Waffle Time & Wedding

This is the Waffle Time. It's a pattern by Atkinson Designs. It can also be made as a runner. Any large focus print is nice for the center. This is one of two identical Xmas gifts for my 4th daughter's Sunday school teachers. They'll be given them tomorrow. I did some freehand peacock quilting on them in a slightly metallic thread.

A couple from our church was married today. The church was already decorated with beautiful wreaths and lovely hurricane lanterns for Christmas. Everything was beautiful. We spent from 10 AM until just a few minutes ago getting ready for it and now we are in recovery mode. It's nearly 8 PM. We're all ready for bed! So good night...

~Joan

Antique String Blocks & History

Above are 12 of the 22 plus antique string blocks I inherited from my FIL that were made by my DH's great aunt, Ruby. They are about 12" square. I want to make a quilt and hand quilt it with Baptist Fans or something that will preserve the historical time period in which they were made.

I am thinking of using a dark blue sashing with a chrome gold/yellow star where the blocks meet? What do you think?? I wanted to use a red (since the maker's name was Ruby), but there is not any red in the quilt blocks. These are just ugly enough to be pretty.

This is a small portion of the backs of one of the 9-patch string blocks. It has been interesting (to say the least) to read the backs of the blocks. Look at these prices!!

It seems like destroying history to take the paper off the backs of these blocks. I am going to scan and print some of the more interesting pieces to incorporate into the quilt back somehow (before I tear them off, naturally).

Any suggestions on setting them are welcome. I have many smaller blocks. It appears that these larger ones are 9 of the smaller. So if I have a large enough center with the 9-patches, I may use the smaller ones around the edge somehow.

Looking forward to your input.

~Joan

Finally--Pictures Separated by Text

A big THANK YOU to Leah for her technical assistance. See my last post for success...picture, text, picture, text, etc. But, you know, I promise that what she suggested was what I was ALREADY doing!! At least it works now.

Tomorrow I'm going to send a pic of my antique 1930's string blocks. I have an idea for a setting and want some input.

Have a blessed night,
~Joan

Antique Extravaganza

My father-in-law brought me a box of "quilts" at Thanksgiving. He had been cleaning out his storage shed and came across a box of quilts his aunt had made or kept. There are not really any quilts at all, they are all blocks, units, or partial tops.

Most of them are stained. I have purchased antique quilt blocks and cleaned them with good success. Above is 12 of 29 butterfly blocks. All of the pictures in this post are currently listed on eBay. The only thing I'm keeping to finish is a set of string blocks (eat your heart out, Bonnie!). The string blocks are pieced onto newspapers that have 1929 and 1930 all over them. How historic is THAT!



This is a section of a double wedding ring quilt. It's about 41" x 75". There are also 65 completed melons in addition to the piece shown. Hand pieced. The background is a lovely pink color.



These are Wedding Ring blocks...17" square. In a word, HUGE!! There are 16 of them. Again, hand pieced. Whew...someone spent a lot of time making these. Your eye candy for the day.

Hope you are enjoying a few relaxing quilty moments among the holiday mayhem. Remember to count your blessings.

~Joan

Another Wonderful Day

Well, it's been another wonderful day. That's all I could think when trying to come up with a title for today's post. I am blessed in every way. The majority of today was spent with my oldest daughter. She is 17. A joy to be with. Yes--I ended that sentence with a preposition. I could tell her that she is a joy, and she'd believe me. But somehow I think it will mean more when she reads it on my blog...and I'll know when she does! :)

This quilt is a little one (half-size version) I made from a free pattern Marcie posted. I made one full size, but this is the 50% smaller style. I made one for my 3rd son's Sunday school teacher, and I'm keeping its twin. The red and white stripe just gives it some zip. It's only about 12-1/4" square.

Blogging gives me time to stop and think about things that would just fly by otherwise. I have read so many ideas on the blogs of others that have given me inspiration. Somewhere (I forgot where!) I read the challenge to end every day thinking of blessings from that day. So as I wait for my DH to come to bed, I make a mental list of blessings from that day.

At the top of the list today is our pediatrician. He is an energy-giver...always has a big smile and a friendly disposition. I had to take DD#1 to see him today for asthma control. He changed her medicine schedule and gave us what I calculate to be nearly $200 worth of samples. Thanks the Lord! What a blessing that was today, and so unexpected. Then DD & I did a little shopping, went out for lunch, and just enjoyed each other's company. What fun!

