Pandemic Porch Quilt Show, Days 54 - 55: Hands for Grandma, Grandma's Hands

On Day 55, I hung two baby-related quilts that date back to the 1990s - and the one on the right was inspired by a quilt 140 years older than that! 

First, a nap quilt I made for my son, when I'd done very little applique, and wanted to dip my toe in the water. The flowers are raw-edge appliqued, with zigzag stitches to contain the fraying. The leaves were straight-stitch machine-appliqued, so their edges are nicely frayed.

Amazingly, the flowers and even their hand-embroidered centers have held up well over the years.  

The second quilt was made from my son's handprint, when he was about 3. It was a gift for his grandparents, who hung this quilt proudly in their home. 

The next photo shows the simple quilting. 

Don't credit me for the striking design - it was inspired by a red-and-white hand-print quilt I saw at a 1997 exhibit at Los Angeles' Gene Autry Museum, called, "Quilts in the Machine Age." That quilt, made in Kansas circa 1878, was an early machine-quilted masterpiece. Find a photo at the Kansas Historical Society archives, HERE. Warning: You will probably want to make your own version! My 2013 blog post with more info about this quilt is HERE.

DAY 55 I didn't make this quilt - it was one of my greatest thrift shop finds! I'm guessing it was made in the 40s. It's been well used-  there are threadbare spots - but it is still charming. 

The fabrics are faded but still fascinating. 

In the next photo, note that the pink/white/orange checkerboard hexagon (with puffy white flowers), just right of center, is made of two pieces of fabric joined! She must have been working from very small scraps!

The back is just as impressive, thanks to the exquisite hand quilting. (By the way, the big light splotches below are sunspots, not necessarily worn spots, though the quilt does have those, too.) 

Next installment: A lot more color! 

From Vintage Linen Stack to Quilted! Red and White Bliss

When I was a mere youth, in my 40s, I still believed I would live forever, so I bought a lot of vintage linens and embroideries at my favorite flea markets and thrift shops. Over the years, I accrued quite the collection. 
Now, a zillion years older, the pandemic quarantine gave me the time, space, and motivation to stitch some of my best old linens into this new 79" x 82" quilt. Front: 

The center is a spectacular linen tablecloth. I quilted around all the white foliage (but not close around every detail.)

At the center, I placed this cross-stitched (by anonymous, not by me) bouquet.

The other two embroideries on the front were found together, clearly made by the same person, stitched on dishtowels. In the lower left corner, I placed this scene of two kittens with a (Chinese?) vase: 

 In the upper right corner, I set this fabulous urn: 

The rectangle running across the top center - with teeny, intricate hand-embroidery on loose white linen - is a mystery. My theory was that it was made for a Greek folk costume, but my daughter thinks it looks more Eastern European  - your theory welcomed! 

Above that, I set a long rectangle made from an ultra-sweet apron print, from an actual apron. (You could call it meta-apron fabric.)

 Across the bottom, I set this brilliant apron. It's amazing how much fabric is in a mid-century gathered apron:

Down the right side is another formerly gathered apron. 

In the upper left corner, I put this hallucinogenic print, found in a bib apron. I'm guessing it's from the 1940s or 50s (Do you know?) 

 The back is sparser, but features linens that are no less adorable.

Below, the panel on bottom, with the crocheted tulips, was a pillowcase. I covered the crochet trim with monofilament thread zigzagging, so it didn't snag or distort when I quilted the top. The printed blue and green flowers are from yet another apron. 

There's a dishtowel with a dog embroidery, plus the pocket from another apron that I placed after accidentally cutting a hole in the back (don't ask). 

 Down the middle are two more aprons. 

And a giant linen table runner, mostly white but with one embroidery swoop in the middle, fills out the rest of the space.

This quilt is delicate - Vintage linens, no matter how gorgeous, are also often much less sturdy than new fabrics. They can tear easily. So this quilt isn't for heavy use. (Or if it is used that way, it just won't last forever.)

It was my second large quilt made from American mid-century linens. On my first, I also put a tablecloth in the center, smaller pieces in the borders - and then I scattered new English Paper Pieced hexagon blocks on top. 

A pattern with detailed directions for this quilt are in my new book, "Hexagon Star Quilts: 113 English Paper Pieced Star Patterns to Piece and Applique." More information about the book is here, and it's now in quilt shops, and on Amazon, here. 

Impulse English Paper Pieced Heart Dish

I always get in a Valentine's Day mood at the last minutes. Here's the impulse project I made yesterday, an English Paper Pieced dish that can serve as a pincushion:

...or a thimble holder:

...or maybe an embroidery thread basket....

Or, pile it with chocolates for your sweetie. Here's how I constructed it. There's stiff fusible interfacing inside each piece; both sides are covered with fabric. 

The bowl takes shape when you sew up the side seams. 

Last, I did a bit of embellishment with the variegated embroidery thread in the ball above.

If you'd like to make this project, and you have any kind of hexagon and pentagon templates, you just need one hexagon and six pentagons, each with the same size edges - mine were 1". I redrew the top drawing below into the second drawing, altering the pentagons into soft heart shapes. Each piece is made up of two back-to-back EPPed forms, one with stiff fusible interfacing inside.

