Vintage Fun!

Do you remember these?

This photo is a very true color.

  I posted a while back about using these vintage blocks here.

In my search for the perfect sashing fabric, I came across the holy grail of vintage fabrics--right in my own stash!!

Selvage to selvage

Whoot! 

...and the most perfect color too...

This helped to organize the chaos of the patchwork. I have to have organized scrappy. 

I didn't want to put cornerstones in the sashing because that would throw another scrap into the mix I had just tamed.  Here is what I do when you have to add a length of sashing between rows of blocks.

I press a mark at each intersection as if I had a cornerstone.

Then I pin the mark to the seam on the opposing row I am attaching, just like you would if were matching seams.

This makes a nice even grid without corner stones.

Ok, I am done for tonight. Tomorrow, I will put another blue/green (I wonder what they called that color?) border around this 12 block section and then think about what I will do next.

I have to come up with a plan to use some of these other blocks on the back.

I'm sure it will come to me in the middle of the night!

T-Shirt quilt #4

What a marathon!

I just put the binding on the 4th and last t-shirt memory quilt.

Quilted with Square Spiral by Karyn Emmerson

Batik Backing 

Just by way of review, here are the other 3.  They go to 4 siblings,so they are almost all the same size and we divided up the shirts so each quilt had certain shirts that would mean something to each person. 

#3

#2 

#1 

Since I am often asked, I used gold thread on the orange and grey thread on the other 3 quilts.

T-Shirt Quilt #3

Here is a third T-shirt memory quilt finished.

Pantograph pattern Maori Moko by Judy Lyon.

 I like the "tribal" feel to this quilting pattern.

Batik backing 

Here is the 4th and final quilt on the design wall.  Yay!

Keeps me humble...

I was sitting here this morning in my sewing room and looking at the cover on my serger.....

This was the very first practice piece I ever did when I got my APQS Millennium quilting machine.  I used an old black sheet and quilted it with a spool of Signature Rainbows thread.

Quilted Feb. 2008

My girlfriend, who is also a quilter, told me to save it and I could look back one day and see my improvement.   About a year later, I cut it up and made covers for all my machines. 

Every time I walk in the studio, I see this original work and know how hard and long I have practiced to master these feathers.

 I also have this practice piece hanging in my studio to remind how far I have come.

Quilted January, 2014

Memory T-Shirt Quilts

I have been busy working on 4 memory t-shirt quilts.

  The first 2 are done...

If I can, I like to cut out all the shirts into 15 x 15 squares to begin with and then I trim as needed to make them fit into the quilt.

I had enough of these Hard Rock Cafe shirts to put 3 of them into each quilt.

Since there were other clothing fabrics to put into the quilt, I cut the Hard Rock blocks down and added a 2 inch border still making this a 15 x 15 block.

Then I started playing with them on the design wall....I just start putting up blocks and then stand back and rearrange, cut, add, measure twice and finally end up with an arrangement I like.

Here is the first quilt all done.

Quilted with a freehand funky flower, this is for a girl. 

When I saw this fun batik online, I knew it was the perfect backing for this quilt. 

Here is quilt #2

I needed a long narrow block so I cut down these 2 shirts.  I still had one more t-shirt with only a sleeve logo to use, so I pieced the green and gray together with a skinny piece of the sleeve that held the writing.

This is for a boy, quilted it with a large freehand spiral.

Number 3 is on the design wall right now.

Stay Tuned.....

WIP Vintage Blocks #2

Here is my progress on the appliqued blocks.

I put a 1 inch border around each one and then pieced them into my lighter fabric. 

I will do the same with the other 3.  This will be the top and bottom of the quilt.

The white fabric is a nice quality. The edges were torn, making me appreciate my rotary cutter. I starched, pressed and squared up these blocks before adding an assortment of different browns for the borders. 

...back when selvages were only 1/4 inch (and fabric was only 36 inches wide)

I will bet she made these blocks when she got her first zig-zag machine.

I didn't get a machine that did a zig-zag stitch until 1980.

I love this black and tan fabric!

WIP-Vintage Blocks

Here are a couple more little projects I have on the back burner right now.  I spent about an hour with my fabric calculator, scribbling on paper and pulling fabrics from my stash to be able to use these orphan blocks.

These were sewn by a lady that has passed away.  When her teenage grandchildren cleaned out her house, they found a lots of fabric yardage and lots of blocks.  I don't know these kids, but I am good friends with their aunt.

So......Auntie calls me to see if I would like to look through about 4 tubs of fabric, since she knew I make Quilts of Valor.  It seems that no one else in the family was remotely  interested in even looking at any of the fabric.  Are you kidding?  I never turn down fabric!  So, she and I sorted out everything but the cottons. There was also a bag full of blocks that I brought home because they were just going to get tossed.

There were 3 sets of  double wedding ring blocks cut in different sizes all from 30's fabric--along with about 300 matching pieces cut for more.  I pressed, sorted and auctioned them off 2 years ago and used the money to buy batting for my quilts of valor.  I got enough to pay for batting for 12 (60x80) QOVquilts!

Fabric auctioned off for QOV batting $$
 

...getting back to my story....

I have learned from my friend that the last 2 of these grandchildren are getting married this summer.

I am making them each a quilt with their grandmother's blocks.

For the girl i am using the blocks in the first photo:

These will be the front of the quilt...

I pulled a piece of blue from my stash I think I will go with for the sashing and plan to then pick up the yellow in the outer border.

These will go on the back.  I have several yards of the grandmother's fabric in a dark pink.  I will piece these into the pink for the backing.....with a multicolored little stripe for the binding.

Yeah, I can see it all now! 

Here are the other blocks.  This will be for the boy.

There are only 6 of these appliqued blocks, so I pulled some complimentary fabrics from my shelf and have my plan on paper.

This will be a 2 sided quilt-here is what will be on the back.

Gah, I know what you at thinking...how is that going to look?  Give me some time and I will let you know.

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Snowing here today in NW Ohio.  We had Happy Hour on the deck last night at 57 degrees and today, schools are closed, blizzard and 3-4 inches of new snow!

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T-shirt Quilts

Working on cutting and stabilizing about 60 t-shirts for several quilts.  Here is my pile after yesterday:

Love having this technical part done so I can get creative with their arrangement.