November 27, 2014

String Star

It's Thanksgiving here in the US.  This quilt combines stars and hearts and family mementos, so by way of giving thanks for brightness and love, here is its story.


This quilt came to me for minor repairs.  I find it very well balanced and visually pleasing.  The blocks are 25" square, so the overall effect is quite strong and graphic, but is balanced by the soft pink sashing and scrappy piecing of the stars.

November 24, 2014

Ballet Costumes and Inspiration

Welcome to some pre-holiday fun.


I recently visited Victoria Dancewear, a local ballet costume company.  Victoria designs ballet costumes, and has been in the clothing and costume biz all her life.  Victoria is my friend Julia's aunt, "the" Julia who sends me all the fun vintage clothing to repair for her Etsy shop.

Both Victoria and Julia credit their ancestor Basya Berkman for their love of clothing and design.  In fact, Julia named the Etsy shop in her honor.  It is so heartwarming that such an obviously creative and loving woman has such a wonderful legacy.

November 18, 2014

Blog Celebration

Thanks to everyone out there in internet-land who subscribes to and visits my blog!

Smiling Corn


Here's a 1950s Double 4-Patch comforter.  

It's got a fine collection of 1950s colors and prints.  Here are my favorites, with the best saved until last.

November 15, 2014

Crazy Quilt, c. 1925

Here's another beautiful crazy quilt to add to all the collection of crazies I've documented on this blog.  What makes this crazy quilt stand out from the crowd is the era and the fabric choices.

November 10, 2014

World Turn'd Upside Down

Dancing the Virginia Reel, 1897

Here's a great person I met via the internet.  She wrote to me about a post, and upon reading her blog and her "all about me", I saw that we have many, many interests in common.

Her name is Stephanie Ann and her blog, World Turn'd Upside Down, is a wonderful collection of all things historic.  She is a re-enacter, and so is interested in absolutely all aspects of historical lifeways.  There are hours of great reading here!  The illustrations in this post can be found, along with many others, on her blog.

November 5, 2014

Cleopatra's Fan

My entry in this year's Fine Art of Fiber show is another in my series of quilts called Something From Nothing.  This is my own little challenge project, made with decorator fabric samples and other "found object" fabrics and trims.  You can find photos of the whole collection on my website.

What follows are the steps I took to create this quilt.

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