Kindness of Quilters

I've been under the weather most of November. I won't bore you with details or my downer attitude but, for a bit, I'd even lost my quilter mojo. At one point, I toyed with the thought of downsizing the stash. See? It was serious. Then, this past weekend I was having a bowl of soup and pondering life when I started studying the beautiful little quilt pictured above. It is a RAK I received in October from Kathie. Anyway, I was looking at the fabrics and thinking how much I like them and admiring the quilting pattern and the blocks and, presto!, it all came back. So, thanks Kathie, your gift is a miracle worker.


I knew there was a problem when I had to force myself to make one measly little nine-patch block and it took over an hour! Sorry for the blurry picture.


Usually, I break the quilting funk by starting a new project. This time, though, inspiration eluded me. Then I saw Lori's nearly finished Dear Jane quilt and decided that each of those blocks is like a little project in itself. I can't tell you how many blogs I've commented on saying, "I need to get my Dear Jane project out again." I started mine around 2002 and don't have very many blocks done. At last, I tracked everything down, took a day to remember how to sew, and started K-12 with fabric from my scrap box. $%#&! I ran out of fabric two pieces from completion! Was something conspiring to keep me from quilting?


After a good night's sleep and another peek at my little red and brown quilt I re-started and finished K-12 AND F-7. I decided to go with the brighter blocks for now. Don't want to take any chances with dark colors.

A quilter's wish list

I went to the Baltimore Applique Society meeting last Wednesday and did a little shopping for myself. I thought I would share my goodies with you because they would be great to add to a personal Christmas list or make good gifts for the quilters in your life. BAS has reprint the Elizabeth MacCullough Hervey quilt pattern (above). For those who do not know about BAS patterns, the organization has made patterns from numerous antique Baltimore Album quilts. Some are used as BAS fundraisers and others are donated to a museum or historical society as a fundraiser for that organization - the Mary Mannakee quilt is one of these. The "Hervey" pattern is one of the most elaborate album quilts and was out of print for some time. Now is the time to get yours before it is gone again. Oh, forgot to mention, it includes a CD with excellent photos of each of the original quilt's blocks. You can view the pattern on the BAS website here.

Another little stocking stuffer or secret santa idea is these cards. The quilts pictured are past BAS raffle quilts. Each package has 4 cards of the same picture.

My favorite goodie is the 2008 Baltimre Album Quilt Calendar. I know, it is nearly 2012 but I didn't buy it for the dates. I got it for the pictures. It is a must-have for admirers of Baltimore Album Quilts! The spiral-bound appointment calendar book contains full photographs of twenty six antique Baltimore Album Quilts - many of which have never been previously photographed, displayed or published. This is more than just a calendar as it compares similar blocks, gives detailed descriptions and history based on current research of the twenty six quilts. You can order it here. Quantities are very limited.




I am just a member of BAS and lover of album quilts. I have no personal interest in promoting their products.

Scale

This is an antique quilt I bought fairly recently. I bought it from photos but the dealer is excellent so when she says something is impressive, I believe her. I may have mentioned my affinity for Lemoyne Stars once or twice (or more) before so you can see why this quilt appealed to me despite the sorry state of its fabrics. That star block on top of the quilt? It is 3-1/2" unfinished and will finish to 3". The little stars in this quilt? They are a tiny 2"! Well, sort of 2". Some are 2" x 2-1/2" or combinations like that but I am not criticising the fact that they are not exactly square everywhere. They are tiny! I was gushing about the stars in this quilt on display at the American Folk Art Museum last year and they were a (relatively) whopping 2.5".


You can see the weakness in the red fabrics in this photo and the worst fading of the fabrics is in the blocks on that right side of the quilt. But, if you had made this would you have been able to hide it away? Me neither!


Okay, here's the photo where you can really get an idea of the scale. For those unfamiliar with American quarters, they are about an inch in diameter.


Of course, I love that this quilt has cheddar fabric and that's one of the few fabrics that stood the test of time.


Here's another detail shot to show you the pink because I love pink, too.


And, finally, I like the way the two stars with indigo fabrics just pop right out at you. How I wish I could have seen this quilt when its colors were new, don't you? The cheddar, pink, indigo and red triangle border makes me think the whole thing must have been quite bright and vibrant.


This last little beauty is made by my friend Alice Tignor and was in the recent International Quilt Festival in Houston. I just love it and had to include it here when I am talking about tiny quilts. Those little blocks are only 3" and don't you love the precision of her flying geese border? She doesn't do paper piecing! I noticed that many of the award winning quilts (large and small) in the show were machine pieced. Clearly, the judges didn't share my bias toward hand quilting.