Strawberry Preserves

Summer is quickly turning to fall, but I’m just not ready for the change of seasons. I’m still focused on this summer’s project, a sweet little doll quilt featuring a vintage embroidered strawberry. Perhaps you remember it from here.

Embroidered motifs like this are typical of the 1940s-50s when they embellished household linens such as tea towels, tablecloths, and napkins. Calicos, polkadots, and gingham checks, also popular at the time, made choosing my fabrics easy.

I finished the quilt top years ago but set it aside when I couldn't do the handwork. "What a shame," I thought, "to let something this cute go undone." Apparently, my friend Ruth agreed because she offered to finish it for me. How could I refuse?

Just look at her beautiful stitches. She used perle cotton for the quilting which adds a subtle luster to the overall design.

 

It turns out a quilt was the perfect way to preserve that vintage berry. Thank you to Vicki Haninger for her inspiration and to Ruth, of course. for seeing the project to fruition. I couldn't be happier with the result!

Strawberry Patch Preserves

15” x 17”

machine pieced, hand quilted

2019

Scenes of Summer

Hi everyone! How was your summer? Mine was filled with extraordinary moments shared with extraordinary friends, like Wanda Hanson of Exuberant Color, who surprised me with one of her signature batik color-wash quilts. Isn't it stunning? You can read more about it here. 

Of course, visits from quilters are always welcome, especially when they bring "show and tell." Here's Sheila with her Sunflower quilt and me with Wanda's Zig-Zags.

Jenny graced us with fresh-picked basil and cherry tomatoes from her garden. Meanwhile, Jean shared delicious peach cobbler (made with real Georgia peaches) and the best blueberry pie I've ever tasted!

Local troubadour Bill Glaysher stopped by to serenade me one afternoon. Swoon!

Which enabling friend helped make this online purchase? I couldn't resist a few new American Jane fabrics in summer hues.

My friend Bev, a veteran English teacher, volunteered to read aloud to me. Listening to her soothing voice was absolute bliss.

Jim and I even attended a bridal shower this summer, hosted by our friends Mark and Linda. What lured us out on a 97-degree day was the promise of mango mimosas and eight different kinds of cake. Believe me, it did not disappoint!

Thanks for the wonderful summer, my friends, and for all the memories we made!

Spring At Last

Earlier this spring, my friend, Debbie, shared this photo of crocuses blanketing the landscape like a colorful patchwork quilt. The moment they emerge, often while there's still snow on the ground, their hardy blooms seem to dance with abandon like they're grateful to be leaving winter behind... and aren't we all?

 she took at Flowers on Fargo, a private garden in Geneva, Illinois. Each spring, it bursts into color  with crocuses, tulips, and other flowering perennials. Check out the link above!  

Perhaps it's the colors that drew me to this vintage Dutchman's Puzzle quilt. Do you suppose the maker had crocuses in mind when she pieced those purple triangles or was this just a popular color scheme in the 1940s?

All those triangles

poking through a bed of white

to dance their way across a quilt

sure look like crocuses to me!

Wishing you all a happy spring & summer!

Midwinter Blues

Hello everyone! I had a birthday recently and with it came this marvelous quilt from Barb. You may recognize it as Midwinter Blues, a pattern designed by Lori DeJarnatt for her 2014 Humble Quilts sew-along. 

Aren't her fabrics exquisite? I've never seen such deep, saturated blues or bold cheddar prints. Double-click photos for more detail.

Those patchwork points and angles could make for a "busy" quilt, especially with high contrast fabrics like these. Barb used a couple clever tricks actually managed to tame that visual energy with 

Rather than outlining the patchwork or using another angular design, First, she used an all-over quilting design with gentle, flowing curves (teacup quilting) which 

By substituting silk thread for cotton, her machine quilting practically melts into the background leaving just a hint of texture behind.

Barb always chose this lovely patriotic print for the back--"E pluribus unum" or "Out of many, one." 

As you can see, the quilt was originally made for Barb's dear friend, Mary B. After Mary passed away, Barb thought I might enjoy having it. Thanks, Barb. You bet I will! XO

 

If you'd like to make your own Midwinter Blues quilt, instructions can be found on Lori DeJarnatt's  Humble Quilts blog: 

Part 1   Part 2   Part 3   Finale.

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful!

If you live outside the purple zone on the weather map, you might be surprised how bitter the cold is here in the Midwest. Current temperatures are in the single-digits with wind chills of -25° to -40°. That's breathtaking cold! Bone-chilling cold! FROSTBITE COLD! Needless to say, we're hunkered down for the time being.

In weather like this, my husband keeps his excursions to a minimum, braving the elements only to trek down the driveway for mail or to shovel us out, not that we're going anywhere. Every time he opens the storm door, it whines in icy protest as if to ask, “Are you sure you want to venture out today?”

I'm keeping warm with a cozy new quilt, made by my friend Mary Conley. "The blocks might look familiar," she whispered as she placed it in my lap. Indeed they did. They were red and green nine patches I'd abandoned years ago! 

They look fresh and new in this jaunty on-point setting and the homespun plaid really sets them off.

Red homespun on the back makes it even more inviting. 

Thanks again Mary. Whatever plans I may once have had, your quilt is so much better! ❤️

Happy New Year everyone and best wishes to you all!

Will Strip for Fabric!

Hi everyone. Hope you're keeping cool this summer. I get so lethargic and irksome in this heat that it’s hard to do more than nap! 

My Piecemaker friends shared photos of quilts they made from our Spider Web fabric exchange. It’s fun to see each quilter's interpretation of this classic string-pieced design. Enjoy! 

And here’s our friend, Patt, dressed as a stripper. How else would you dress for a "strip" swap?

Hey, Macarena!

Hello all! It’s been awhile since I posted a bona fide, start to finish, made with my own two hands kind of quilt. I made this Spider Web, aka Kaleidoscope, in a fabric swap with my "Piecemakers" quilt friends. 

The theme was “pastels” so each of us contributed six yards worth of assorted strips to exchange with the group.

By the day of the swap, three banquet tables overflowed with strips of every color and hue. We paraded around the room to the festive rhythm of “Macarena,” snatching a strip from each table we passed. Between the music, laughter and fabric flying, we looked like a crazy conga line or raucous game of musical chairs. "Hey, Macarena!" 

Some chose their strips at random while others had a particular color scheme in mind. I selected 1930s-style colors and prints for my quilt. 

After sorting and sewing our strips into strata (6 strip sets), we used this 45 Degree Kaleidoscope Wedge Ruler to cut the eight segments required for each block. 

Coordinating the colors within each block was lots of fun... 

but, I liked the scrappiness of mixing random strips almost as much.

Nothing went to waste. My leftover strips found their way into the scrappy border.

I chose a 1930s-style print for the back too and bound the quilt in pink.

Kaleidoscope or Spider Web 

84" x 100"

Machine quilted by Stover Quality Quilting.