Bow Tie Quilt
This quilt was made with some hand pieced vintage bow tie blocks purchased on ebay. Although the ties themselves were very cute, the background muslin pieces were badly stained, and I couldn’t use them. I took the blocks apart — washed, pressed and re-cut them ending up with a slightly smaller block. At the time, I only had a few vintage shirting scraps for the background, so most of those pieces are reproduction fabrics. This is the 5-piece traditional pattern which is usually hand pieced because of the set-in pieces. You can machine sew this block if you use the 6-piece pattern with the 2 little triangles to form the knot, but it just doesn’t look right to me — I think the knot piece should be square. This quilt was hand quilted inside each piece.
Bow Tie
Martha Dellasega Gray, 2007
hand pieced, hand quilted
63″ x 78″
Quilts
Embroidery
Family-Made
Vintage Finds
Patterns
Children's Books
Work in Progress
Other Needlework
Random Things
Rachel wrote,
Wonderful! I love it! So fresh and still traditional. …
Your fabric voice is a clear tone… I love that!
Link | February 17th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Kacie wrote,
This is a gorgeous quilt, Martha! Thanks for sharing about doing the knot as a square – it really does make a difference in the appearance of the blocks. I have always wondered how to piece this block with the knot as a square and, of course, it must be done with great care and by hand instead of being whipped off by machine! I’m thankful for my sewing machine and I use it often, but there’s something to be said about doing things by hand.
Also, I linked to this blog post from the Bow Tie block page on Quiltivate.com so others can visit your blog to check out your quilt! Here’s the page where I posted the link: http://www.quiltivate.com/blocks/35-bow-tie I hope you’ll share your future creations with the Quiltivate.com community as well. Thanks again for sharing!
Link | February 19th, 2009 at 7:48 am
Martha wrote,
Thank you Rachel — I’m so glad you commented because now I have found your blog. Kacie — that was so nice of you to put a link to my quilt on Quiltivate — I enjoyed looking over the site.
Bow tie is a good beginner hand piecing pattern — it’s simple, doesn’t have too many pieces and the seams are not too bulky.
Link | February 19th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
LynnS wrote,
What a great study of vintage fabrics! (If only I had some of each Bow Tie fabric!)
I agree with the traditionally pieced Bow Tie. I have made several (one was even with the machine) and never opted to make the easier version — it doesn’t look as realistic, as you say.
Link | February 24th, 2009 at 6:02 am
Amy wrote,
I can’t believe you to took out seams and reassembled, but it was totally worth it. This is gorgeous. And I’m with you — I adore this pattern, but I think it really looks best in the tradition 5-piece block with the square in the middle. I’d love to make one, but hand piecing is not likely to be in my future any time soon! Excellent work!
Link | March 21st, 2009 at 7:43 am
Scooter Mac wrote,
I am piecing my first quilt and years ago my grandmother suggested that I do a bow tie pattern. She is no longer with us, so I can’t get help from her. I am finding that piecing the background part that has (2) 135 degree angles difficult. I am having a hard time getting it all “squared up”. I guess that is part of the fun of piecing. So, Martha, You did an excellent job on this and it will inspire me to keep on keeping on. Thanks for sharing.
Link | July 18th, 2012 at 8:15 pm