Vintage Thingy Thursday: Ohio Quilt

I am joining Coloradolady this week for Vintage Thingy Thursday. See what other people are sharing - click on the icon above.

I am sharing with you today a quilt top I purchased some time ago in Ohio. It is shown above on a queen sized bed. I was able to talk with the dealer, who had just acquired some items from an estate sale in a rural Ohio county. This top is made of a number of Shoo-fly or Hole in the Barn Door blocks, set alternately with squares of an acid green fabric.

Look at the range of scraps in these blocks!  From the fabric I would guess this top was made late in the 1800's - post 1875 at least.  But I am not a dating expert.  Then, the top must have been folded and put away because it is absolutely pristine.  It looks like it was made yesterday!

Viridian

Perkiomen blocks: the beginning

So, let's say that you rotary cut many many strips 1.5 inches wide, 6 inches long, for a quilt in the pattern above. 

I followed the directions in Mary Ellen Hopkins' A Log Cabin Notebook.  This pattern is near the end and is called the bunkhouse quilt. You can find a similar quilt (with instructions) on Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville website.  She calls it the Pioneer Braid.

So, let's say you don't plan ahead unless you have a limited amount of one particular fabric.  Err, that would be me. I cut many strips from older fabric, ugly fabric, reproduction fabric, fabric from exchanges ugly reproduction fabric... you get the idea. The plan was stash reduction.  Now: The bunkhouse quilt top is done. (Double bed sized!) And I have many many left-over strips of mixed fabrics, all 1.5 inches wide by 6 inches long, filling a large plastic bag.  I can't throw them out! Now what?

The other day I was reading Barbara Brackman's blog, Material Culture and her entry on the Perkiomen Valley patch.  It's a split nine-patch with half dark, half light areas.  Sometimes a 16 patch is used.  See Barbara's blog post and the picture below. (sorry, my flash has washed things out.)

My a-ha moment: I would strip piece two or three light or dark 1.5 inch strips together, then cross cut them at 1.5 inches.  I would also cut some 1 7/8 inch squares for the light/dark triangles, using various scraps.  I could make a nine patch, as on the left, or a 16 patch, as on the right.

Now, each square finishes at one inch, meaning many little patches and lots of piecing.  But it will make a great scrappy wall hanging.

I would like to develop directions for a wall hanging-sized project and publish it here, but my readers (all 62 of them) will have to wait. One, I have a family vacation coming up.  And two, I need to calculate yardages and take more pictures of the process.  So I am leaving you with just a taste until the end of June or early July.

See you then!

Viridian

Vintage Thingy Thursday: Double Wedding ring summer spread

I am joining Coloradolady this week for Vintage Thingy Thursday. See what other people are sharing - click on the icon above.
Today's entry is a summer spread in the double wedding ring pattern (DWR).  It is a spread because it is a single layer of fabric, finished and with a dust ruffle. It looks pretty good on a queen sized bed.

Here's another look at the rings and the embroidery around the rings and in the middle.  The ring segments were pieced and then appliqued onto the yellow fabric.  Then, a close-up of the lovely 30's fabrics, and where a an area of the yellow fabric was carefully mended.  Can you see it, under the center embroidered flower motif?  Click on the photograph to see a larger version.  this was a careful mending job!

This view of the back shows how this applique and embrodiery was done.

This is yet another ebay purchase.  It looks much better in person that in these photos, and in the on-line listing, so I feel like I won a real treasure.

Speaking of winning, let me mention here the giveaway contest in pregress at my other blog, Viridian's Postcard blog.  In honor of post #99, I am giving away a set of 10 unused postcards.


How to enter this contest: Leave a comment on this post and please include a way to contact you if your blogger profile does not include your email address or blog name. A mention of this contest on your blog would be great but not necessary. A give-away is also a promotional scheme after all.


Enter by Tuesday June 29 at 6 PM Eastern USA time. (I have family vacation the week before this.) At that time I will close entries and use a random number generator or random list generator (See Random.org) to pick the winner. The next post will announce the winner. Once I have a shipping address the postcards are off to its new happy home.
Happy Vintage Thingy Thursday!
Viridian

Announcing a give-away

Do you like postcards? I do, and I have another blog just for THAT obsession.


It’s post number 99 for Viridian’s Postcard blog! And time for a give-way.

I started the blog when my first postcard blog entry on this blog drew more comments than any post I had done before.

The most recent series I have described is of postcard reproductions of Works Progress Administration (WPA) posters that were made to promote various national parks in the USA. I have ten of these postcards (more are available on the Ranger Doug website) and there are two more to go.

The prize to the lucky winner is my set of 10 unused postcards, mailed to you in a sturdy cardboard mailer. I will be using the list randomizer from Random.org to choose the winner.

How to enter this contest: Leave a comment on this post and please include a way to contact you if your blogger profile does not include your email address or blog name. A mention of this contest on your blog would be great but not necessary. A give-away is also a promotional scheme after all.



Enter by Tuesday June 29 at 6 PM Eastern USA time. (I have family vacation the week before this.) At that time I will close entries and use a random number generator or random list generator (See Random.org) to pick the winner. The next post will announce the winner. Once I have a shipping address the postcards are off to its new happy home.

(Disclosure: I am now part of the Amazon Associates Program.  These are neat books about the parks - click if interested. I do get a small payment for each purchase).
Good luck!

Viridian

Vintage Thingy Thursday: Feedsacks

I am joining Coloradolady this week for Vintage Thingy Thursday. See what other people are sharing - click on the icon above.
Today's entry is 3 feedsacks that I purchased off ebay, from various sellers.


Feedsacks (or feedbags) are definitely before plastic.
At some point in the 1920's, a better grade of fabric was used to make bags - and the manufacturers started printing pretty patterns on them. The product information would be printed right on the bag, or a paper label that could be removed was used.
If in good condition these sacks or bags are collectible. Since new quilt fabric prices are at $10 a yard and increasing, to me anyway these sacks are a reasonable source of fabric, especially if you like the 30's and 40's reproduction fabrics. After all a feedsack contains a yard of fabric, and some with a few rips or stains can be had on ebay for 9 or 10 dollars. Oops, I just let you know my sources. :-)
Viridian