Sunday, April 19, 2015

Prussian Blue #4 and a little Insanity!

Loverly Sunday afternoon here in Maine....sun is shining, snow is mostly gone, green grass is growing, and the Daffodils are up!  One of my favorites, Lilacs, will be blooming fragrantly in a month or so!

More quilts from the New England Quilt Museum "Prussian Blue" exhibit!

Bethlehem Star, Lone Star, Mathematical Star, or whatever Star you prefer to call it!  Lovely eagle appliques in the corners....two with blue "rainbow" prints aka shaded Ombres.




Another Favorite Star Pattern.  I usually call it Ohio Star and love it in all sizes from 3" to 6"!   There are a couple glimpses of Printed Plaids.







Love the leaves (one my favorite fabric designs) in the photo below as well as the printed Prussian blue plaid and the glimpse of the border fabric on the right.
I should think about getting a new camera.....but this blurriness must be Operator Error!



Some designs were so unusual back in the day.....often wonder where their ideas came from.

Love a quilt using Lots of different fabrics for alternating blocks!  This one is particularly nice! IMHO





CloseUp of the border fabric.....French General made a similar one a while back.

The pattern for the quilt below is called "Grandmother's Pride".  Love the red sashing fabric with the circles.....reproductions have been made of it.







A Wholecloth Quilt made of striped fabric.





Sweet little doll quilt with cutouts for a four-poster doll bed.



Love "Lady of the Lake" Signature Quilt!  Guess it is called "Sawtooth" when only one row of half-sq triangles surround the four sides of the block?  I have a Sawtooth block quilt in Progress using the fabric and project sheet from a Long Time ago.....P&B's "1840's Birds and Basics" by Harriet Hargrave.  Really need to get back to that one of these days (and a few others also!)





Pinwheel Quilt made with gorgeous Prussian blues.  Nice clamshell quilting.









This quilt was not part of the Prussian Blue Exhibit but was displayed in the class/lecture room.  Of course it pulled Wendy and me right to it as we both love quilts with lots of colors and small pieces!  These are Really Small pieces.....each little square is 1/2" finished!!





Closeup of a two-color block that I used to make a pattern and get it straight in my head.  


This is my block and while I don't usually name quilts (or blocks), I am calling this one "Insanity".........will I make more, will I actually make a quilt?  Who knows, but I might make few blocks now and then while listening to audiobooks.

Speaking of audiobooks........just finished Ken Follett's "Pillars of the Earth" takes place in England in the 1100's and the sequel "World Without End" which follows a few generations later in the 1300's.  Hated for them to end even after 45 hours or so Each!  Will listen to them again someday.  John Lee is the reader and I like him as much as Scott Brick, David McCullah and Edward Herrman!!  

Will be back when I dream up something else outrageous!  Or, 
finish some Jane Stickle blocks!  Will announce a Giveaway soon .....something different this time!  Because I have Too Much Stuff!  Because I Save Too Much Stuff!  Don't know how to get over it!

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

NEQM Prussian Blue #3 and QAL Quilt Blocks



More quilts from the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell MA "Prussian Blue" Exhibit


This is a pair of pillowcases probably from PA......maker had a big variety of scraps for her flying geese!










Sorry for the blurriness.....must have been too close....but you can see the Prussian blues!  Have always loved the color but now have a new appreciation of it!


Nineteenth Century clothing could be very colorful!!!









Dress pattern prior to sewing machines becoming widely available after the Civil War....can you imagine doing all these seams by hand?






This quiltmaker had a wide variety of Prussian Blue!
















 New stars using Barbara Brackman's Stars in a Time Warp QAL, calico green on the left and then 3 purples.  Found too many purples I wanted to use!   Am caught up until today!  
 My Jane Stickle quilt blocks completed lately...A1 thru A5.  This will take a Looonng Time!  Too many quilts in my head and in the works! A3 andA5 are handpieced......will use whatever method will work for me!






 The 24 blocks below are from my other "Starts" of the Jane Stickle quilt, starting in 1998.......think I will use them for a "little quilt" or runner....can't bear not to use them but have decided the muslin I was using might not stand up to the test of time and so have begun using a slightly darker, heavier background from P&B.  Actually, the green star below is made from the new fabric but for some reason I wasn't happy with it so made Yet Another!


Another Ongoing Project!  Postage stamp blocks.....making each block 12x12 (144 per block) and aiming for 49 blocks set 7x7 for a 84" x 84" quilt which is as large as I need for my bed.  Can use this for Leaders and Enders if I run out of Railfence blocks and hst's currently being made.  
Until next time..............................