Side of the Road .... homage to an unknown quilter!

I've been a busy quilter.  Lots to show, just no pictures at the moment.  I did want to do a photo shoot this weekend using the barn as a back drop, but it was to windy.  Oh well....

What I do want to share with you is this beautiful quilt that a customer of Fibre Junction, Claire, graciously let be borrow to study the design and re-create the pattern.  The story of this quilt is quite sad, but luckily it has a happy ending.  

Claire found this stunning quilt on the side of the road, in a trash bin, some 20 odd years ago.  It was filthy .... Yes, this is a rescued quilt!

The quilt is made using feedsacks dating from 1930 to late 1940's, hand quilted and the batting is cotton.  Unfortunately, there is no label on the quilt, so the quilter is unknown.

Here you get a better view of the hand quilting.  Where there is some shifting of the batting, the stitches are intact, so I'm puzzled as to why the batting shifted so much.

You can actually see the maker's pencil markings and how the cotton batting shifted to one area.

The fabrics are absolutely gorgeous, the colours retained most of their vibrancy despite the bleaching the quilt had to undergo in order to remove the filth.

Check out this indigo blue.

I do like how the maker made the backing work for the size of the quilt by adding pieces here and there.

And .... I even found a make do! Is that cool or what?

I must admit, I enjoyed studying this quilt, looking for unique finds.  For one thing, one of the sides of the sawtooth border has one extra half square triangle than the other. Yes, it is lopsided, but you wouldn't see that when the quilt is opened.  Unlike today, math was not a pre-occupation for our ancestral quilters, nor was perfection, which is really what makes their quilts so beautiful.  

It is a shame, yet a blessing that this quilt was discarded as rubbish.  Claire enjoys this quilt and has allowed myself and many of the Prairie Women Sewing Circle club members to admire it's beauty.  Thank you Claire for your willingness to share your treasure.

I have since worked out the instructions and plan on making the pattern available soon.  I have named this quilt Side of the Road - it is my way of paying homage to the maker of this quilt.

Thank you for stopping by!  I hope you enjoyed the entry!  Cheers!

Hey, how are ya'll doing ...?

I do hope well!  Myself, I've been keeping out of trouble.  ;o)  Getting lots done on the quilting front.  I sure hope you are too!

A while back, geezz yea back in November, I wrote a post about playing with a fabric line, Scrumptious by Bonnie and Camille.  The top has been finished for quite some time, I just forgot to share!

The pattern is called Surfside by Camille Roskelley.

Scheduled a play date with Penelope.

And voila!  A done deal!

Such a happy fabric line!  I love how it turned out!

Thanks for stopping by!  Cheers!

Spring Market here I come ....!

I'm all booked!  I couldn't believe how quickly the hotels sold out! But, all is in order.  I am so excited!  I'll be driving down, this way I can load up the car! ;o)  If any one is attending spring market in Pittsburgh, PA and would like to meet, let me know!  I'm always happy to meet some blogging friends.

On the quilting front, I have been busy getting projects completed and started.  Nothing finished to share, yet! Let's just say Penelope has a line up of quilts! ;)

However, one project I recently started is the last quilt in the Civil War series by Dolores Smith and Sarah Maxwell called Peace and Unity.  It is a new block of the month offered by Fibre Junction.  Want to see the fabrics for month one (1)?

Aren't they gorgeous?   The quilt will be stunning!

Off to get some work done!  Thanks for stopping by!

Yours in Fibre,

Carole

What the heck ...!

We go from freezing arctic Brrrrrr - "baby it's cold outside" weather to, hey "it's a heat wave".  One extreme to another within hours!  Okay, a relief from the bitter cold is nice, but does it have to be to that extreme????

I want to share an event that took place at Fibre Junction, back in early December.  It was our last meeting of Jo's Little women' club 12. Both the day and night group met in the evening.  It was a "potluck" dinner, gosh was it delicious!  And those willing, brought a hand made pin cushion gift wrapped for our "Yankee Pincushion Swap".

What a blast it was!

There are many ways of doing a Yankee Swap, but these were our rule:

There will be 3 rounds.  Each participant picks a number out of a hat.  We proceed in numerical order.  Everyone gets to open a package on the first round.  When your number comes up, you chose a wrapped package from the pile, opened it, and if you want to swap, you can do so with other members who have opened a gift.  Round 2, everyone has a change to swap - numerical order.  On round 3, only number 1 gets to swap.

Wanna see the pincushions?

Here is the last one.  I just couldn't get a picture of the whole thing.

I truly enjoyed everyone's creativity.  Each one is so unique.  I just love them all!  What a great group of women!

This is the pincushion that came home with me!

Cute as a button and it fits nicely in my English Paper Piecing basket.

What a great group of women!  Thank you!

Thanks for stopping by my little corner of cyber space.  Cheers!

SSCS 2013 ...!

Do you participate in swaps?  I sure do, and I love it.  This year, I did Donna - Chookyblues Secret Santa swap!

Kerry Swain was my Secret Santa and sent me a copy of her book.

Love the projects in it!  She also made this beautiful wall hanging.

Thank you again Kerry for being my Secret Santa and thank you Donna for hosting another successful swap!