Archive for March, 2011

• Ladies Home Journal – Vintage Embroidery Patterns

  

  No sewing today, but I did manage to clean up some more of these sweet embroidery patterns. I will continue to add these patterns to my LHJ Flickr set (link added to my sidebar under Downloads). In a couple of days I’ll be back with an actual quilting post.

  March 29th, 2011

• Ladies Home Journal – Vintage embroidery Patterns

  

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  March 28th, 2011

• Transformer Cubees

  

  Saturday was Elliott’s birthday party, and I know I have mentioned before that my party themes for Elliott alternate between Transformers and GI Joe, which were his favorite toys when he was little (Emily always has a Hello Kitty birthday).  Last year I made GI Joe cubees, so this time I wanted to make the Transformer [...]

  March 28th, 2011

• My Quilt for Japan — Ready to Ship

  

  This was a really different quilt for me — more like the table toppers I make than my quilts.  To me, the Polartec fleece batting makes it a feel a little more like a comforter than a quilt, but that’s probably a good thing.  The old Everglaze chintz for the backing has been in my [...]

  March 23rd, 2011

• The Almost Perfect Mother-of-the-Bride Dress

  

  To be honest, I have been dreading looking for a dress.  Although I knew what I wanted (linen sheath, preferably pink), I doubted I would be able to find just the right dress.  Then, on Sunday, Emily and I stopped by the Goodwill on our way back from picking up her wedding dress (a perfect [...]

  March 22nd, 2011

• My Quilt for Japan – WIP

  

  Quilters Newsletter is working with the Japanese Quilt Magazine, Patchwork Tsushin, to collect comfort quilts for people affected by the earthquake in Japan.  When I thought about what type of quilt I would make, a few ideas came to mind:  it should be a simple pattern (because there’s is not much time), it should be [...]

  March 21st, 2011

• Midnight Stars Quilt Top

  

  I wasn’t sure I was going to finish this top before it was too dark to take a photo, but I made it just in time (I was in such a hurry that there are still little threads left on the top…oh well).  Thank you Lori at Humble Quilts for sponsoring this quiltalong, because I [...]

  March 19th, 2011

• Vintage Shamrock Quilt Patterns

  

  Here are a few vintage quilt patterns with an Irish theme to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [...]

  March 16th, 2011

• Ladies Home Journal – Vintage Embroidery Patterns

  

  I just realized last week that the images on my site are distorted using Internet Explorer 8. Apparently the problem has something to do with my WordPress theme, but so far I haven’t been able to figure it out. If you are using IE8 and the images are messed up, you can click on the [...]

  March 15th, 2011

• Making Quilts With Vintage & Antique Fabric

  

  Sometimes I ask myself why I am obsessed with using old fabric in my quilts — like today, for instance. I mean, my local quilt store stocks tons of reproduction fabrics at reasonable prices, while authentic vintage and antique fabrics are often expensive, scarce, dirty and fragile, with the occasional nasty odors and stains. They [...]

  March 12th, 2011

• Strip-Pieced Applique Tulip Quilt Directions

  

  Holly and Mickie asked me how I put these tulips together, so here’s my attempt to explain my process, although I realize everyone has their own way of putting a block together — particularly when it involves applique.  My technique is baste and pin (no needle turn, no freezer paper), but you can use any [...]

  March 6th, 2011

• Strip-pieced Applique Tulip Quilt – WIP

  

  First I saw this vintage tulip quilt block on Flickr.  A few days later, Kate (Empty Field) posted this fabulous vintage quilt top which she rescued and repaired.  Although I have way too many UFOs, and the last thing I need is a new project, I could not resist this wonderful pattern.  At first I [...]

  March 4th, 2011

• Vintage Hand Quilting Patterns

  

  Most quilters are probably aware of the quilt patterns published by the Kansas City Star newspaper from 1928 to 1961.  Less well known are the hand quilting patterns that were occasionally part of these weekly publications.  Here are a few patterns from my collection — all from the 1930s.  Just click on the thumbnails to [...]

  March 2nd, 2011