A Collection of Antique Blocks

A few posts back, I (Kara) wrote a post about the UFOs of the past and shared my collection of quilt tops. Those UFOs or PUPs (Poor Unfinished Projects) have fewer steps on the road to completion than what I am sharing with you now. Through the years, I have garnered quite a collection of antique blocks. Some of the blocks I have were purchased with a purpose in mind, and some I purchased just because they spoke to me.

It started about 28 years ago when I saw these blocks in an antique store in Michigan, and they jumped into my hands all by themselves.

I hadn't even made a quilt yet, but I loved their vintage look and feel. There are 44 total in the Double T pattern.  Almost all of them are hand pieced and are in fairly good condition.

Double T pattern

This next set I purchased on Ebay because I wanted to have a go at repurposing some blocks with embroidery.  The feed sack fabrics used in these blocks were so charming, and there was a wide variety of patterns.  The blank center called out for embroidery.

I do have a few of the blocks that someone had started to put together, and it appears as if they may have lost interest in the project. (I can relate.) These are also hand pieced.

I was kind of on a roll with this idea of repurposing old blocks with embroidery, so when I saw these next blocks and their solid centers, I bought them.

 

One of the blocks has an embroidered signature, "Olive Groover, March 1934," which leads me to believe that maybe it was destined to be a signature or autograph quilt. On a whim, I checked Ancestry.com, and there were a lot of Olive Groovers throughout the country at that time.

This block was a popular signature block

My next purchase was a lot of star blocks made of feed sacks and other fabrics. There was one large star with a piece missing and six smaller stars.

One of the smaller stars has a chunk missing from one of the ends, so I will borrow some fabric from it to replace the missing piece in the large star.

In this lot, there were also quite a few half done stars. Those may be a good "I'm in the car for 10 hours, what should I do" project.



My most recent purchase was these three mini Dresden plate blocks that I found in a Salisbury, MD antique store for only $3.00.  It would have been a crime not to buy them.

So what to do with all these blocks? Someone long ago had a purpose and plan in mind for them and for various reasons were unable to finish them. The antique quilt top UFOs that I have just need to be quilted, whereas these blocks have quite a few possibilities when considering an end result for them.

I turned a few of the Double T blocks into scissor keepers for my friends at Jan Vaine's Tea and Stitches Retreat.

I mentioned that I was going to try embroidery on the white center feed sack blocks, and that is what I have started for those.

My vision is to make nine embroidered blocks and turn it into a wall hanging for a child's room.  I have four drawn and two nearly completed.  I've tried to keep the embroidery simple so I actually get the project done this decade.

While taking pictures for this post I had an idea for the star blocks.  I loved the simplicity of the blocks on the white background of my bed quilt, so I think that I will appliqué them all on a white background and then quilt it.

As for the other blocks that I have, those will have to wait for their inspiration to come. I am open to ideas, if anyone would like to share them.

Reunion Quilts

Most people probably don't think "quilts" when they think of family reunions. But I (Teri) have the privilege of belonging to a family where quilts play an integral role in that event. Each year on the last Sunday in June, my father's family meets at a small park in Pennsylvania for our annual family reunion. Many generations of various branches of my great great grandparents' family gather to share good food, visiting, and fun—a 34-year tradition. My Great Aunt Leona, my grandmother's youngest sister, is the major organizer of the reunion, and she puts a great deal of love and effort into making the day a special one for all of us.

The family, over 80 years ago, whose descendants meet at our annual family reunion. My grandmother is pictured in the back on the far left.

About thirty years ago, a small group of women in the family started to gather each year to make a full-size quilt for a door prize at the reunion. There are also smaller quilts for different age groups. Everyone who attends the reunion can sign their name on the list for the appropriate age group, and later in the afternoon, names are drawn and the quilts awarded. There is also an opportunity to donate to the American Heart Association and enter a drawing for a wall-hanging. I think it is wonderful to see the whole extended family, including the children, excited about receiving these quilts stitched with love.

