More Nine Patches

When I made nine-patches for Debra's American Cancer Society auction quilt a couple of weeks ago, I was reminded of a scrap reduction nine-patch project I've had going for a while.  So this afternoon, after the joke quilt was all finished, I got it out and made a few more blocks.

As you can see, this neutral, earth tone palette is very different from Debra's.  The blocks are larger too, finished size of 4 1/2 inches. I love the softness of various browns together, and this quilt will make a good gift for someone else who does.  The pattern is a double nine patch block, with triple sashes and nine patch cornerstones making a chain of small squares throughout the quilt.

Nine patches are much more fun to make since I stumbled on Bonnie Hunter's directions.  I never could get my head around how many and how long the strip sets should be when you make strip sets with three fabrics.  Bonny says to use one kind of strip set about four times the length of the cut squares, and then just cut one extra square from the fabric that goes in the corner.  Slice your strip set into four pieces as though you were going to make four-patch blocks, add the extra square to the end of one piece, and put the block together.

I intended to link to Bonnie's instructions, but I couldn't find them on her site, so this picture should give the idea.  Maybe everyone else already knew this, but it was new to me.  Thank you, Bonnie.  This is just one of many wonderful ideas on her web site.

P.S.  Here's the link to Bonnie's instructions, thanks to Amy of the Calico Cat.

Showers and Flowers

There's a soft spring rain coming down today; maybe it will turn the ugly grass green and bring out more spring flowers.

I made these two postcards for a local school's silent auction.  I'm hoping they'll bring in a tiny bit of cash.  Also for a good cause, two of my Interpret This! pieces, Spring Dreams and Saratoga Ovals are for sale on the Alzheimer's Art Quilt site.    (If anyone is interested in Spring Dreams, please note that I had to crop it for the Alz Quilts size limit, and check the size on their web site, not the IT! blog.)  Now that the AAQI has little quilts for sale all the time, not just during the auction at the beginning of the month, it's interesting to browse that page from time to time.  There are some beauties.

I have my joke challenge quilt completed except for the binding and embellishments.  I can't show the whole thing, but here's another peek.  The colors in this quilt make me smile.  I  particularly love this blue striped fabric in the binding.

Have a good day, everyone.  Spring is coming!

It's in the Genes

My sister sent me this photo today, one I've never seen before.  That's my mother, sometime in the 50's, I'd guess.  She's found a fabric treasure, and isn't she happy!  I don't recognize the other ladies, and I'm not sure I know the place, but I know the feeling.

Some Old Beauties

An interesting item came up at guild last night.  Apparently about 20 years ago, our guild helped register quilts made/residing in Indiana before 1950.  Photographs and information was stored in the Indiana state museum.  Now the museum would like to put this information in digital form to be included in the Quilt Index.  There is no state funding available for this, so the museum is asking guilds for contributions, and since we were one of the earlier guilds instrumental in collecting records we were asked to contribute $250. Some members felt this was too much, but after discussion, we voted to contribute the full amount.

It was gratifying to see how strongly people felt about this: the importance of the project (although no one seemed familiar with the Quilt Index), and pride in being a group who made a contribution to quilt history.

By coincidence, last week I visited the Wylie House museum in Bloomington, Indiana, and saw these old quilts, part of their collection.

Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of the information cards, so I can't add to the pictures.  However, I do know that the Grandmother's Flower Garden at the top of the page was bought from the Henry Ford Foundation.  It is English, made from drapery fabrics of the 1840's and is lined but not quilted.  Isn't it contemporary looking?  It could be Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

Tara Lynn Darr of Sew Unique Creations also attended this exhibit and took many excellent pictures, with close ups of the information cards.  From her web album you can see these quilts and all the rest.  Thank you so much, Tara.

Briefly, the pink and green quilt, called Ships Wheel dates from 1850-1875, the crazy quilt was probably made by Rebecca Wylie in the 1880's,  and the Cherry Basket quilt dates from 1860-1880.  As you can see, there is only incomplete documentation on these quilts, reinforcing the importance of labeling ours.

So here are a few of the Indiana quilts that may someday be added to the Quilt Index. Thank you, River Bend Quilt Guild, and all the other quilters who will help.

Bits and Pieces

Yellow nine patches for Debra:

Deb Geyer and I in front of Carolina Baskets at the IHQS:

It was wonderful to meet her and talk, although briefly.  We shared some thoughts about the machine quilting on display at this show.  When I can get my thoughts straightened out, I will post some, as well as a few more picture.

And--big news:  Peppermint Stars, pieced by me and quilted by Deb, was accepted to Paducah.  When I marveled at the Paducah show several years ago, I never thought I'd have a quilt there, so this is stunning to me, but after this one was accepted at Road, I decided I had nothing to lose.  As Colin Firth said, "I think my career has peaked."

A Tired Tuesday

Sneak peek:  Here's what I'd be working on if I had any energy.

I'm feeling lousy today, with no energy to do anything but sit and stare at space, or at the computer.  However, I've got the miracle drugs and am hoping to be back in good form by tomorrow.  That's the day I'm driving down to Bloomington to visit the Indiana Heritage Quilt show, one of my favorite shows.  The plan is to meet up with Deb Geyer.  This should be fun--she's done a beautiful job of quilting several tops for me, but we've never had an in-person meeting.  There will be some outstanding quilts there, I know, and although the number of vendors isn't large, they're good ones.  It's always a fun trip, so kick in, Cipro!