By the way, you can also cut this out of one piece of cardstock, for a fun paper project. Score and fold on the lines, instead of cutting the pieces apart.
My step-by-step method for English Paper piecing fabric bowls and other 3D forms - though not this exact project - is in my book, "Stitch-a-hedron, English Paper Piecing Polyhedron Gifts and Accessories to Sew," on etsy in digital form for instant download here; and on Amazon as a paperback, here. Wishing you a sweet holiday!

Stuffed, Embellished Creatures from Denim Jeans for Sensory Stimulation!

My beautiful, artistic, Aunt Ruthie is 94, and although her mind is  sharp, she's both visually and hearing-impaired, and has severe arthritis in her hands. Last month, we flew to Arizona to visit her and her daughter, my cousin Nina. By accident, I brought her the perfect gift, which she's holding here: 

What the heck is that? Why, it's a hairy, sensory stimulation, two-humped camel, of course! 

The "hair" is 6-strand embroidery floss. Thread it through a large-eyed needle, tie a knot about two inches from the end, bury the needle, bring it out 1/2" away, and pull the knot against the surface. Tie another knot right at the surface where it emerges, and cut the thread two inches from the knot. Repeat, then trim, until you've got enough hair to hint at this: 

Photo credit: J. Patrick Fischer [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

Ruthie immediately loved the hirsute critter (By the way, I learned that two-humped camels are "Bactrian"). Later, Nina told me Ruthie is using it for hand strength exercises! This could be the most successful gift of my life! 

But, you may be asking, how did I happen to have a sensory stimulation camel lying around my house? 

The truth is, I have a whole bunch of newly-made stuffed animals, all made from old, clean blue jeans. Over the past months, I've been working on a complicated quilt, and needed to relax in the evening. I got hooked on "Madame Secretary" on Netflix, but still had my own sensory stimulation deficit - I wanted to make something that would require less concentration than my intensive-care quilt. So I started stitching denim animals, improvising the patterns, and cutting the pieces from my husband's old jeans' legs.  Like these elephants. (Embroidered details mean they can serve as baby gifts, without buttons, beads, or eyes that pose a choking hazard.) 

A seal/platypus: 

....which I liked so much that I made a seal team.

Ruthie's Bactrian  was the second of a series of three. Here it is with a friend:

...Plus a school of fish....

They're about a foot long. I think they make cool pillows. I gave one of them these vintage mother-of-pearl & metal shank buttons.

In Arizona, Nina gifted me with a bag of old family buttons.  Since my camel was such a hit, I decided to make one of the blank fish  into ANOTHER sensory toy for Ruthie - this one with interestingly-textured buttons, brooches, and other items from her buttons and my own collection (Button hoarding runs in the family): 

I decorated only one side of the fish, to make it easier to grasp. I especially loved the inexplicable "SILVER" pin  from Ruthie's bag. I hope she can feel the letters!

I mailed this whopper back to Arizona, and Nina sent me this  reward! 

So, in conclusion....if you know someone who might need hand exercise or stimulation*...and/or if YOU need hand stimulation while bingeing Netflix.....consider making simple stuffed animals and going to town embellishing them! These creatures were great therapy for me! 

UPDATE: A tutorial for making these fish is now posted on my blog, here. 

* Specifically, Nina said the button fish isn't as good as the bactrian for hand exercises - the buttons are harder to squeeze. But  the fish is more interesting to explore by touch.

An Afterlife for Vintage Embroidery Mysteries

If you're a quilter, I bet we have a happy problem in common: People bring us fabric. On the one hand, I love it. On the other, I already have too much - if I stuff their offering into my stash, it may never come out!

This problem gets even better when people bring me interesting vintage textiles. So here's one solution: Enjoy processing it immediately, then give it right back, in a form they can use.

That's what a happened a couple of months ago when my friend Marian went to a store closing sale, where she bought some fascinating embroidery fragments, each $5 or less, a price that reflected their not-great condition.

First, there were these three log cabin foundation pieced-blocks. They're silk and so frail  - some of the silk was already shattered. I think they're from the US, but let me know if you know better!

Then there were two thick, sturdy panels with vivid flowers, one of which is below. They look handstitched (from the back), and were marked "Guatamala." I wonder what their original destination was - bags? Shirts? (If you know, please tell me in the comments!)

Next was the following mola-esque strip, which I'm guessing could be Asian, or could be South American?

And this worn, beautifully embroidered strip, with tiny stitches, which I think is Thai. 

What to do? I decided to skip the storage phase, and immediately make something Marian could use. I added two pieces from my own collection. In the photo below, the blue-and-white strip is kantha from India, gifted to me by friends who bought it at a quilt show (thanks, Saraj and Miriam!). On bottom, the pink-and-orange is an elaborately embroidered strip from Thailand, gifted long ago from another friend, Steve, a Buddha dealer. (The resemblance to the strip above is why I think it's Thai.)

I sewed them all together. Then I added strips of embossed gold velvet ribbon to the short ends. I added a hanging sleeve to the back of one short end. Here's the result (lying on my brick patio). It's about three feet long.

I told Marian that if she used it as a table runner, the black silk would probably rip sooner, whereas if she hung it, it might last a bit longer. If I thought any of the pieces were valuable, I would have suggested she frame it. But now she can just enjoy it for as long as it lasts. And after the log cabin blocks fall apart, the sturdier pieces may survive - and hopefully turned into something else!

Thank you, Marian, Saraj, Miriam, and Steve, for your contributions to this international mashup!