Scrap Happy in September - Great Grandma's Scraps

 I've done some of my usual scrap cutting and subsequent block making for the Parts Department since our last Scrap Happy Day.

But more exciting than that, my great grandmother's Lady of the Lake quilt top has finally been quilted! 

It's made entirely out of scraps, aside from the border fabrics I assume. It would seem I come by my love for scrappy quilts honestly. 😁

This great gramdmother passed away in 1945. She and her husband lived and worked on a farm on the western side of the lower peninsula of Michigan until 1942. At that point their health was failing and they went to live with my grandmother (their daughter)  and her family until they passed. Sometime between 1942 and 1945 Grandma Eva spread out the quilts and quilt tops she'd made and had her grandchildren, my mother among them, choose the quilt they wanted. There was a completed crazy quilt, another crazy top, a hand quilted Irish Chain quilt made by her mother-in-law, and a Double Wedding ring top. If there were others - there were 6 children in that family - I haven't learned about them and don't know what might have happened to them. I have all of the ones mentioned in my possession currently. 

This quilt top measured roughly 75" x 90." I was given a queen size cotton and wool batt some time ago through the generosity of my friend C~; this seemed a good time to use it. Unfortunately, it was much thinner than even the Warm & Natural I generally use in the quilts I make. Too thin in fact. So we paired it up with another low loft batt. 

I'm glad we did. The quilt is wonderfully cushy even before laundering. Not that I plan to launder it right away. There are tiny, tiny holes in a few places. Mostly I want to preserve it from further deterioration and have it on display.

I love all the colors and prints that went into this quilt. Well, except maybe the red and green for the borders. That has never been my favorite color combination. And the application of the borders was a bit wonky. But I figure this was made toward the end of my great grandmother's life. As I approach the same state of being I can appreciate that her skills may not have been what they once were. Overall I'm thrilled to finally have this top  quilted up. I just need to figure out what to do about the binding. It's not like I'm going to be able to match that green! I might stand a better chance with the red, but even then I'm not confident. I may end up using some other dark value pulled from the body of the quilt. It will be a job to get the excess batting and backing cut away too. I may have to find a place for that task that's more spacious than my usual cutting table. 

Here are a few detail shots:

See how the 9 Patch corner block sort of droops?
That will be a challenge to cope with when I prune the quilt prior to binding. 

Scrap Happy Day is hosted on the 15th of each month by Kate in Australia and Gun in Sweden. You will find their links at the top of the list of others who strive to turn their scrap materials into something beautiful and/or useful. I've had some technical issues prior to getting this posted so I'm a bit late this time around. If ever you are in need of inspiration just check out all the links below!

Kate, Gun, Eva, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, 
Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Jon, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, Edith
Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti, Nóilin, Viv, Karrin,
Amo, Alissa, Lynn, Tierney and Hannah

Then and Now

I have a massive headache but thought I'd check in to give you newly homebound folks something to distract yourselves with. 😉For any relative newcomers, I'm an old hand at self isolation. It's the best protection I have against the toxins in our environment that make me so ill.

I've forgotten for the moment how I came across this book by Tilly Rose.

No doubt someone else mentioned it on their blog. Ah! Margaret, over at the Crafty Creek! I was so inspired by what she's doing that I ordered the book immediately and then waited impatiently for it to be delivered. (It didn't arrive as quickly as promised but did get here safely in the end.) I've read through it at least twice so far - after having hubby remove the spine and slipping the pages into archival page protectors so I could absorb the information and imagery safely.

Several of my foremothers were skilled with needle and thread. I have two crazy quilts in my possession. I'm pretty sure both were made by the same woman but I have no factual documentation to back that up. One, as I remember it, is in pretty good condition. The second one is more accessible, mostly because it's disintegrating and I knew I'd have to take steps to preserve what I could.

There are more of the fragile old silks in this quilt and fewer embroidered motifs than in the other as I recall. I was hoping to salvage whole squares from this quilt but I don't think that's going to be possible now. The back is in such good shape I hate to cut into it at all!

Most impressive to me is the consistency of the feather stitching along the seam lines in this quilt.

I haven't yet figured out what I'm going to do with this or how I might utilize parts of it but Tilly has certainly given me lots to think about. And in the meantime I thought I'd have a go at a smaller project to try my hand at her processes.

