Bindings...2 down, a few to go

I love binding...I really do.  Well mostly.

2 quilts done

Only 14 more to go.

More ornaments.  I really must stop and finish what I have already pieced.

Visit to Sisters Choice Quilters

I just returned from a trip to Falls Church, VA, outside Washington, DC.  I was invited to come down and give a presentation to this great group of quilters.  My talk was titled:  "Pennsylvania Patchwork Pillowcases and Other Small Treasures".  I showed pillowcases from my collection, representing about 100 years of antique PA textiles.  The earliest was a dated piece from 1829, the latest was from 1900, with a note attached with maker's name and year presented.  I also showed some of my doll quilts made from antique fabrics, along with the antique pieces that inspired them.

I was treated well by the lovely ladies of the guild.  We had a great Thai dinner before the meeting and luscious frozen yogurt afterwards.  Thanks to my host Amy for making very comfortable arrangements for me and for their attention and interesting discussion from the guild members.

Find them on facebook Sisters Choice Quilters

Phillies, piano, fall quilt

I am coming out of my depression over the Phillies early exit from the baseball playoffs.  Growing up as a Cubs fan in Chicago, you would think I would be numb to such disappointment, but it still hurts.
 
You may remember that I share the quilt lab with the family piano.  I don't play; it was my husband's childhood piano and my sons learned to play on it.  Nobody in the house played it any more, and much to Love's chagrin, the piano tended to serve as a three tier shelf for my fabrics (including the bench!).  A shelf no more.  My husband's sister wanted the piano for her young son.  My husband agreed and it is on its way to California.

And I have more space.

And now for the fall quilt, you can see it on the wall.  This is a crib size quilt.  The yellow and red fabrics date to ca. 1850 I would say.  I think the back may be 1870 or so.   I counted 16 different red prints and 13 different yellow prints.  The green and brown fabrics are solids.  This may be a PA Mennonite quilt.

As you can see, the quilting is beautiful.  Very tiny stitches.  I always love to hang this quilt in the fall.

tiny treasure

I pulled out this little antique textile item the other day.  I have had it for a few years and just love it.  I guess you can call it a small potholder, it has thick batting inside. 

It measures just over 4 inches and has a great selection of ealy fabrics, ca. 1850.  If the front isn't enough for you, check out the back.

Front

 Back

 For size perspective.

No quilting or ties.  Handsewn loop.  The batting feels like it could be a thick blanket piece.  I'm glad somebody saved this tiny treasure so we could enjoy it today.

Just playing around with indigo

I made this little doll quilt top a while ago.  It's in the queue to be quilted soon.

I had some left-over blocks, some that didn't quite match up properly, so did not make it into the quilt.  I wasn't sure what to do with them.  I cut some in half, sewed them together, cut them in half, sewed them together.  Here's what I ended up with.  It even has a title:

Indigo Abstract

That was fun!