Pulling Strings: A Civil War Selvage Quilt

Hello everyone! Have you noticed the latest trend in quilt-making appearing all over social media? It’s the “Selvage Quilt,” a highly specific type of scrap quilt made from what longtime quilters and sewists might refer to as "trash".

A selvage is the tightly woven edge of fabric as it comes off the bolt. It keeps the cloth from raveling, it serves as a manufacturer's label, listing the company, name of the fabric line, designer, and year of production. 

How did Barb guess my favorite? Good friends always know!

These particular selvages came from reproductions of traditional fabrics spanning 1800-1900, also known as "Civil War Repros."

Who else but Barb would have this fabric in their stash? It features cartouches with images of Civil War battles! 

A big thanks to all who contributed selvages for this project, and of course, to Barb, for her inspired use of them. Thank you for including me in this string of friendship quilts. I adore mine!

Birthday Quilt

My birthday rolled around again, as they're wont to do. I stopped counting the years at 50, so I’m often startled when I actually do the math ~ 56 this year! How did that happen? One of the few good things about growing older is getting a commemorative birthday quilt from my friend Barb.

This year’s quilt is a sweet little Shoofly, adapted from the Pink Lemonade quilt at Humble Quilts.

Barb always selects a surprising fabric for the back, sometimes consistent with the style or theme of her little quilts, but more often than not, something bold, funny, or completely incongruous. This time, it's an exquisite china print.


The quilting is done in one of my favorite designs -- "teacup" or "wineglass" quilting, so named for the household implement used to trace the circular pattern (or your preferred beverage while doing so). Barb gives a good explanation of the proper way to approach this seemingly straightforward design. You might think it’s logical to stitch each circle, continuing one to the next where they intersect. But soon, you will reach a dead end, and have to stop stitching. Instead, follow the gentler curve that looks like elongated pumpkin seeds. This path will allow for longer, more continuous lines of stitching.

Barb, thanks again for the beautiful birthday quilt. I don’t know how long we’ll be able to keep up this tradition. After 50, the birthdays come pretty fast and furious!