At the end of her book Tilly Rose talks about making luggage or gift tags from snippets of fabric and lace. There's not much difference between gift tags and bookmarks so I decided to make myself a bookmark, using a shipping tag for a template. I've been tossing my fabric scraps that are less than 1.5" in width into lunch bags - and wondering why I was keeping them at all. I've done crumb blocks in the past but haven't been interested in making more in a long time. Good thing I hadn't tossed or given those bags away just yet!

I don't understand how/why I'm casting shadows when I use my phone to take pictures.
Could it be the sun was actually shining through the window behind me when I took this picture?!

One day's efforts brought my bookmark to this point:

The top edge is still raw and there's no back on it yet. I'm not quite sure how to proceed. I want to do a little bit of embroidery down the lavender strip - or something - and I'd like to have a firm back on it, not fabric. I'm thinking watercolor paper rather than the shipping tag. For now, however, I think I'm going to take a break and try to build a quilt top. Or put binding on one of the three quilts awaiting binding. What I do NOT need to do is make more quilt blocks!!!

What?!

How is it possible that it's been so long since my last post???! Technically I guess it's only been ten days but with the new calendar month it feels and sounds like longer. I can only plead poor mental and physical health as my excuse.

The Parts Department Quilt top is complete. It's also too big to get a good picture but I can show you this one, taken on the living room floor.

It turned out to be about 87" square. You can see in the lower right corner that I used the same sashing print that I framed the Lego center with to bring the 12" borders up to size. I also took the easy way out with the backing and bought a blue 108" wide paisley that was on sale.

In other news, I recently made this string quilt for my Dear Father-in-Law.

DFiL is an avid reader and historian. I began with the book print you see in the outer border and then searched out other prints that would reflect his interests. There are a few images that represent places he's lived or visited too. And filler text prints. I even threw in some Hebrew text for his love of the scriptures.

DFiL also enjoys putting together jigsaw puzzles. My DS the quilter did a fantastic job giving the quilt the look of a completed jigsaw puzzle:

Dad was overwhelmed when the quilt was presented to him during our family reunion. That's such a good feeling for the maker!

I based Dad's quilt on this one I made for myself in 2012:

I even used some of the same prints in both quilts. My quilt was entered in the county fair this year and was awarded both a first place blue ribbon and the Best in Class rosette!

Blocks & Tops

I've made a couple more friendship blocks for ladies in my local quilt group. This one is called "Crossing Ohio."

This one is "Paradox." I sort of wish I had more contrast in the center of the block but this is acceptable. I'm pleased to report that both of these blocks are perfectly sized!

I've been thinking about my predilection for making scrappy blocks/quilts. I've come to the conclusion that it's a genetic predisposition. For example, I have this Double Wedding Ring top that one of my great grandmothers made:

Here's a close-up of one of the blocks:

There's some repetition of prints but I suspect she didn't have as much to choose from as I do!

And then there's this Lady of the Lake top made by the same great grandmother:

Again, there's organization, but she wasn't afraid of busy! She also seemed to have a preference for setting her blocks side by side as I do. I find all this comforting somehow. It strengthens the link between myself and a grandmother I never knew personally. I've kept other family heirlooms for the same reason. They are touchstones to ancestors I never knew personally.

I've continued to make Scrappy Trips and other assorted blocks out of scraps. The flannel jelly roll quilt is on its way to New Jersey and I will have a lap quilt on the way to California later this week. Did you know that the Alzheimer's Disease Co-operative Study have completely depleted their stock of lap quilts? They're looking for some patriotic themed quilts to be distributed to study participants who are veterans. I know there are some red, white, and blue blocks in my Parts Drawer. Guess it's time to dig them out!

More Snow! and Another Christmas Quilt

Yup, we've had even more snow since my last post. And the first batch didn't even have a chance to melt away. Puts me in mind of my childhood in Michigan. Except we had snow tires on our cars back then. We've never needed them here ~ until now! I'm afraid I may not have stocked up on enough foodstuffs the last time I went out ;- )

My poor jack o'lantern is up to his chinny-chin-chin in snow!

