Wednesday, August 20, 2014

New books, Magazines, Fabrics


Edyta Sitar's new book "Handfuls of Scraps" is here and is wonderful......on a par with her "Reasons for Quilts"!!  Photos of 36 Antique Quilts and patterns for 15.

Simple, but oh so dramatic, Uneven 9-patch with a glorious red/white pillar print used in the alternating blocks!
An early Medallion Quilt, always a Favorite with me!!


"Potholder Pam" Weeks was in the shop Tuesday and found a Potholder quilt in 
Edyta's new book!  She's an eagle-eyed Lady when focused on a particular type of quilt!!  



This came all in one day!  What to read first??
An Early American Life article by Linda Eaton of Winterthur Museum informs us of a whole new category of printed textiles recently discovered.........as early as 1760 American patriots, boycotting British-made fabrics, created their own by using stamps and oil-based inks and paints.  Linda would like to hear from anyone who thinks they own a textile that might be American stamp block-printed.  Find a copy of the magazine (Oct 2014)and check this out for yourself!


Also, a long-awaited must-have book is coming this Fall........Linda Eaton of Winterthur Museum is publishing a revision of the ground-breaking book by Florence Montgomery in the 1970's, "Printed Textiles:British and American Cottons and Linens 1700-1850".

"Patchwork Pillowcases" by Ann Hermes is also a must-have book for antique quilt/fabric lovers and students!  The history is complete and the color photos are wonderful for those who could spend hours studying them!!

Fons & Porter magazine is noteworthy to me for the antique quilt articles by Gerald Roy and the quilt/pattern offered by IQSC (International Quilt Study Center in Lincoln, Nebraska.)

And the audio book?  I Love audiobooks to listen to when I am in my sewing room and/or driving in the car.  Ken Follet is a favorite author and this is the first of a series "Pillars of the Earth".  Looking forward this fall to the arrival of the third book in his current trilogy......the first two books were riveting! 



New Moda fabric!  "Celeste" by Sentimental Studios.....4 bolts, 3 of which are loverly large-print Jacobean style for borders, layer cakes and charm squares.


You might remember this quilt from the New England Quilt Musum photos in previous posts......that border fabric seemed familar to me and you will find out why below!!




Found a bolt of the border fabric hiding in my shop!  I was straightening and re-organizing and there it was!  I felt like I had seen that black/red border fabric before and I had!  The fabric is "Vivaldi" from Windham Fabrics.

Should have included this option for making the outer Triangle border of my Colonial Medallion WIP.......I often make a paper-piecing pattern when I want absolute accuracy as you will see with a little quilt made years ago.
This little quilt pattern is  Carol Hopkins' from her Civil War Legacies series of patterns.  That pink border was in Jo Morton's first line of fabric if I remember correctly (2002-03).  My friend and I both made the quilt ....she made the sawtooth star version and I made the Lemoyne star version.  Both of us had trouble fitting the triangle border onto the first border......triangle borders were too long.  Soooo.....I made a paper-piecing pattern and then my border fit perfectly.  Another way to fix the problem is to change the width of the plain border but it would have been to wide (imho) for this small quilt.

I recommend trying to make your own paper-piecing patterns for just a part of a block (or as in this case, a border) that is difficult to piece......sure made life easier!!  Don't be afraid to experiment!


This is a lovely new grouping of Lights (always need more Lights!) from Jo Morton called "Melodies" and they do indeed Sing!  Same prints as in previous grouping called "Haberdashery".....now we have a full range of color complements!
This is the blue colorway with the paisley that is shared with the red colorway.
 Red colorway with the shared paisley.
 Lavender colorway shares the paisley with the green colorway.
 Green colorway with the shared paisley.  Can't wait to get these washed and ready to use!!
Time to go to my sewing room to trim a bunch of little railfence blocks and listen to the last disk of my current audiobook "Play Dead" by Halan Coben.....good mystery with lots of twists and turns....read by Scott Brick, one of my favorite readers.  

Friday, August 8, 2014

Charm Quilts #7 and More!!

A nice Tumbling Blocks quilt!!  The red check fabrics showed up in a couple other charm quilts at the exhibit.....ladies from the same neighborhood sharing fabrics?


Here's that bird again in another quilt!!  Lots of nice handquilting!

Dots of all sizes/colors were popular back in the day as much as now!!

Over 1000 fabrics in this Beauty!!!





Six point Stars making Hexagons......all solid fabrics in the center.....may have been a regional trait, as we saw it in a couple of quilts.

Isn't that a gorgeous red/black border?









And now for My Favorites!  The small quilts!  Sure would love to own this Half-Square Triangle quilt.....isn't that printed lace border wonderful!!




Craze for small Hexagons is not new......here is one from 1880s!

Tumblers are always a Favorite for Charm quilts.....wonder if this little doll quilt was made from leftovers from a larger quilt?


And Yo-Yo's are again popular!!
Have had some questions about lining up the triangle sides for sewing so that the edges are straight....Hope I can explain it clearly....this is the way two triangles fit together......now I see I perhaps should have made a longer line of them!
Place them together so that there are little points of 1/4" peeking out at each end......one of each fabric at opposite ends. If aligned correctly, the seam line will start at the point where the fabrics meet and make a good 1/4" seam.
Guess I forgot to turn this photo!  This is how the finished seam looks.
New fabrics from Jo Morton's "Prairie Rose" collection! 


Love this new fabric panel for a center medallion quilt from Andover Fabrics (Winterthur), based on a dated 1808 quilt by Joanna Southcott.  You can find the pattern here on the Andover Fabrics website.  Visit the Winterthur Museum page/blog for more information about the quilt and the maker.  I got only the panel and plan to make the quilt with my own scraps.......nothing new about that!  The four floral squares are for cornerstones.


To me, the most exciting thing about the collection was this little tiny amount of "Chinoiserie", (spell check doesn't like the spelling but I think it is right) the Oriental figures on the light ground, very early fabric printing design.  Wish they had thought to make Bolts of this print!!!
Closeup.....

This is a new fabric that I found interesting.....it is a Toile of Jo Morton's printed in black/tan on a cotton fabric that feels like linen weave.....just a tad heavier that regular quilting cottons but certainly compatible to use with them!
 Quarter for "scale".  This line is called "Cumberland" by Andover.
Til next time................................