Thursday, July 5, 2018

A Tiny Garden

A year ago, a friend of mine
gifted me with a small stack of 
vintage 1930's flower garden blocks.

I knew I just couldn't let them
languish another 80 years in this adorable taffy box.

They were sewn perfectly
except the quilter forgot to leave a 
seam allowance on the outside edges.

If I wanted to connect them, I'd have to
unsew a small bit on every seam and secure 
the stitching.
Guess what?
That wasn't going to happen.

Maybe that's why they got  stored away.
Who knows.

 So I toyed with other ideas and 
finally decided to
stitch them to a background
with raw edged machine applique.


I also decided to make the applique stitching
also became the quilting.

It's a wonderful time saver.

I arranged these tiny gardens with
a small spaces between them.  The spacing wasn't always 
the same, nor where the size of the tiny gardens,
but close enough, like pathways
 between beds of flowers in a real garden.


I added a little more stitching on
the hexies.


I didn't even trim the edges before sewing them.
I simple left every thing the way they
were last handled and placed 
in the box.


A Tiny Garden
20" X 24"

Now those wonderful blocks
have found a purpose.

and have become my mini June quilt.



I've never been to Atlantic City and the boardwalk,
but it appears that you can still buy James's De-Luxe
Salt Water Taffy "cut to fit the mouth"!
Until Next Time-
Kyle

24 comments:

  1. Oh Kyle, what a sweet quilt. I didn't realize how small the blocks were. I love how you put the top together. Great idea. Hugs.

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  2. Oh, so sweet! Great idea, Kyle. I love your idea of appliqueing and quilting at the same time. Your A Tiny Garden is perfect for June's little quilt :) Fun taffy tin, too!

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  3. So Cute! I love the colors! You made something beautiful out of those wonderful flowers.

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  4. How sweet! And the colors are just like salt-water taffy - soft pastels...yum!

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  5. That is not only a great mini but what a wonderful story. You took those sweet flowers and brought them back to life. Bravo!

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  6. Kyle que bonito y delicado jardín.
    Una idea fantástica !!
    Saludos

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  7. I am so happy that you put those flowers to use and in a unique way. I would have probably been like most people. Purchase them and leave them stored away to just pull out and look at every now and then. The way you have done it, they can be enjoyed daily.

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  8. I forgot to mention that when I first started reading your blog post, you were going to say you were eating 80 year old taffy!

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  9. Well this is just about the sweetest little doll quilt I've seen in a long time. It just sings summertime!

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  10. Your doll quilt is so pretty!! A very clever solution for the edges of the blocks. I really like how you quilted it as well - the loops are perfect for the flowers. It's a fun little box - you'll have to find a use for it now that you've used the blocks it used to store. Karen's comment made me laugh out loud - 80 year old taffy - yummy! Lol!

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  11. Just delightful, Kyle. So glad those sweet flowers didn't go back in the box.

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  12. What a great idea! I have some antique flwer blocks too. Never knew what to do with them and I think you found a perfect solution!

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  13. What a treasure and I love the background fabric you choose, too. Very pretty:)

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  14. I love your quilt ! The 30's fabrics are my favourite with the repro...your quilt is adorable !

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  15. so charming and what a great save. I love how you handled the edges. Great photos!

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  16. What a wonderful quilt you have created! I too have a small stack of hexie blocks that a patient gave me, and wondered what to do with them...great idea for me!!

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  17. A wonderul way to preserve these precious hexie blocks! You really had your “thinking cap” on when you came up with this idea. You now have a beautiful little quilt!

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  18. Clever solution and wonderful finish!

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  19. That is a great idea to applique raw edge instead of trying to deal with those seams. It sounds like a mistake I would have made! Cute quilt.

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  20. How fun, the maker would be thrilled to see your results.

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  21. My grandmother worked at James Salt Water Taffy on the boardwalk in Atlantic City for 23 years (or more?) beginning in 1947. I doubt she actually touched the box your mini-gardens came to you in, but it is fun to imagine the connection among us three.

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  22. What a great idea to use the blocks in this way! I have some Dresden Plate blocks that were gifted to me and there is no seam allowance around the outside edge either, and I didn't look forward to resewing them. Your Tiny Garden is just adorable and so sweet--no wonder it was stored in a candy box!

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