Old is New Again

The block known as 54-40 or Fight has always been interesting to me.  Such an odd name!  Those triangle star points!  The corners can be HST's, or 4 patches, or even plain squares.  I got a triangle ruler a few months ago, and it has opened up blocks that before I used to cut with paper patterns, slowly accidentally slicing off bits and pieces of my template as I cut.

The slogan 54-40 or fight was from a mid 1850's dispute between  Britain and the US over territories in what is now Oregon.  One of the boundaries was the parallel on the map with the coordinates 54,40.  The slogan was also used by James  Polk, democrat, in his successful bid for the presidency.

At that time, women were denied the vote, but would often express their political views in their "Women's Work," such as quilting.  So to me, the thing I like about the block is it's association with women being politically active at a time they were denied that right.

The fabric collection I used to make my small quilt came from a reproduction set of 6 fabrics (and I added a few from the scrap box) named "Old is New Again," since we may tend to think pink and black is a modern color combination.  This collection was put together from reproduction fabrics of fabrics popular together in the 1840's. 

Though they appear to mirror one another, in reality all the blocks have a dark center.  There are also a few blocks where I had to piece some pinks together to finish the block since I accidentally made one too many black-pointed star when I really needed one more PINK pointed star!  Love it when I end up making these little mistakes.  Reminds me of myself! 

UPDATE: This quilt found a living home with Romana Uher in 2015.

Little Houses

Very simple little charm square mini quilt.  Machine applique raw-edge for the doors and windows.  The 5" hexagon template for the roofs.  It seems very simple.... maybe I will embroider some flowers, or add some yo-yo flowers?

Midwinter Reds

Just a little tumbler quilt made from a charm pack named "Midwinter Reds."  I'll use it as a table runner.

Another Future Quilters Orientation

I adore showing a new generation of little girls.... or big girls and even adults.... the joys of quilting.  Fabric and design, the techniques, the options, the amazing ability to create for a lifetime and never create the same thing twice.  So when Andrea, my son's friend and her 2 little girls were visiting from up north, I asked would she and the girls be free for a morning to quilt, I got a happy "YES!"

Andrea had sewn a pillowcase before.  With a friend who was also a non-sewer.  Her husband got her a sewing machine from his Grandma while they were here, so she brought it over and we unpacked it, I taught her to wind a bobbin, change a needle, thread the machine, and basic maintenance.  I also highlighted important instructions in the book.  Andrea was a FAST learner, soon sewing up a storm, trouble shootong, re-threading the machine and re-inserting a bobbin!  I wish they lived closer, Andrea was a very fun student.

The girls, Sienna, age 7 and Olivia, age 4, each completed a Christmas project.  I can see both becoming quilters in the future.  And Mom, heading home with a new machine and a lot of excitement, will surely teach her girls and pass it on.

Autumn Snuggle Quilt

Isn't it always like this?  The quilter's own snuggle quilt is in tatters, worn and the batting thin and patchy!  It's still good, but so thin it's good for summer naps, not for the first chill of Autumn in SoCal.  So, into my stash for a set of fat quarters I bought online at some clearance some years ago and a pair of neutrals from my Anaheim Fabric Warehouse treasures!  Some Autum charms, left over from a project last year complete the random circles. Machine quilted and raw-edge applique.  I used a regular old glue stick to place the circles. The batting is 100% cotton, a little stronger for an autumn quilt.  Just my size"  46 X 56.

The design is my own.  Favorite basic 4,9 or 16 patches.  I call it "Square Unless it's a Circle"

Charm Pluses

Wall quilt richly machine quilted, made with a charm pack named "Covent Garden" and a neutral written with the words of the child's rhyme "Star Light, Star Bright" that I bought on a quilt run down near the border in Chula Vista. Just for fun!

My own pattern and arrangement.

Gifted to Racquela

Sand Unity Ceremony

When a friend of mine was getting married, she described to me a "Sand Unity Ceremony" that would take place at her wedding.  Two different colors of sand in two jars are poured into one new vessel.  This symbolizes the two becoming one, intertwined, inseparable, eternal.  I loved the image, and decided to illustrate that in a wedding quilt for the couple.  Her wedding colors were grey and pink, and his favorite colors were turquoise and purple.

