Tuesday Quilt blocks Aug. 6

Welcome back to my little blog after I spent a week away. I had some work to do under a deadline, and that was followed by a short business trip related to that deadline work.

But now I am back and ready to catch you up on my Dear Jane quilt project.  The blocks are done and I have started bordering them.  Cut the sashing fabric 1 inch wide and the proper length.  The sashing will be 1/2 inch wide when done. 

Next, I have sewn the bordered blocks together in units of 9. I have kept the center similar to Jane's Mother quilt, and some sort of color order, but after that the blocks are a bit random.  They are not in the same places as in Jane's quilt, which leads to a bit of 'cognitive dissonance', as the psychologists say.  It's that sense of What...??? before your brain reorganizes what it is seeing.

Anyway, this is what the center looks like now:

 

The top portion is sewn together, the lower blocks on the right and left are just laid out.

 

I am linking up with Connie at Freemotion by the River and Quilt Story as I do most weeks I have blocks to share. Both blog hops have of pictures of pretty quilt blocks and other projects. I also hope to join Work in Progress Wednesday - if I remember to hook up!

 

I am on Facebook too: just search for Viridian61.

 

Viridian

 

 

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Why don't I like this quilt top?

There's really nothing technically wrong with it, but something is missing for me (no, not the border!)

Though a border would help.
The logs finish at 1/2 inches wide.

My analysis: 1. too many 'busy' fabrics for logs of this size. 2. too much 'light' - I like log cabin quilts with dark predominant. 3. maybe I'm not used to looking at the courthouse steps arrangement - this is the first one I have made.  4. It needs a border.

It's summer and I have more time, so I am trying again.  This time the logs will finish at 3/4 inches.  There is more of a mix of colors, and I've switched positions of the dark and light fabrics so the dark will predominate.  We'll see!

viridian


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VTT: Make-do quilt top

But I have a quilt top purchased from a friend of a friend that came from Alabama.  The maker used what she had so it is a make-do quilt.  It is also vintage.

Very busy today so I'll have to sign off now.
Enjoy all sorts of vintage things at Coloradolady's meme.

Perkiomen quilt top: Blogtoberfest day 6

Ok, so I am not blogging every single day, but I am more active.  I came home early from work to finished my Perkiomen top:

The border fabric is a blue and black print; one I have had for many years.  Scraps were cut into strips for the body of the quilt, so this is a scrap-busting quilt.

The entry with the start of my project is here.
Possibilities are explored here.
Barbara Brackman's commentary on Perkiomen quilts is on her blog, Material Culture.

I also did a set of blocks in 30's reproduction fabrics and need to put those together in a top.  Working with depression-era reproductions is more difficult than you think.  So many of the fabrics are medium in value and it's hard to get the contrast between light and dark in the block.
Viridian

Perkiomen blocks: Possibilities

Start with a number of blocks similar to the one on the right (16 patch block). I described the beginning of these blocks, and why each block finishes at one inch square in a previous post.

Here is one way to arrange 16 blocks.  With the light/dark boundary on the diagonal, you can arrange these blocks as you would log cabin blocks.  This is called the Barn Raising set.

Above is another way to arrange blocks.  This format takes 20 blocks.

Below is a more complicated arrangement.  I did not have quite enough blocks  to finish it, at the time I took this photo.

The above design is based on a vintage quilt pictured in Barbara Brackman's blog, Material Culture, in a post on Perkiomen Valley quilts.  Scroll down to the bottom of her post. 

I now have enough blocks to finish this, and I'll show you the steps along the way, this next week.  To make it scrappy, pick rather light fabrics, and rather dark fabrics, and believe in the power of value!

Viridian

Vintage Thingy Thursday: Dresden Plate quilt

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

I really can't help myself.  I purchase old and vintage quilts when the price is right, even on vacation.  And I was on vacation in Cape Cod and the price was right. Note there are cut-outs (flaps?) so that the quilt drapes nicely over the corners of the end of the bed.  there are some stains on this, which brought the price down.

A closer look.

 
And a look at one block.  Great fabrics! And 18 petals to each flower, not 12 or 16.  I think I have one of these fabrics in my fabric hoard collection.
 
This top has finished seams and so is a "summer spread" - usable as is, but no filler or backing.  The pink strips shown above are top-stitched on - not very well I may add.
 
Happy vintage Thingy Thursday! Is there a well-loved quilt in your family?

Viridian

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

Cheddar and Cheese top done, for now

To repeat, and give credit to the author: I am following the pattern from a wonderful blog called Humble Quilts. She started this three-step tutorial for a doll or baby sized quilt called Cheddar Cheese and Crackers before Christmas 2009. The first step is here.

I am using a double pink for the squares, instead of a cheddar solid. Each of the smaller squares finishes at 1 inch. I plan on adding borders, but for now it is done, and I am happy with how it turned out.

viridian

Update on new little project

Beginning of this project: This Blog Post.

I am following the pattern from a wonderful blog called Humble Quilts. She started this three-step tutorial for a doll or baby sized quilt called Cheddar Cheese and Crackers before Christmas 2009. The first step is here.

This is about the top third of the quilt top. This will be as wide as it gets. I have a bit of the part below pieced, but not completely. Now I am liking how this is turning out.

Viridian

Vintage Thingy Thursday: quilt top

This is post # 152 for my blog, so it's really time for another giveaway, but we'll have to wait. On to this week's vintage quilt item. Purchased off eBay in the last 6 months, I am pretty sure this crazy quilt top was made near Wabash, Indiana. That is because it is pieced on pages from a Wabash newspaper, March 1930.

Above you can see the date of March 3, 1930. It's hard to imagine how bleak this time was, about 6 months or so after the stock market crash of October 1929. Note also the ad for the store closing, selling 10 yards of muslin for 79 cents. But you still can't buy it if you have no job, and you have no cash.

Just LOOK at the prices here. Whole chickens actually have increased LESS in price percentage-wise, (0.35 to $1.19 lb for whole chicken, 240%, based on my local prices), than the hamburger has (0.25 to $2.69 lb or 976%). Again, time to be frugal when the husband has no job. And feeding a family is top priority, not buying muslin, or dresses, no matter how marked down.

Also note how this quilt was made, which may not be obvious in the first picture. Fabric scraps from earlier in the 1900's (note the dark blue and red and pink fabrics) have been placed on the newspaper foundation, and then their edges turned under, and machine top-sewed. Most quilters today would use a sew and flip method, as would quilters doing string-piecing on newspaper in the past. Or a hand applique stitch. Why this method?

I have another quilt top similar to this, feedsack pieces placed on a large striped feedsack, with edges turned under and machine top-stitched just like this. It's pretty wild-looking.

When I was starting out as a quilter in my late teens (many years ago!), I thought a crazy quilt was done this way, as I had never seen any, and the women of my family did not quilt.

So was this maker young, or inexperienced? Or was this a fad or style in the 1930's? I have not seen quilts like this in quilt history books.

viridian