Oooooo, love those blue and whites

I love blue and white quilts all year long but especially in January. Maybe it is because of the white snow on the ground? Add in a pop of old blue in an antique (or new) quilt and I just shiver............and not from the cold. Me loves a blue and white quilt. The snowmen are residing on this old Irish chain till Valentine's Day. It's worn but in good enough shape. It
features one on my favorite old prints, the tiny stars. But if the camera pans out a little further, you see the problem. Someone at one time got very careless with a bleach bottle.

But I love it all the same. And it is so soft. How many times has this one been washed in its life? My newer quilts that I have washed many, many times do not get as soft as some of these oldies do. I want to know the secret! Here is another oldie that is hanging on a quilt hanger that has seen better days. What a wonderful shade of blue from all the wear and tear. The best part of this one is also showing off. There are many tears and worn holes underneath but she is still a mature beauty, too.

A couple bloggers have been showing blue and whites in their posts this month so I am joining in. Hopefully I can get a few more photos posted soon.

I have missed my needle............

Now that Christmas and New Year's has come and gone and the kids and grand blessings are back in their own cities and states, it is time to get back to stitching. Oooo, how I have missed my needle! But how to find it in the cluttered mess of the stitching cave..........no problem, I have more than one! Applique time has been scarce, but that will change tonight. Plans are to pick up needle and thread and work on the third block of the blue willow project.
Here is the progress so far.

Mary Christmas!

A Mary Christmas to you from me. Here is a picture from last Christmas taken when grandson

#4 was 2 1/2 months old. We wrapped him in a blankie, laid him in my old trencher bowl on a quilt to look like Baby Jesus for this Christmas. Quilting can wait a few days, it is time for family. Blessings.

Blue Willow

Most of last summer, the ladies over at Good Wives were working on an applique willow pattern that they were inspired to work on from a photo of an antique quilt. I knew when I first saw their work that I would be buying their pattern to make one. I needed a handwork project and this would be the perfect one. Last week I started my first of four blocks thinking I would stitch a few stitches here and there. That didn't happen. I was addicted right off and finished
my first big block, about 20" square, yesterday. Today I am lecturing myself to put that second block down and to work on Christmas decorating and sewing gifts. Time will only tell if I listen to my lecture. The ladies at Good Wives are making theirs in red and green and they are lovely. I chose to make mine a blue willow on a teadyed colored brown background. Yesterday I sent this progress photo to my sister who emailed me back a little surprised. When she opened the attatchment, she wondered why I was sending her a picture of ribs. O my! Not knowingwhat to expect, I can see where she may have been confused wondering why I was going to applique dinosaur ribs. (ok, disclaimer here: she works second shift and comes home very tired, hence the confusion....maybe?) See what you think:

Ooo, that photo is way too bright............blue ribs? Hmmmm............

Good Wives Co is a wonderful quilt shop in Marion, Ohio. If you like reproduction and civil war'ish type fabrics then this is the place for you. The shop ladies are always friendly and ready to talk about what you are working on. Lots of shop samples and some decorating items for you to purchase. Search the internet for them. It's my favorite quilt shop and worth the ride over anytime I need inspiration.

Shawshank!

Weddings are a lot of work! One of my daughters wedding was less than two weeks ago and we are still worn out from the planning, setting up, visiting with family and friends and just plain old having a great time. With Thanksgiving preparations so quickly following the big event, whew............I'm still in a tizzy. Sandwiched
in between all this was our 37th wedding anniversary. I had not had a needle in my hand for a week and a half; feels good to needle fabric again!

