Trying New Applique Method and More Little Quilts

This is one of my current projects.....a Jo Morton Club 12 quilt that is taking a lot more time than I anticipated even knowing that I am rather a slow appliquer!  The applique is an experiment for me in "back-basting", a method that you can Google and find tutorials.  I think this is the best method for this particular little quilt but am not convinced I will like it for more complicated blocks.  I love to applique but I like to get to the needleturn without quite so much prep work!  This project requires that those little slices and block corners nest together nicely and that did happen most of the time!  Now the project turns into my evening work as I handquilt it.

These little (quite little....the wholecloth on the far right is 8" square) quilts hang on a clothesline in my shop.  I made them in the early 1990's, a time when for some reason there was a great interest in miniatures and several books were published.  These were made before Paper-Piecing was known (at least by me!) by traditional sewing.  The little Ohio Star is made with late 19th century fabrics and may have been the first quilt I made making it up as I went along.  The fabrics were given to me by my brother-in-law who was living in Vermont at the time.  They were being thrown out while cleaning out the home of an elderly neighbor!!  Wonder how many times that has happened to fabric/quilts over the years!

This little quilt was made with a fragment salvaged from a neglected and filthy quilt ....had nothing to lose by washing it in the machine and low and behold it survived nicely.  I have more fragments to make more little quilts if the time ever presents itself!  Piecing in some areas looks to have been done by a child.  Most of the fabrics appear to be late 19th century except for that bright blue/buff piece from about 1840-50.

Newest fabric arrivals!  Five bolts from Judie Rothermel's "Dressing Gowns" #3. Love these busy little prints for block backgrounds!

Three bolts from Molly B's "Harvest Palette"....... Large prints are a particular favorite of mine and good rusts are hard to find!

More from Judie Rothermel......Chocolates, Strawberries.  Always on the lookout for nice double pinks.

I really mean it when I say I love large florals.....especially ones that look olde! These Jacobean-type florals are perfect for reproduction quilts......Molly B Studios from Marcus Brothers.

And this is "Gabrielle" by Mary Koval for Windham Fabrics.

And if you have stayed with me this far, I want to share this old sled that was recently found by my husband while taking down an old chicken coop on the property.   Sled was probably made in the 1930-40's, repurposing old skis for the runners.  The kids had a great time on a nearby road that has the perfect hill for sliding......in those days of sparse road traffic, the road would even be closed so the kids could slide!