Two Vintage Quilt Tops - Ready or Not?

Plain blue half blocks edge top and bottom

I'm liking tops more and more since they take up less space, cost less (usually) and are ready to be quilted...(sometimes!)
I recently found this one-patch at a Tucson quilt shop, Cactus Quilts,  the only shop I know of that is willing to use precious retail space to offer vintage textiles to their customers. If you are ever in the Tucson area you will want to stop in!

This one appeals to me because the 'lozenge' shape is somewhat unique and because I love scrap quilts - so many fabrics to examine and exclaim over.

Plaids cut on the bias add movement and interest

Dots, shirtings, checks and stripes

A range of time periods represented

What about that green and orange geometric!

I will repair a few loose seams but the piecing is accurate; the top lies flat, so I would like to hand quilt the Lozenge One - Patch.

This one is often called Improved Nine Patch. I guess that's a matter of opinion -  I'm not convinced one can improve on the classic nine patch  - but this variation IS a graphic delight with the stretched out corners of the nine patch block and the melon shape connecting them creating a circle.

Improved? or Needs Improvement?

There were some flowers and vines marked in blue wash-out marker on a small area in the middle...and evidence that some hand quilting had been taken out. I could also see small safety pin holes in the rest of the piece indicating  that it had been pin basted. Someone thought it was ready for quilting....

A nice variety of indigo prints

I immersed the entire top in water to be sure that the blue marking pen would come out before I put any more time into it.  I've used that marker successfully in my quilting but there are some guidelines. You need to avoid heat - irons or even exposure to hot sun can 'set' the blue. When you wet it, do so thoroughly in plain water...no soap. Dabbing at it appears to work until the next day when it may reappear. Another reason to get it wet is to be sure the fabrics do not run. I know many people are afraid to wash any vintage textile - but for me, if I am going to put my time into quilting it, I want to be sure that first time it's washed the colors won't run.

It came out of the water fine - blue markings gone and no bleeding blue.





It was fun to discover that various whites were used - here's evidence of  a sugar sack...............







........and several areas have pre-printed embroidery motifs - probably for a pillow case or dresser scarf. The 'use what you have on hand' philosophy!

I wonder if the assembly was done at a later time than the blocks?





However, upon closer inspection I discovered that it is NOT ready to be quilted. 
This is actually a rather complex piecing project when it comes to setting in those melons....and this intersection, and quite a few more like it, tell me that this top needs 'Improving' before going further! I'll have to think about this one!

Do I want to put time into fixing those intersections or just use it as an example for my talk:  Old Tops & Blocks: What to Do? 

I'll post separately on the many options and considerations for those orphan tops and blocks you may have in your stash!

March Theme - The 1970's!

I hinted in a earlier post that one of my monthly themes this year would have to do with a time period in quilting that gets no respect these days....but I started quilting then and maybe some of you did too.







As a home sewer, polyester blends and knits were the rage for fashion fabrics (no ironing!) but they didn't work well for quilting.


I found this image on-line but I made this! I had the pattern - who knows I may still have the pattern!




The American bicentennial spurred a nostalgic look back at our nation's past.. Quilt patterns began to appear in magazines and community school classes offered beginning quiltmaking. Quilters Newsletter, the first magazine dedicated solely to quilting, was started by Bonnie Leman in 1969. Quilt stores began to pop up and another quilt revival was born.

The very first quilt I made (1974) was this Trip Around the World in small calico prints and poly-blend solids.
(This is a photo re-run from my post last November on One Patch Quilts.) It's the only one I have of that first quilt.

 Reminder: Photograph your quilts!




As it happens, two of the topics chosen by the Minnesota quilt study group for 2012 are 'Quilts from the 1950's, 60's and 70's' and 'One-Patch Quilts'.
So for my first project this month I am combining these topics and making a Tumbling or Baby's Block 'small' from my authentic 70's stash!





I am using a metal 60 degree diamond template which is a bit larger than I wanted so I am tracing the inner line and then eyeballing the seam as I hand-piece.

I am making little groups of three...It's a great take-along project for those found moments or while vegitating in front of the boob-tube.



These are not sewn together but I've laid them out to get the idea.

Cool? Groovy? 

When I showed a friend she said, "I really kind of like it - but don't you dare tell anyone I said that."

What did I tell you about no respect? 

Wait til I tell her I'll be using poly batting!

Then and Now
Always in Fashion

The Won-derful One Patches - A Quilt Show

All of these quilts are from my collection and are made with just one template shape. From simple to complex, I enjoy seeing what can be achieved within that limitation. I've included some close-ups as well as the full quilt because I love studying the fabrics. You can click any image for an even closer look.
Vintage first........