One year, I thought I would like to try to join the group to work on the quilts. They meet every week beginning in August to plan, piece, and quilt. I made it once and had a wonderful time stitching with great aunts, second cousins, and even meeting a few cousins I'd not met before. Unfortunately, due to the distance and a too-busy schedule, I was unable to continue to work with them. Would that I lived closer! I admire the work that they do and the way they stitch their love around our family.

Here are some highlights from this year:

This year's quilt for young boys...

...and the winner.

A pink puff rag quilt for the young girls.

Fifty dollars was raised to donate to the American Heart Association this year. Donors were eligible to win this wall-hanging with heart-shaped flowers.

This beauty was loved by the young...

...and old alike!

The drawing for the teenagers was a bit different this year. (I'm afraid I neglected to take a photo of it.) One of my second cousins made a cornhole set to go with a collection of hand made corn bags. What a treat!

But the moment everyone looks forward to is the unveiling of The Quilt.

Everyone waits in eager anticipation to see the finished quilt, opened up just before the drawing. Note the label in the top left corner, which includes great detail and explanation about the quilt and is signed by all the makers.

close up

I have yet to win The Quilt, but I am the proud owner of several smaller pieces that my family has received over the years. The "cake stand" mini-quilt on the left hangs in my dining room, and the flag below flies at the bottom of our basement stairs. Some are hand quilted, some by machine. All are a testament to the love that these ladies have for their family. This year, my brother and I took turns being the "winner of the hour;" I won the patriotic table runner, and he got place mats. 

So what do quilts have to do with reunions? In our family, everything!

Baby Quilts

I (Kara) love making baby quilts! The process is so satisfying to me because all babies need blankets, it's easy to personalize a baby quilt, and they are a lot smaller than a full size quilt and consequently easier to finish. There is also the fact that the pressure is on to get them finished before the child is no longer a baby.

My wonderful sister and her husband have been blessed with five amazing children here on earth, and I've made a quilt for each one. My sister graciously took pictures of all the quilts and sent them to me so I could share them here with you. I love that all the quilts are well-loved, as that makes me happy since that's why I made them.

Before Julie, my niece, was born, my sister mentioned that she was going to have a Beatrix Potter-themed nursery, and that became my inspiration for the quilt.

I chose three characters from the different books and added a letter to each. The characters were chosen, in all honesty, based on how easy I thought they would be to re-create. I used a shadow effect technique by cutting all the character pieces out of fabric that had been backed with fusible web and adhering them to a white base. 

Then I placed a piece of batiste the same size as the base over the top and machine stitched around all the colored images. I added hand embroidery for the eyes and noses and then attached the border and ruffle. This quilt was made almost 20 years ago, so I am happy that it has weathered the years as well as it has. 

In keeping with the Beatrix Potter theme, I decided to do a Peter Rabbit quilt when I found out I had a nephew. I had wanted to try paper-piecing for some time and designed the quilt using a paper pieced robin and rabbit, based on one of the illustrations in the book.

The rabbit needed a few design changes to turn him into Peter, but the robin went together quite easily.  I've searched the internet to try and find the book I used, but it must be out of print.

Fast forward a couple of years and Ian, my second nephew, came along a month early. The "Trip Around the World" pattern was and still is one of my favorites, so that's what I chose for him. He was a tiny little guy when he was born, but now he is taller than I am!

Next in the Love family (yes, that is their last name,) came Isaac.  I decided to try mixing some patchwork and appliqué and came up with this. It is simple, but still has a lot of pop.  The bright colors fit Isaac's personality, although I didn't know that then.

And last, but certainly not least, is Miss Ellen. After three boys, it was nice to work with some girly colors. I had recently bought a Snail's Trail stencil by Fiskars, designed to be used to make your own paper pieced blocks. The stencil could also be used to make the Square Within a Square block, and that's what I did for Ellen's quilt. All these fabrics had been previously purchased for a Blooming Nine-Patch, but I stole a few and put this together. The rest of the Blooming Nine-Patch fabrics are still lounging in my "future projects" bin, awaiting their transformation.

