It is kind of an introspective day for me today.. I have been rummaging through the house, sorting, putting things into the donate pile, put away pile, throw away pile. I found these blocks above. In the earlier days of my quilting, I just knew that every project HAD to be complex, and of course, everything had to be hand quilted for sure. And I did just that! I guess I was making these Mariner's stars for each season...and fizzled out. I have no clue about what to do with them now. Poly batting...hmmmm....now I have different tastes, and when the scrappy bug hit...the complexities of patterns gave way to the myriad of color, from which there may be no going back!
I again am looking at my Flower Garden quilt. It was hanging on the blue hanger in the upper left corner of the picture. This is the first larger quilt I appliqued, all needle turn. I do love it, and really, really want to hand quilt this one. So I need to get after it, because Times a wastin'! as granny used to say...
Another shot...
Hey, guess what I found at the antique store? Buy the way, everything was on sale at the big antique store near me. I found this quilt top for $39.95. It is entirely hand pieced, and done beautifully. See how someone has cut away the bottom, crookedly? The dealer, no doubt, cutting away a very worn edge.
It is also dingy and worn...the fabrics are very thin and fragile. I think it may have been used as a bedspread, because it has definitely been washed and washed. Any guess on the age of this one? I did not need this...I guess I just wanted to rescue it...what to do with it now???
And Rosie the poodle said, "Mommy, please show your Celtic Solstice quilt, all quilted!!" I love it...it is very soft and cuddly, and trimmed so I can put the binding on. Maybe a green binding??
There is the lure of new quilts, new ideas, new fabrics, always, but there is also the call of old projects, great ideas that never were finished, UFO's. Where are you in your process, and working with new or old projects?
How has your quilting changed over the years???
Happy Tuesday!!
Julie
20 comments:
Nice quilt show! Congratulations getting Celtic Solstice quilted and ready for binding...that's one quilt not in the UFO pile! I love to focus on UFO's...but I also have to squeeze in some new things here and there.
Your CS is luscious!
What a fun post... an old antique quilt, one of your old UFO's one of your older tops, and one of your new quilt! I love the flower garden... you must quilt this in February the month of love!
I have recently been doing that recently too Julie. I just pulled out an applique project I had started a couple of years ago that really deserves to be finished. I wonder if you could make some cool pillows out of the Mariner's Compass blocks? You put so much beautiful work into them!
So funny to read that when you first started out, you thought quilting needed to be complex. That was how I was, always trying to make sure I was working on something 'worthy' of the time and effort! Ahhh... the lure of scrappy quilts. There really is no going back! Love your beautiful applique quilt and the antique quilt top is fantastic too.
Beautiful work on all of these projects.
Oh yeah, I have multiple UFOs (both quilting and knitting) that I need to do something with before I get over run with them.
Working on BOM projects helped me develop my quilting techniques and skills.
The flower garden quilt is gorgeous!
Those star blocks need to be rescued somehow--pillows sound good.
Your pink and green quilt is stunning! That will be an heirloom when it is all hand quilted!
I don't know that I could have passed up that top, either, at that price. Maybe just simple cross-hatching by machine and drape it somewhere pretty. : )
Your Celtice Solstice is wonderful and I like the idea of the green binding.
This is my year of the UFO, so that is where I am trying to keep my focus. We'll see how I do--the siren song of the new is very alluring!
Lovely applique quilt! your hand quilting will do it justice.
I too would have recued that top, maybe an all over pattern & use it, it has a story.
Lots of feed sack materials in that quilt top. I'd say 30's-40's. I like those blocks. I well remember that poly batting. Maybe some table toppers.
Oh my! What beautiful work on the Mariners. Must be rescued no... HAVE to be used as... navigating tools with some tall ships (scrappy) blocks maybe? And some 9patch blocks, of course LOL. Love your different choices of red fabrics in the Flower Garden. So feminine. Yes, hand quilting is the only way for this one. The antique quilts are such interesting little treasures of fabrics. Love them both. Thank you for sharing.
Chantal
I LOVE your flower garden quilt! I've only been quilting for a couple of years so it has not changed much!
Your flower garden quilt is beautiful. My tastes have definitely changed over the last 40 years, thank goodness, and I don't feel guilty passing things along for others to find as treasures just like you did today. And if no one does find it as wonderful as I did, I'll never know.Guessing on your snowball quilt, I'd say 40's -50's. Only a guess
From this distance.
Lovely as always! Rosie has good taste!
Lovely to have a stocktake of old and forgotten projects.
My tastes in fabrics has definitely changed over the 12 or so years I've been quilting. Used to love the country style, muted colours. Now I prefer the brighter, modern colour tones and more use of solids. Still trying to use up some of that older fabric though :)
How fun to see a variety of projects. If you aren't sure what to do your poly filled blocks how ahout giving them away. Surely someone would put them to good use. Love your snowball quilt. Is it too thin to layer and quilt?
Just the binding left on the mystery!? Wow! You go girlfriend!
Great UFO's to show! I have a few of those and have only been quilting for a year, can't imagine what it will be like after 20 (gulp)! Love your CS, I think yours is the first one I have seen in one fabric per colour instead of scrappy, loving my scrappy one but was wondering about controlled colour, BEAUTIFUL. LOVE the flower garden quilt, one of those and the mariners star is definitely on my to do list :) Thank you for sharing have a great day :) Julie
Hi Julie
Love your appliqué top. Soooo much work went in to it. It needs to be reused from the hanger.
Even love more those mariners compass blocks. If they are sewn together why not make a small wall hanging. Poly? Sew what! You know that it would needle well and hang flat, it's light weight too.
I'm a scrappy girl now but really love the compass blocks in any colors.
Ohhh! I love your Flower Garden quilt!
All lovely quilts. What a variety!
OH my that flower garden applique quilt is gorgeous!
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