Squares - Random                                                      1890-1920        5.5" squares

The fabric band across the top is sometimes called a 'whisker guard'. It's been tacked over those top few rows to project the quilt from getting soiled or abraded with beards and body oils. It can be easily removed for washing. I think it's a great idea. I often see it on vintage wool quilts which were not washed. It would also keep the scratchy wool from your face.

I won it at the AQSG silent auction in Minnesota last fall; a donation from the Sally Garoutte collection.

Though very plain and utilitarian in design, it has many really interesting fabrics! It is  unused and unwashed. I think it has a wool batting. 

These papers were pinned to the back.  It appears that Sally (or someone) got it in Flint, MI in 1973 for $15. I thought I got a great deal on the price but I did pay more than that!









Squares - Random
67" x 82"  
I know I've shown this one before but it IS a one patch. Squares are sewn in 4-patch units
                                                                               c. 1950  Fun Fabrics!



















Squares -Trip Around the World 
c. 1945
67" x 84"                                                                        More Fun Fabrics!!



Hexagons  - Billions and billions of hexagons! I didn't realize I had so many examples!
         
Grandmother's Flower Garden                        
c. 1930  
72" x 86"                    

Hexagons measure1/2" on a side

Random Hexagons 
c. 1885
75" x 88"

Almost a charm quilt - only two duplicates found to date; a brown print  (that took over a year to find! ) and one and a half 'cheddar' solids.





More and more hexagons ....

Fancy Hexagons

Velvets, velveteens, satins and silks.


This unfinished fragment was done in the English paper pieced style still has the papers in place on the outer edges. You can see the basting

Crib and Doll Examples

Grandmother's Flower Garden Crib Quilt
34" x 42"


This somewhat atypical arrangement of colors creates stars (squint) but only hexagons are used.

I  don't see too many of this popular Depression era style in crib size.





Simple Squares
22" square
c. 1950

Tied

This little quilt is reversible. It's been used and loved. It has no batting.













Squares - Checkerboard

Hand quilted

c. 1940
34" x 42"


The combination of a two color quilt in a simple checkerboard arrangement is always effective. Quilters today don't use plain solids like they did years ago but I like them.

Add even very basic quilting and you have a classic.







Triangles



Doll Quilt
10" x 14"
c. 1980










Dolly Quilt
15" x 22"

I use this as a cover for my sewing machine. It's a perfect size.

And a few that I've made:

Applecore
47" x 63"
I used fabrics from an internet swap of 5" squares. There are lots of plaids and checks but I thought the addition of calico prints made it more interesting.

Trip Around the World 

50" x 66"

 Made for a long time friend who loved to travel but was unable to do so - she was battling cancer. 

Triangles
29" square




 I used a packet of squares from a quilt shop promotion for this one patch. I saw an project in a magazine where you cut the squares diagonally and make two identical piles and then arranged them to make two quilts. I thought it would be fun to see how different the results can be using exactly the same triangles. Well, it really would be fun to see - maybe someday I'll get the other one done!

In Progress:

 This is another doll size quilt - I'm auditioning borders now. The squares are 1" finished. I love using the little leftovers.

It was inspired by a quilt I saw ...somewhere!
Do you have tons of photos of quilts you want to make?



Here's one of the bulletin boards in my sewing room.

Oh - I almost forgot the very first quilt I ever made!!!

Another Trip Around the World; this time in rainbow colors for my first born son, the one wrapped up in it! We had limited fabric choices for quilting in1976. Solids are poly blends and of course a poly batting. It's tied at the intersections. And here are my two little darlings enjoying it! That's what it's all about!!

The Tumbler quilt in my last post started all this. There are many more shapes used than I have in my collection.

How many one-patch quilts are in your collection?

Ta-Da! Tumbler Finished!

14" X 18"

Here it is - hand quilted and bound. I've finished two projects in recent weeks....I think I'm on a roll!



I usually wash my finished pieces but since I used fabric taken out of a hundred year old quilt top, and washed and pressed the pieces before I started, I decided not to push my luck. (Click here to see the post with the original top)

Here's an actual glass tumbler from about the 1940's. It has a special good luck horseshoe at the bottom.  Could it be an incentive to finish your milk?

I quilted an overall fan at about 3/8". I decided to try doing it without marking. It was fun and freeing....and the lack of precision actually makes it more interesting to me. ( I'm not just making that up.)

I had a nice vintage piece of woven black and white check which was perfect for the back.

At first I thought I'd just bring the backing to the front for binding but it didn't enhance the quilt so I had to use a reproduction for the binding.

Another motif inspired by an ordinary household object is this Goblet pieced block.  Quite a few are seen in blue and white - which happen to be the colors of the Women's Christian Temperance Union.


This quilt is in the Quilt Index.

When only one shape is used in the entire quilt, as in my little Tumbler, it may be referred to as a 'one-patch'. It's fun to see how interesting and appealing a quilt can be using just one simple shape.

Next Post: A few more One-Patch designs from my collection.