Dear daughter's reception was at the old reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio. Movie
buffs may know that this is the prison Shawshank Redemption was filmed at. Some of the prison has been demolished since the movie but a good part has been preserved for tours and ghost hunts that have been featured on a few tv shows of this type. The central guard room is available for rent for wedding receptions. It's a great
place. While we were setting up for the reception, a tour of the prison was going on and we could see visitors walking thru the old cells. There is memorabilia
from the movie around to see, also. Air Force One was also filmed here

This is the tunnel Andy Dufresne crawled thru in his escape from Shawshank in the movie. The prison is a good tourist destination............something made good from what was a terrible place. My job on set up day was to make salads down in the kitchen area of the prison. While making the salad cups to put in the walk in cooler for the next day's party, I was down there by myself a good part of the time. I did not see any ghosties, but when my mind would wander it was kinda eerie thinking I was sitting all alone in a haunted prison. Yikes! Anyone can look up the reformatory on the internet for more history. It is a beautiful piece of architecture and am glad some of it has been preserved. Here is a view of the back where we were bringing in wedding decorations.

Wishing everyone in blogland and beyond a happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Simple Goods and schoolhouse blocks

What is not to like about schoolhouse quilt blocks? They are a top favorite of mine. I have made numerous ones and don't get tired of the look or of the piecing. Thru the years I have sold a couple but still own two larger ones I made and a recent mini one. These blocks were started over the summer and set aside for working on the heart/star flag quilt. Last week I finished setting them into this large wall hanging or throw size top. Have been considering doing a quilting pattern on this I have never done before..........baptist fan. Still thinking on that one and will decide soon. Will need to ask help from a friend on that since I never attempted doing this.
If you are a lover of very primitive antiques and grungy crafting, you missed a wondeful show of this type this past Saturday. The Simple Goods show is held in the spring and summer in Mt. Vernon, Ohio and features the best primitives imaginable. Like in the old issues (not these last couple of years, ugh) of Country Living magazine. Candy Looker and Max Squires put on the most wonderful shows. I haven't missed one yet and each show tops the previous one. Please
google Simple Goods show for information for future shows and pictures of past ones. They are on facebook and have fabulous show pictures posted.
I found a great............but very brittle, shredded and worn to death..............vintage doll quilt at the show from the vendor Tinkers Wagon. My loves in antique fabrics are the old blues, navy and brown along with centennial fabrics. Ooooo! Years ago I won a tiny square of a centennial cheater cloth on ebay and get it out now and then to admire it all the while wishing some fabric company would reproduce it now for our new "old" quilts. Folded up on a table I found this distressed doll quilt of the same cheater cloth in just awful condition, but a wonderful find for me all the same. Here you can see my worn little ebay piece with the newly acquired very tired out piece. Both treasures to me!

Primitive stars and stripes quilt top

For some years I have admired a certain patriotic quilt in quilt history books and on the Smithsonian website. You may have seen it, too...........a center medallion of appliqued stars applied to a red and white striped ground with a border of the same appliqued stars. There has even been a smaller size in some books where the word "baby" is also stitched over the center stars. My only reason for holding back on making a similar one for me is that I applique a lot of stars on my projects and I was dreading doing that many more star points.

This summer I was spending a couple mornings with a quilt friend, Sharon Pinka, who showed me photos of a quilt she was writing a paper on for the publication Blanket Statements for the American Quilt Study Group. She said this quilt was in a museum in Norwalk, Ohio, not all that far away. When I saw her pictures............o my...............I was doomed.

One look at those primitive stars on this quilt sealed my fate. I was making one for my personal enjoyment. Look at those stars...........rounded little edges............no pointy points..........an upside down narrow little heart with a triangle on top. Prim for sure! I guessed by the photo and looked up the similar more polished quilt like this one and went for it.
I practiced making one star. It was fun and pleasing to my eyes. In my fabric cupboard I had a solid old red, a tea dyed looking aged piece and a "I hope I have enough left" dark blue that would be perfect for this reproduction civil war quilt.

After a couple weeks of handwork, I was ready to make the striped background. O no! I put the center on it and it scared me..........all I could see was a big circus tent. Yikes! But when I attatched the borders, it contained those stripes and all was fine. I now have my version of the quilt and am waiting for winter to baste it and decide how to hand quilt it. I have a few ideas.

Here is my folky primitive repro of an Ohio civil war quilt. Thanks to Sharon for showing me her photo and sharing it with me, otherwise, I would still be dreaming of making all those pointy points and never getting around to making them.