There’s still time to stitch up a little Easter cuteness. These patterns are from Book 7 of the 20 volume 1973 series, Make it Yourself – The Complete Step-by-Step Library of Needlework and Crafts.
West Elm Swatch Pillow
Last week my daughter, Emily, and I visited one of her favorite shops, West Elm. Because she and her husband, Aaron, have just moved into a new apartment in a beautiful 1920s Art Deco building, I wanted to buy her a little house warming present. For her gift, Emily picked out a couple of pillows…
Aprons and Bibs, 1945
The illustrations in this booklet are so cute, and the aprons are pretty sweet too. Yesterday I decided to make another donation apron for the thrift shop, and I tried to figure out the easiest way to enlarge the patterns in this book. Drawing the designs on paper seemed like a drag, so I thought…
Crepe Paper Flowers – A Blue and Yellow Wedding
All quilt work took a back seat these past two weeks while I began a new project for our dear friends who are getting married this June. They were high school classmates in the late 60s, and recently met again at a high school reunion. Kyle has been our friend since he and my husband,…
Antique Victorian Crazy Quilt
In my closet are some very old salesman sample books with pretty velvet and silk fabric pieces which I thought someday I would use to make a Victorian crazy quilt. After seeing photos of this amazing quilt on ebay (which sold for $5,000), I’m conflicted — not sure if I’m inspired or discouraged to attempt…
Happy Valentine’s Day!
More Vintage UK Transfers
These Briggs transfers were included in Needlewoman and Needlecraft magazine, published in the UK from the 40s through the 70s. Lucy, who lives in Suffolk, has an amazing collection of N&N, and wrote an interesting post about the magazine’s history. My friend, Mickie, sent me a copy of this adorable Noah’s Ark transfer from Needlecraft & Needlewoman,…
Vintage Valentine Embroidery Transfers
These sweet valentine transfers are from the cut and loose bin, so I have no idea who published them.
Vintage UK Transfers
These transfers were sold on ebay, and are not from my collection. The low-resolution photos were pretty bad, but I have cleaned and enlarged them. I think they are now at least traceable (click for full size). This cute nursery pattern (No. 20782) was published by Weldon’s (no date). The second pattern (No. 39) was…
Triangle Quilt — A Few Rows
Today I finally got around to sewing a few rows together on the triangle quilt. I apologize for the quality of the photos — I tried to use the panorama feature on my iPhone, but it doesn’t work that well for something that’s lying on the floor. My idea for the design wall was a…
Heart Quilting Patterns
Since I’m already thinking about Valentines Day, here are some cute heart patterns from vintage Quilter’s Newsletter magazines. The first pattern is from the February, 1986 issue, and is an adaptation of a design used in the cover quilt. The pattern is meant to fit a 9 1/2″ to 10 1/2″ block set on the…
You Can Make It – Valentines & Hearts
More cute projects from the 1943 book, You Can Make It — Things to Do With Scissors and Paste. Easter crafts are available in two earlier posts: Easter Favors & Flowers and Easter Cards & Eggs.
Stitch ‘n Patch Quilts
It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything on the old blog. My excuse is that unpicking old tops and blocks, washing and pressing the pieces, and finally drawing and hand cutting 5,500 little triangles for my latest quilt is taking a very long time. I’m not complaining through — it’s actually a process…
Triangle Quilt Layout
Over the weekend I cut lots more pieces for the triangle quilt, including some medium value fabrics to tone down the contrast. In the photo, I have mixed the former dark/light group with some of these new dark/medium units (thank you, Gina), and I think the overall look is much better. My quilt isn’t going…
Antique Triangle Quilt – My Version
Over the past couple of years I’ve managed to acquire a pretty good collection of turn-of-the-century quilt pieces, almost all of them from old tops and blocks. Collecting fabrics this old is tricky, because many times the tops or blocks have ended up in environments that did not protect them from dust (and sometimes lots…