts is the same pattern design as one of hers (#8192 Charming Betsy) though mine is pink.  I bid on this quilt at auction because I loved the backing!  Had already won one log cabin and wasn'tlooking for another until they showed us the back!

  

                                                                           

Prairie Women's Sewing Circle Quilt

This is a little quilt I made for my Prairie Women's Sewing Circle......love this Sawtooth Star!  Went together very well and I just love the Indigo and Cheddar print!  Now, tho, I want to make Another One using the same Indigo again but with a Cheddar background!  Unfortunately, my mind works much faster than my hands!!!   I machine-quilted this one in my usual manner of Stitching in the Ditch around the blocks which is enough to hold it so I can bind it for display.  Decided it needed more quilting just because I like the feel of more quilting!  With the light shirting background, I did not want to draw pencil lines, so I used my Hera marker, which is a plastic tool for marking a crease.  Following the crease lines was easy but it still took me about 3 hours to quilt the whole quilt..........I am not a very fast machine-quilter!!

Fall Fabrics Arriving...............

While it is the Brackman's "Lately Arrived from London" and Andover's "Hewson" that I am really waiting for, other beautiful fabrics arrived this week!  "Northern Cardinal" by Holly Taylor for Moda is not what I usually order, but you will see why I did in the photos.  Some of these fabrics look like "antique woodblock" prints!  A perfect example of fabrics that look old and will work in reproduction quilts but are not marketed as "reproduction".  The second photo shows colorful "Swiss Holiday" by Moda.....kinda bright colors BUT the prints are the Jacobean-type florals that I love!

Maine Quilt show is over for another year!

What a show we had this year!  Jo Morton came to teach and visited my booth a few times to chat and shop!!!  She gave me permission to tell you that she buys fabric!  And she bought my kit for the 8-point star "Hope" Collection for a Cause because she liked the little metal lunchbox that came with it!  My quilt top is visible in photo #4 at the far left.........it is only 1/3 done, but I am enjoying hand-piecing the 8-pt Stars. 

Many of my friends took Jo's classes and enjoyed them very much!  Inspired them, in fact, to purchase yet more fabric!!  It was wonderful to meet ladies from the Jo's Stitchers Yahoo group!  I was able to attend the noon lecture/lunch, which, by the way was a Sellout!!  One of my customers in the Jo's Little Women Club made the Hourglass quilt using 474 different Jo fabrics.  Notice the "Banner Day" and "Imagine" quilts in the background?  They are Jo's quilts that she offered to loan me to hang in my booth.  I chose the "Imagine" quilt as she had hand-quilted it and I like to promote traditional methods as much as possible!!!

In the foreground you can see the Jo's "Spice Chest" cheater fabric which I had longarm-quilted for a table cover.  Isn't it gorgeous?  Have many cheater fabrics on hand right now........they seem to be popular and you have to take it when available!!

I love using my antique quilts to cover the tables in the booth.  One quilt covering the table at the far left in photo 4 is actually the reverse of a badly-damaged quilt that has exquisite hand-quilting!  That quilting needs to be preserved!  It has taken me two days to recouperate, catch up and rest up and I will soon forget how much work is involved and sign the forms for next year's show later in the fall!

And it is not over yet!  A surprise visitor!  Ladies had requested me to open my shop Fri/Sat evenings and guess who showed up with some of her students?  Jeana Kimball!  Enjoyed chatting with her and selling her some fabrics she said she had "missed" !  Someday it would be nice to actually take a class with these Teachers!

Chickadee Quilt Show Bridgton, Maine

Photos of my booth at the quilt show this past weekend.  Lots of Jo Morton quilts as well as a trunk show from Annemarie Yohnk of "Quilts Remembered"....aren't they just darling?  See the little wood crates on the tables in the first photo........I bring hundreds of 1/2 yard cuts, baskets of fat quarters, and crates of books to tempt quilters....not much for gadgets tho!

New Fabrics Arriving!

Just when I thought I might run out of fabric (LOL), more has been delivered!!  This is the new "Sweet Emilie" line by Jo Morton and it has a marvelously vintage appeal.....thought I would have time to make a Club 10 little quilt with it this week since the Bridgton, Maine Chickadee Quilt Show is behind me, but it hasn't happened!!  Paperwork and getting quilts sleeved for the Maine Quilt Show Antique Exhibit the last weekend of the month has taken much of my time!  Have a look at Jo's new fabric ......did a quick count and I have 526 bolts of Jo fabrics!!   New books from Quiltmania are in too!  Along with "History Repeated" by Betsy Chutchian and her friend.......And Betsy's fabric line "Crossroads to Texas" arrived too........love the cheater fabric!  One of these days I take photos of all my cheater fabrics to post here....must have 8 or 10.