Capital S

A while back, I posted about a Capital O quilt that I rebuilt.  (And when I say "rebuilt", I really mean rebuilt.  It's quite a saga.)  I'd never come across an O block before.  And now, along comes another initial quilt block I've never seen, a Capital S.

More Quilts in the "Something From Nothing" Series

Here come the next three Something From Nothing quilts.  The series is all made from unwanted materials, primarily out-of-date decorator sample books.  (To learn more about the whys and wherefores of the series, visit Something From Nothing, and also follow the links at the end that will take you to other posts about quilts in the series.  You can find the whole set on my website.) 

Cathedral - 32" x 44.5"
This was shown in last weekend's annual Fine Art of Fiber exhibit at the Chicago Botanic Garden.  (Photos of all the entries in the show are on the FAOF website.)  All the fabrics in this quilt are different colorways of one print, no other fabrics have been added!  It was one of those quilts that mostly fell right together as I started playing with the fabrics.  Yes, there were a few sticky, problematic places.....but once the work-in-progress had hung on my design wall for long enough, the sticky places seemed to find their way to coming unstuck.

 

19th Century Toddler's Outfit - Addendum

Here's to the wonders of social media, especially in the hands of antiquers!

I recently posted about this mid-19th century toddler's outfit, and now have added info to share.  

 

Turtles!

A quickie little post to share just this one fabric.

I found it on a 1960s scrap quilt.  As I've written before, I'm not in love with the mid-century modern look in quilts, furniture, clothing, etc.  But now, I'm getting lots more quilts from the 1950s-70s showing up here for repair.  So I need to like them!  I discovered one aspect of the era that I totally enjoy - the wealth of conversation prints.  Like this one, they are so very clever.  If I saw this at a store, I'd buy some!

Sweet Butterscotch Quilt

This quilt belongs to a friend of mine.  It's a late 19th century quilt.  I found the block in Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns.  It's called New Album, published by Ladies Art Co., pattern #36 (LAC started publishing in the 1890s, and 36 is a fairly low number).

(Note: There is info on finding the book on Brackman's blog.  It's now available as an eBook.  It's an invaluable resource!  It's also available on paper via my favorite used book resource, AbeBooks.  I have no connection to AbeBooks.  So far, I have found their condition notes to be accurate.)

The quilt is a great collection of mid- to late 19th century prints and colors, including a great butterscotch yellow print in the alternate squares. 

It's a Wedding Dress!

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My daughter Katrina came to me last spring, asking me to be an advisor for a wedding dress one of her best friends had asked her to make.  Of course I would!  We have known Hannah, the bride, and her family since the grade school years. 

What ended up happening was two long and intense and super fun weekends of dress planning and construction.  And after that, a most wonderful wedding! 

Creative Quilt Ties

What really intrigued me about this quilt were the "ties".  Instead of the usual yarn or thread knotting, this quilter "tied" her quilt with oversize lazy daisy stitches!  Sometimes, she used a contrasting thread that lets the stitches really show.

Here's the stitching, front and back.  Very clever, don't you think?  And the brocade on the back is really lovely!