Found the fabrics in Anaheim, at my favorite warehouse (!) and a few bits and pieces of other things from the scrap box.  I love the two grays i found for the background.  I like how this combo of 9-patches and 4-patches came together.  They are 4 1/2 inch blocks (but I accidently made the 9 patches 5" blocks (!) so had to arbitrarily trim them down.  That makes the grains uneven, more authentic!

I googled "sand unity ceremony" and liked this quote:  "Just as the grains of sand can never be separated, may the two of you be intertwined together in love for the rest of your lives."

Fruits and Veggies Convergence

A simple wall quilt, made by cutting 4 pieces of fabric an replacing the strips from one with another.  Ricky Timms calls this CONVERGENCE, and I followed his instructions from a book.  (https://www.rickytims.com/quiltgallery/harmonic-convergence-quilts)
 A super simple quilt, the fabrics are oranges, apples, corn on the cob, and celery. The border is a tossed salad, complete with olives, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and egg slices!

The fabrics didn't quite contrast as much as I would have liked, they kind of blur together.  But there it is, a fun technique!

Coffin Quilt

Back in 2004, I read an article in a book on old quilts about the custom of memorial, or "Coffin Quilts" in the late 1800's.  So I decided, along with a collection of reproduction prints of "mourning cloths" of that era, to make my own Coffin Quilt.  I chose a block named (of course) Coffin Star, which is a 16 patch square in a square.  I used 2 different grays from my stash to set the somber black fabrics, along with a tan from someplace.

The border is a great Anaheim Warehouse find, a black/pink/grey stripe I picked up for $1.98 a yard on one of my fabric binges.

 Perhaps my favorite part of the Coffin Quilt is the Epitaph, written by my BFF and quilting partner Sprout.  I wrote it on the back, and have asked Pete to display and read it at my funeral (some day MANY hundreds of quilts from now!)

In death
I leave this world I've known,
To reach
A place with streets of gold.

But still,
Remain, thorough quilts I've sewn,
And left,
Upon God's earth to hold.

 

Autumn Braids

Bought the fabrics for this orange/browns wall quilt on a foray to my favorite fabric warehouse in Anaheim.  had my friend Sharon with me who went CRAZY at one of the fabric selections.  Sharon felt it was "spring" not "autumn" and therefore did NOT belong.  I loved the color, and the idea of a little bit of Spring peeking forward (or back?) in my fall quilt.

The braids were a bit challenging; the vertical rows got "wavy" and I had to do streching and pulling to make them fit.  It all came together when I quilted it by machine.  I do not particularly like autumn, since I LOVE summer, but this bright quilt is a consolation prize since I really find it bright and cheerful.

Sold to Kendra

Autumn Wall Quilt

I bought a little kit at a Quilt run several years back.  Not my usual colors or style, but it was a promo kit for $5..... Never one to pass up a bargain, I bought it.  The idea was each store sold a little kit for a "strip" and you put all the strips together into a quilt.  I bought only this one strip, and made it into three rows instead, and into a little wall quilt I put up once the weather begins to turn cool.
The little quilt shop has a sign printed by the Quilt Shop (Fat Quarters) that indeed identifies this quaint little house/shop as "Fat Quarters."  The shop indeed is a 2 story old house with fabrics, treasures, patterns and goodies tucked into all sorts of nooks and crannies.  The theme of the store is usually the darker, somber "country" colors, of which I am not usually drawn.

An Old Halloween Quilt

I was bringing out the Halloween quilts and noticed I had not photographed some made many years ago.  Checked the back of this one; it's from 2002.

I recall getting the fabrics as a fat quarter collection, probably some fabric of the month club.  (I still indulge...... yeah, I have a lot of quilts "to be made!"

Simple shoo fly block, used scraps in the thin border.  The binding is plain black.

Halloween Quilt for a Little Girl!

)There are tricks to making this complicated looking block from 2 1/2 inch strips.  So I gathered new and old Halloween fabrics together and started sewing, twisting, cutting.  I love the way it looks!
For Carrie, for the baby to wrap up in during October!

https://modafabrics.wordpress.com/2012/10/23/simply-woven-quilt/