I need help from someone about blogging technicalities...all my pictures end up at the top of my text. Is there a way to move them around once they're in the blog box before publishing? I haven't been able to find it if there is. HELP!!

~Joan

Mine and Hers

Above are two wreath quilts that are similar. I have finished hand quilting both of them, but still need to wash and dry them. They are basically the same center, but mine (the bottom one) has more red. The top one (hers) has just a berry of red. Mine is a bit larger, having more border area. I like them both. My 3rd daughter (13) pieced them both. She did a marvelous job, didn't she??

~Joan

month by month quilt

Month by Month Quilt

This is the quilty thing I've been doing this afternoon. It was after 3:30 when I got home from running my morning errands. Yes, MORNING errands. We do have a huge family, but the vittles don't seem to last as long as they used to. Two grocery stores, bank, post office, dry cleaners, piano lesson, etc., etc., and there goes most of the day.

The pictures above are a quilt my friend, Misty, pieced when she lived here. Her family moved back to Colorado this past summer. They are coming Wednesday to visit and stay with us until Xmas Eve! So I figured it was time to get a-quiltin' on this baby. She's going to sew on the binding while they are here and finish it. The second picture is a close up. It's nearly 2/3 finished, so there is light at the end of the tunnel. I needed to take a break for my back's sake.

Thanks to all who are leaving such nice comments. Below (at least that's where I'm hoping to get it) is my own month by month quilt, which, no doubt, inspired Misty to make one of her own. Well, stink! I can't figure out how to do this, but the picture will be SOMEwhere! LOL! I'm getting this blogging stuff, but my brain is so full of other things.

~Joan

PS: I see that the picture is ABOVE this post. Well, of course! I'll get it some day.

Scrappy 9-Patch Blocks for Carolina Crossroads

In this post, I hope to explain how I make a scrappy quilt. So many people who see my home quilts will comment on their own inability to put a scrap quilt together. Nearly all my throw size and bed sized quilts are scrappy, gradually made over as long as a year. Some are limited in colors (like my red, green, and cream Christmas quilts shown below in older posts).

See my Web Shots album for some examples (click the link on the left).

In the pic above, you see the beginnings of my 100 nine-patch blocks needed for the Carolina Crossroads mystery quilt that Bonnie is hostessing.

When I pieced these, I took scraps of black (MY accent color) and made a strip of black, color, and cream, paying absolutely no attention to what color the color was, or the cream for that matter.

Then I took a color and put a cream on each side. These are all long strips (well, as long as the scrap would allow, and all from my 1-1/2" wide strip bin). Lastly I took a cream with a color on each side. I just made a bunch of each size on Friday, knowing it wasn't nearly enough.

Saturday, while I was waiting for my children to finish their cantata practice at church, I subcut these strips into 1-1/2" wide pieces to make the 9-patches. I kept a tally (the 3 x 5 card on the left side) to see how many I had of each strip needed. I had enough to complete 46 blocks (held together in groups of 10 with pins), so now I know how many more I need.

The great thing about making some blocks and then having to make more is that I can see if I'm heavy on one color. I know I need more greens and browns to round things out.

I do NOT worry about a weird fabric that might stand out. One of the other tricks of scrap quilt making is distributing the weird fabric over the face of the quilt so it doesn't all end up in one corner. Another way to cover that is to purposely add several other weirdos (sorry, fabric collection--nothing personal). If it's still ugly, it hasn't been cut small enough. I liked that fabric enough at one point to BUY it, right??

I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment of the mystery. I've never done one before. I am not even curious to know the final design. Just blindly following and trusting Bonnie. Lead on!

~Joan

Antique Sideboard at Christmas

This is a picture of an antique sideboard in my kitchen. Those red walls really look great during the Christmas holidays!

We've always had so many young children at home that it was difficult to decorate much. We don't have all those little niches that I see decorated in magazines. We USE all our space.

Then I realized that there are a few areas that are decorate-able and safe. This is one of them. My 3rd daughter likes to set up this little village for Christmas. Each building was a yearly gift from one of my aunts. Each has a light inside, and they are on in this picture.

The garland hanging from the shelf is made of torn strips of homespun fabrics, homemade felt snowman, and rusty tin ornaments (moon, sun, and stars).

I will be sharing a quilting-related post next.

~Joan