New Quilts, Old Quilts, and Soon-to-be-Quilts

I would have been on the computer yesterday, reveling in the fact that I'd finished the orphan house crib quilt, except that we went to the local multi-plex cinema to see "Stardust" in honor of my youngest son's birthday. I was excited because there were only a handful of people in the theater when we got there for the first showing. Unfortunately, someone in that handful was wearing one of the fragrances that is most toxic to my system. I had to get up and leave before the trailers even came on. Got a refund on my ticket, drove home, and all but collapsed. I couldn't do anything but I wasn't interested in taking a nap either (it was only 10:30 for goodness sakes!). Turned on NPR and listened to Bob Edwards interview an author and Peter Yarrow (from Peter, Paul, and Mary). Peter sang bits of "Puff the Magic Dragon" and other songs and I bawled like a baby. By the time "Car Talk" came on I was ready to at least play in my orphan bits and scraps.




I threw some of the blocks on the wall - all variations of Log Cabin - with the intention of making a doll quilt out of them just for fun. (Have you checked out the doll quilt swaps that are going on elsewhere? I'll have to find the link for you...) That's about as far as I got before I had to go pick the guys up again from the theater. Didn't get back to the studio the rest of the day. At least, not to sew.




In the evening I found I couldn't settle to anything so I started inventorying the quilts in my possession. I'd been wanting to do this for some time as I have quilts strewn and stored all over the place and I wanted someplace, some format, where I could easily see what I've got and where it is. I went around the house with a stack of index cards, putting pertinent information about each quilt on its' own card. In the beginning, for the little quilts, I included the dimensions of the piece. By the time I got to the bigger, bed size quilts I was too hot and tired to bother. I was surprised at how many quilts there are! At the very end I also made cards for the quilts/tops that I couldn't physically lay my hands on but that I know are here in storage. I intend to flesh out the data on each of these quilts for future reference but for the time being I just made note of its' existance. This morning I came across a piece I'd overlooked last night, a piece I had to call my aunt to get the details on.




Most of the heirloom quilts/tops I have in my collection were made by one great-grandmother, Eva Eliza Everett Smith. This little top, which would measure about 20" x 23" if someone hadn't taken a chunk out of it, was reportedly made when she was 6 years old. That means it dates from about 1870!

If you look very closely (maybe you'll get a bigger image if you click on the picture) you might be able to see where she pieced a tiny triangle onto what once was a square but is now a rectangle to make that square big enough to use with the rest of her patches. Look at the bottom row where the cut was made, the third patch in from the left side. The added triangle is in the upper right corner of the rectangle. (Someday I will learn how to use the macro feature of this camera, I promise!)

I've also photographed the back for you so you can see the hand piecing.



Part of me wants to finish this up into a little doll quilt, to preserve it if for no other reason. But then you wouldn't be able to see the hand piecing. And I'd have to make a decision about how to handle the section that's been cut off. And there are a few small holes in the fabric in the middle of the top. So I probably won't do anything with it for now. Maybe when I'm rich and famous and can afford it I will have it mounted and framed appropriately.

Oh yes, and here's the finished crib quilt:



Now DD can have that baby!