I have made some progress tying my flannel Courthouse Steps quilt (see previous post) but it's not ready to bind yet. Which may be a good thing since I can't for the life of me find a binding fabric I like with the quilt top. You'd think anything would work with that wide blue border. So far that hasn't been the case.

I've also made myself a new pillowcase, and made another for a gift. I don't want to show them yet because of the whole keeping-surprises-for-Christmas thing. I've also been thinking more about possible challenges for myself for next year. What a convoluted process that is turning out to be! A challenge in and of itself. As of this morning I have committed to participating in this workshop (sort of a workshop) in the hopes that it will help me establish a solid foundation for this year and the future. (There may still be room in the group if you think you would benefit from coaching in this area too.)

And now for another of the heirloom quilts in my collection... This is a Single Irish Chain made by my great-great grandmother, Abigail Stillwell Smith (bet she never used a three letter monogram on anything!).

I currently have it on the bed under my Christmas Round Robin quilt. Having inherited this quilt earlier this year I feel like I'm sleeping under a Christmas gift every night. It would certainly be appropriate as a Christmas quilt since it's all red and white. Because of it's age - and good condition, which I want to maintain - I don't dare leave it on top of the bed. That room gets full afternoon sun (well, when the sun shines) and my dog spends part of his day on the bed. Talk about a disaster waiting to happen!

It would appear Abigail ran out of her primary print and had to find something else to fill in with to get enough blocks for her quilt.There are four blocks in the quilt top that are not identical to the others. Two like this one:

And two like this one:

Hopefully you can click on the pictures to make them bigger.

Overall the quilt measures about 67" x 84." There are no borders, and it is bound with the same muslin she used for the alternate blocks and the back. I didn't measure the blocks themselves; there are 8 across and 10 down. I have no idea whether it was hand or machine pieced, but it is hand quilted. I also don't know exactly when the quilt was made. Since Abigail was born in 1835 and died in 1911 I think it's safe to say it was made between the Civil War and the turn of the last century. I feel a real sense of responsibility to have ownership of this heirloom. I may have to begin grooming one of my children to inherit it from me one day...!

Don't Mess With My Great Grandma!

So I found a copy of a picture of young Eva and her husband. Notice who's holding the gun.

Apparently Eva was not only a skilled needlewoman, she was also a crack shot!

We've had three consecutive days of sunshine so far. Whoopee! All the mothballed linens spent time outside and seem to be fragrance free now. In fact, they smell like they've been washed and dried on a line. I love that smell. If we had more dry days around here I'd be tempted to have a clothesline installed.

The beads I ordered for the background of my May journal quilt arrived. Because they were size 11 delicas I assumed they would be the same size as the size 11 seed beads I had on hand. Wrong! They are smaller. They are also a slightly different shape (all of this probably would not have been a surprise to a more experienced beader). I decided to use them anyway because that shape sits better on the surface of the quilt. Because they are smaller, however, I'm finding that I'm sewing them much closer together than I had originally intended. I may have to buy yet another tube of beads!

The beading is going more quickly than I thought it might. I'm trying to leave enough room around the perimeter of the piece to allow room for the presser foot of my sewing machine when I sew the binding on the quilt. I've run into problems with that in the past. That means that once I have the binding applied, but before I sew it down, I'll have to go back and add beads to fill in the gaps next to the binding.

Hopefully sometime during this process I'll come up with an actual title for this journal quilt.

Eva's Double Wedding Ring

Woohoo! The sun is shining!!! Yippee!!! (We'll see how long it lasts!)

I have an old quilt top to share with you today. This Double Wedding Ring was machine pieced by my great grandmother Eva, sometime before 1940.


I see prints I would identify as being from the last decade of the 1800's and a few pieces that look like drapery fabric. It's in good shape, having never been quilted or used. There is at least one small age spot but that's all I've found so far.


I've taken a few deail photos so you can see the variety of fabrics she used. (I have no idea whether clicking on the photos will take you to a larger image or not. I haven't figured out that bit of magic yet.)



I'm so relieved I didn't pack this quilt top with the mothballs that the other family linens are infused with! By the way, if anyone has any ideas for eliminating mothball fumes from textiles please let me know. I'm going to take advantage of the sunshine today and lay them out on a sheet in the yard to see if that will help.