Circa 1930 Quilt

Giving new life to an orphan -

Quilt as it is unloaded from the longarm.

At least that's what Linda Taylor says to think about when you machine quilt a "found" orphan quilt top. I always cringe when someone tells me they bought a quilt for $5 at a garage sale - the family selling it not understanding the amount of  hard earned money the material cost, or how many untold hours it took to complete. For this one, I picture the family watching the quilt being made - the painstaking hours of cutting out small remnants of fabric and then the piecing it together, bit by bit, with the hope that one of them would someday have the pleasure of warming themselves with it during cold nights. But then a tragedy occurs and the quilter is no longer with them. They have no idea how to finish the quilt, but they hang on to it, remembering their loved one in the process. Then, many years later, it is found in an old trunk, and the finder doesn't even know who did the work. The original family is long gone, and no one seems to know anything about it, so gives it to goodwill, where someone picked it up one day and said wow - what a find!!

Back of the quilt.

 This one was purchased at the Houston Quilt Market a few years ago. Now, previous to Linda making her statement at a workshop I thoroughly enjoyed, I would have been shaking in my shoes to take a machine to a hand pieced quilt that was this old, but I considered what she said, and tried to give honor to that loved person who took such time to hand cut and piece this intricate design. I cannot imagine how many hours it took - there are so many small triangles!!! The quilter must have also run out of the original green, since the border areas have a darker green hexagon than the body, and had to make due. That's what makes our quilts special - each one has its own unique characteristics.

A Closer look.

With all this in mind, most of the work I put into this quilt cannot be seen. I felt the original quilter would have most likely hand quilted a crosshatch pattern through all those triangles, so a stitch in the ditch was used in those areas. The result was a diamond pattern that is best seen on the back of the quilt.


For the center green hexagons, I wanted to give the quilt a little more character, but still keep it simple, so a very plain flower was placed in these areas.

My hope is the original quilter is looking down from heaven and smiling, pleased that her hard work has been given a good home and is at last completed.

Chain of Fools

I have also finally finished my "Chain of Fools" quilt, so here it is. It's always good to complete a project!!

That's it for now. Until next time, happy quilting!
Cathy

Verse for the day: "The heart is more deceitful than anything else and is desperately sick; who  can understand it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds." (Jer. 17:9-10)

February Pantographs

Dear fast and furious quilters,

I know you have been hard at work during our cold and snowy winter, since I have so many quilts in my queue! February was primarily edge to edge work, so I thought I would show you what I have been busy with.

For this quilt, K wanted an all over pattern, but I did not want to mess up her beautiful embroidery, so I did a meander instead. (If you do not know what this is, basically, I decide on what motifs to use, how I will connect them, and then do an all over free motion quilting pattern.) This works really well when you have specific areas that you do not want any quilting to cover. It costs a bit more than edge to edge, but less than custom.

This one is a contemporary baby quilt. The large fabric area allows the quilting pattern to become part of the look of the quilt.


















This is a vintage Dresden plate quilt done by B's mom. When her mother passed away,
the family found several quilt tops and split them up among the family members. (It is my hope that someday my family will think my quilts are just as precious and B does.) Since B did not want to spend a lot of money on the quilting, she decided to do and overall pattern. I think what she selected for this quilt works very well, and allows the actual piecing details to really stand out. You see -  it is okay to have an edge to edge quilting on something of this vintage, and is certainly better than leaving the quilt top in the closet where it cannot be enjoyed!

before quilting

after quilting

B had two of her mother's quilts, and the blocks on this one were apparently done by members of her quilt group, as there were several signatures found on the quilt. Some of the blocks had some issues (see photo - before quilting), so a more dense quilting pattern was selected in order for the ripples and bulging  to be disguised. I'm sure B's mom had quite the time trying to fit varying block sizes together. Now we have ways to insure our 1/4 inch seams and piecing squares are more standard, but it is still sometimes difficult to fit together blocks done by many hands!

After quilting, the creases and ripples seem to have disappeared - oh the magic!

J's quilt is planned as a gift for her son (who is in the service - bless our military!) and his wife. This one is a sampler quilt, and looks great with an overall quilting design.


This last quilt is a simple block quilt, but the colors are wonderful. She picked an all over feather pattern, and it has some secondary patterns that show up throughout.









Well, that's it for now. The weather is showing signs of spring, and I can hardly wait to begin working in my garden!

Until next time, happy quilting!
Cathy