Baby quilts are a fun thing to make because it is such a special gift for a special time; a new little life appearing. I've enjoyed looking back and remembering (or at least trying to remember) making these quilts for my nieces and nephews. When I made them I had no idea how these five little humans were going to turn out. As this posts, I am spending time on vacation with the owners of all five of these quilts. They are no longer babies, but wonderful young men and women. I can't wait to see what the future holds for all of them. 

A Learning Journey to Celebrate Fifty Years

Block pattern from a class with Karen Kay Buckley

Sometimes a quilt is so full of stories that it's hard to know which one to tell. This quilt has two distinct stories: one about the making of it, and an even better one about the giving.

When I (Teri) first started quilting, I loved patchwork and machine piecing. There was nothing I didn't want to learn, but I really enjoyed the relative instant gratification of being able to sew quickly and complete a project. My machine afforded me that opportunity. But after a while, I decided to venture out and expand my skills. Kara and I enrolled in a hand appliqué class with Karen Kay Buckley at the Quilt Odyssey show in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Up to this point, I had done one hand appliqué piece, but that didn't deter me from thinking I could master such a complex block. I loved the design, so I was going to give it a try. 

Let's just say that Karen is a wonderful teacher, very patient and attentive—especially to poor souls who are nearing a panic attack. I think I got as far as the serrated leaves before I started wondering what on earth I was thinking, at which time I felt a hand on my shoulder and a concerned, "Are you okay? Do you need some help?" Thankfully, those gold curlicues were almost the last units to appliqué, and I could face them on a day far in the future, with a bit more experience with that needle! I'm not sure I could have handled them on that day. Obviously, I was determined enough to persevere and finish the block, and through its difficulties, I learned a lot. But all the while, I wondered what I would do with this beautiful block, because I was pretty sure a quilt full of such blocks was not in my near future.

Ready for the party, one signature lower left

While I was stitching, I realized that my parents' 50th wedding anniversary was the following year, so I started thinking about making the block the center medallion for a signature quilt for them. I used Electric Quilt to design the surrounding blocks, using snowball blocks for the signatures. I planned to have it ready for signing at the party we were planning for them. My oldest son was about to go overseas and would be gone at that time, so I had him sign his block before it was even pieced.

I'm not going to lie. I thought the whole signing the quilt idea was a great one, but I was a bit terrified about having those pens near that year's worth of work. So I asked a dear angel to "watch over the signing of the quilt," which was all set up in the laundry room so that hopefully my parents wouldn't see it. I had a muslin "quilt sandwich" for people to practice first so they could get the feel of writing on fabric. Close attention was paid to the quilt and the signers so that they all signed in the right direction, and no stray marks were made. Her help was such a blessing!

Quilt set up for signing in the laundry room atop the washer and dryer.

Despite the careful monitoring, one cousin succeeded in signing his square upside down...but truly, it couldn't be more appropriate! We think it adds to the charm of the quilt.

Our house was packed that day with celebrators: family, old friends, and new friends—all joined to pay tribute to my parents. And somehow, they didn't notice that everyone there had at some point stepped into the laundry room, a rather unusual room for guests to visit. We presented the quilt to them just before we cut the cake, and they were quite thrilled. By the party's end, each of the signature squares was filled with good wishes from family and friends.

My parents' home has quite a few examples of my quilt work throughout, demonstrating (at least to me) my journey as a quiltmaker. Of all the quilts/wallhangings I have ever made for them, this is and will likely always be, my favorite. It represents so much more than the many skills I learned. It represents their love for each other over 50 (now almost 60) years of marriage, as well as the love they have poured out for their family and many friends over the years. I believe that I am a blend of both my parents; the older I get, the more I admire them both. I think when I "grow up," I want to be just like them.

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for everything. You're the best!