Monday, January 10, 2022

Flower Garden Blocks 1940's

Taking on another Quilter's beautiful
Flower Garden blocks has been a 
lovely way to start the new year.

If you remember, I bought these
blocks at my Quilt Therapy silent auction
in November and throughout the holiday
I have been enjoying slowly piecing them together. 

There ended up being 97 individual blocks.
I have sewn them into long panels 
and are now sewing very long
zigzag seams.

 

All the while, 
I have been trying to figure out,
why the blocks were sewn both by machine
and by hand.
Were they sewn by two people or
if not, 
what was the Quilter thinking and what was the plan.

Well, I  figured out
she was a very efficient and systematic person.
She had come up with a plan
where she could save time and still
stitch perfect blocks.

Because she was not using an EPP method
she could vary her method of sewing.

Here's what she did.
After cutting out all her hexies,
and there are no pencil marks to indicate
she drew around a template,
she began sewing them together with a 
1/8" seams allowance.

Remember she did all
that fussy cutting .
A very talented quilter.

Step 1.


Then after machine piecing part of the first ring,
she sewed the two hexies on the sides 
to complete the ring by hand.


This clever Quilter found herself 
half the time at her machine and
the other half sitting and hand stitching.

Now look what she did for the next ring.


These next hexies would be floppy.

By leaving the seams allowances free
and because she used an 1/8" seam, 
she could easily insert and connect
other sections of a ring.




Do you see a pattern?
A bit of zigzag zag stitching.



She could work on multiple blocks at a time
sewing a bunch at the machine
and then finishing the rings later.

Here's the third ring.
Sew individual plain hexies to 
the second ring, 
sew 4 plain hexies together in a row, and
then attach these to both sides.


There's a completed block.

She could work on a bunch
of these at a time.
Her combination of methods seemed a
very efficient use of her time and skills.

But that's where she stopped.

I couldn’t think of a combo
method to sew the blocks together.
Could that have been part of the 
reason she put all these beautiful blocks away?

Whatever the reason, I feel very
fortunate to have been the next part of the plan.

So, slowly, 
 I've been zigzaging these together. ❤


Until Next Time-

Kyle



22 comments:

  1. Well, good for you for figuring out her method. I have seen hexie blocks that are both hand and machine pieced and now I wish I had looked closer to see if they used the same method. I even now wonder if it was published somewhere. Your loving stitches are bringing these blocks together beautifully. Such a treasure.

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  2. Kyle ¡¡ gran investigacion!! que maravillloso trabajo, se ve una dama muy organizada, tendras una colcha impresionate.
    Saludos

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  3. OH how beautiful!! You are the perfect person to finish that beauty. That is awesome that you figured what she was up to!

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  4. Kudos to you for figuring out this ingenious quilter's method! That alone makes this quilt very special, and a real treasure.

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  5. I'm so glad you've taken the time to put this all together and make it a treasure instead of a UFO.

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  6. Oh my ... what a mystery you solved. I probably would have ripped everything out and started again. Bravo for picking up the pieces and finishing her work.

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  7. That is so interesting! Kudos to you for figuring out her method. Such lovely blocks and you are going to have a very lovely quilt when it is finished.

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  8. This quilt project was lucky to find it’s way into your hands!😊. I love the bright colors of the blocks against the white and it’ll be an heirloom when you’re done!

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  9. That's an amazing stitching plan! Women found so many creative ways to use their sewing machines!

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  10. Amazing method and I think you are the best to finish this top !!
    Ohhh I love the 30s' prints !!
    Happy new year Kyle !

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  11. Very clever technique. You will have a wonderful quilt when complete!

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  12. Wow, clever method...but 1/8" seams! That doesn't leave an wriggle room for errors! It will look great when you finish the top.

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  13. You really are a terrific puzzle solver Kyle - so interesting to still be able to get inside the thinking on how this was assembled without the advantage of being able to ask the maker. It is gorgeous!

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  14. That is so interesting reading about her method of combining the hexies, Kyle! And good for you for figuring it out. This is really looking beautiful!

    I began my one and only quilt during March 2020 when the pandemic began. It is an I-Spy hexie quilt that was supposed to be for my little grandson's first birthday. Well he is now 18 months and I've lost all interest in it. I got all of the flowers made--just need to sew them together with the spacers, but I just don't enjoy handstitching like this. It's funny 'cause I can sit all day and stitch little x's onto fabric :) Anyway, I may try to get back to it so perhaps he'll have it by his 2nd birthday (or 3rd or 4th :)

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  15. I cannot imagine sewing hexies on the machine. I sew all of mine by hand. I would never have them line up and my little corners come together if I tried using a machine.

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  16. Fascinating, Kyle! And you are very clever in your sleuthing to figure out her method. This is turning into a lovely quilt top. The blocks definitely landed in the right hands--hands that respect and honor the original maker, while bringing closure to their work to create a beautiful quilt!

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  17. What a clever quilter she was!! And beautiful fussy cutting. So glad you’re finishing this “for her”.

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  18. What great sleuthing! The way you have assembled all those blocks into two long panels is a great way to tackle the layout. And it looks like they all fit together nicely. So glad you are the one to finish this beautiful quilt!

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  19. So interesting! I would have been trying to figure it all out myself. Love that you're finishing up such a worthy project. It's going to be so lovely.:)

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  20. That is fascinating to see the process that was used.

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  21. What cleverness! What innovation - what great sleuthing on your part to figure this all out.
    Lovely quilt made by a talented quilter. And finished by one too :)

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  22. Very beautiful, wonderful you saved them and making something pretty with it. Looking forward to see it finished.

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