Tuesday, April 26, 2022

April's Mini Quilt

If you're like me 
and many others fabulous quilt bloggers
gathered under Wendy's wing
you know making a monthly mini
can be a challenge.

It  feels like the months
get shorter and shorter,
but it's still  a great way to explore new ideas
and create something small each month.

This month I went digging into a 
sewing cupboard and pulled out
a stack of vintage basket blocks.
When or where I got them
is unknown, but they
have been there for a very long time.


The fabrics are a combination of
30's and 40's prints with a bleached muslin background.
The 32 blocks all measured 
ROUGHLY 
10.5 inches.

I decided I didn't want a big quilt 
so I pulled out Jack the Ripper
and took the blocks apart leaving the 
hst's intact.


I wasn't surprised to find all of these units
looking very different from each other.
The blocks were mostly hand stitched.
There was no way these blocks
would fit together.

I resized these from 2.5" down
to 1.5" along with the center section and 
the rectangular side pieces.

The blocks would now be 
a quarter of the size, 5" finished.



The blocks went from this to that.


I ended up using 28 of the 
original blocks.


Vintage Spring Baskets
25" x 35"


I set the blocks together in 
sets of 4.


Then I added a simple border
of Kona Snow and


 machine quilted diagonal lines.
Bound it with a 30's repro fabric.


The backing is a piece from a flour sack
with one more of the blocks used as a label.


****

Then it was time to hang it out on the barbwire fence
along with the other vintage minis that have been 
reconstructed over the years.


All of the quilts are made
 from vintage 30's and 40's fabrics pieces. 

I was asked if I had any regrets taking
apart another person's work.
I would have to say no.
I feel like I have taken pieces that
were abandoned and left undone for a reason.
Maybe I've brought these to completion, finally.


****

The exciting news  is that
Running Man and I will be soon
gathering up our passports, 
vaccination cards and heading off 
on an adventure.
I can't wait!

So Until Next Time-Kyle



Friday, April 15, 2022

April Happenings

 Spring is slowly starting to appear
here in Colorado.

I've also been slowly working
on projects one day at a time.

And the results are beginning to show.  
There are a few projects that have been finished
and a few ongoing ones.
****

#1
A pair of springtime bunnies.

"Spring Delivery"

Scattered Seed Samplers
5" x 7"

And.....


"Spring Gathering"

Scattered Seed Samplers
5" x 7"


I changed a few thread colors and
changed a few design elements.
The first adorable vintage frame 
was from a thrift shop in Santa Fe.
I love it.

The second one was a shiny gold colored inexpensive 
frame from another shop here in Fort Collins.
Running Man got out his air brush and toned
it all down to a reasonable shade.

****

#2
This next project is far from finished.
It's a Mystery Quilt Along through 
Primitive Gatherings.  
I'll be the first to admit that quilt mysteries
are not my favorite.
My time and fabrics are just too
valuable and expensive to be working
on something that I might or might not like.

But I was caught in a weak moment
and Lisa B reassured quilters everywhere 
that she would not let anyone down!
hahahaha

So I've started.
31 nine patch blocks, scrappy, blue and white.
We'll see where the mystery leads me.


If you're in a weak moment too,
check out and sign up for Lisa Bongean Blog, 
to get the monthly mystery patterns
for O Say....Can You See.
This part will be gone at the end of April when
the May chapter is issued.

****

#3

Sometime ago I signed up for a
exclusively for Hobby House Needleworks.

I had never done one of
Nicola Parkman's vintage reproduced samplers.

This one is Rosa Ada Featherstone, 1894


Through the process of working on  a reproduced antique sampler
I came to several conclusions:

1.  Samplers done by young girls could have many errors.
If the sampler is designed to even include these flaws, 
I'm going to have to fix them.
I make enough of my own mistakes, that's for sure!  
I had to do lots of changes to make
this design work for me.

2. I like the style of many of these antique samplers,
but if I used Rose's name my family would be thoroughly 
confused as to who she was in relationship to us.
So I customized this sampler with my
maternal grandmother's name and date of birth.

3.  I decided while working on this sampler that Rose's heart wasn't
into this project or needlework as a whole 
or she had a poor teacher with limited supplies.
I changed many of the motifs because
I didn't recognize what they were.
I also changed and added more colors.
An example is that the ships 
were originally bright green.
I had to change that
 as well as a few other color choices.
Sorry, Rose.

*****

#4

I first mentioned this 
Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt
back in December,

Well, I'm still happily working on it.
The hand quilting is coming close 
to being finished,
A dozen more hexies to go
and then...

75" x 80"

I'll have to decide how to bind it
with the zig zag edge.

****

It hasn't been all work or stitching.
The other night we were able to go
to a live concert featuring
two of my favorite musicians,


They are on their final
US Tour as a duo.
I listen to their beautiful cello music
which includes classical, popular and rock music.

Stjepan Hauser and Luka Sulic'

They put on an incredible show
and we had fabulous seats.
The audience was a mix of young and old
and I loved every minute.


Check them out on you tube.

Until Next Time-

Kyle