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It's so good to be reacquainted with my sewing machine again. I have lots of little projects in mind that I would like to work on this winter, but first things first. With Christmas only being days away (really), work on Little #8's quilt has been my sewing priority. It's a simple quilt, nothing fancy, but that is the kind if quilting I like. I think of how, out of necessity, my grandmother, my great-grandmother, and the many grandmothers before her would have used whatever fabric they had to make quilts that would keep their family warm all winter long. Although I find the more detailed quilts with carefully chosen fabrics beautiful and am in awe of the time and patience it takes to create one, I enjoy using scraps of cloth that I have saved from other projects, creating something useful and warm from what may not otherwise be used. I like to think that I am quilting in an old-fashioned way.
I've always looked at quilting in two ways...one as a form of art and the other as a useful craft. I do love all manner of quilts and hope to someday work on one with a real pattern and design, but I will have to get over my uneasiness in choosing those fabrics. I actually get quite overwhelmed when it comes to choosing coordinating cloth from the endless bolts of quilting fabric, and I am amazed by those who can narrow the choices down and choose just the right colors and patterns to compliment the design of their quilts. I am so taken in by the artistry of quilts such as these, but I am also so drawn to the simple charm of quilts such as this and this. Someday I may get brave and enter the fabric store with confidence and a plan, but for now, I am enjoying using whatever fabrics I already have and seeing what the outcome is.
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For this particular quilt I used an old blanket (one that was from Hubby's childhood) in place of the batting and a flannel sheet as a backing. I sandwiched the layers and pinned them together...I think this actually took more time than sewing the squares together. I then laid down strips of masking tape to use as guidelines for the quilting. I am about half way done with the quilting. I am not sure what technique I will use for the binding, but I am anxious to finish and have one more gift complete.
It looks lovely! I think there are two sorts of quilting, the sort where it's all about the piecing and the sort that are simpler in construction and are all about the fabric and the memories tucked up in that fabric; they're both beautiful, just in different ways :)
ReplyDeleteI am with on the choosing of fabric, I would love to make a quilt one day but I would be overwhelmed by choosing. I love the idea of making a quilt from left overs pieces of fabric, I do keep mine but don't have anywhere near enough at the moment. Your quilt looks wonderful, I don't know how you find the time to make all the beautiful things that you do, you must be highly organised!
ReplyDeleteIt's come on really fast and looks great, beautiful and colourful. And I love that vintage sheet quilt you linked to, and I know I haven't sent you that message yet! Sorry, will do.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of using up scraps and whatever you have to hand to make a quilt. The finished quilt tells a story by itself and yours is beautiful. One of my favourite books about a pioneer woman, who makes beautiful quilts when she's not tangling with Indians. It's called "These is my words" by Nancy E Turner and it comes highly recommended. Enjoy your weekend, Emily xxx
ReplyDeleteI have been reading John Seymour's book about the Self Sufficient Life and know that you keep a cow/cows and chickens and love to garden. I was wondering if you could either answer a few questions for me or do a post about how you keep your chickens; their coop, feeding, collecting eggs etc.. Also who milks the cow if you do have a dairy cow and where/how you house it and what/how much you feed it etc.. I am very enamored with the idea of eggs and milk but am not sure I could pull it off as it would be me doing the work. I love to sew, crochet, knit, shop the thrift stores, make jam, garden but I do none of those things with regularity as I have a short attention span and am not a perfectionist. Would you when you have time haha, please let me know how your family manages your little farm. I would so appreciate it. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThe one and only quilt I ever made was all about using up leftovers - I cut up old clothes, backed it with an old sheet - and it was so satisfying. But then I see these beautifully coordinated ones in Liberty print fabric and am drawn to those too. But I think that the more homespun and thrifty a quilt it is, the more scraps there are, just adds to the charm. I like the way the fabric tells a story. Yours is going to be just lovely. x
ReplyDeleteI love that this quilt has your husbands old blanket. It looks so pretty and has lovely history. I still have the quilt in the attic that I made for Hannah when she was a toddler. I hope one day that it will belong to her children. I'm longing to get out my sewing machine too and have been saving bits of vintage fabric to make another one, one day. Hopefully I can begin in the spring. I love Alicia's quilts too...when I see yours or hers it makes me anxious to begin soon.
ReplyDeleteHave you watched the film "How to make an American quilt" ? It's one of my favourites. I usually watch it when one of my sisters or friend is visiting and we knit or sew whilst watching. It would be lovely if we could have a sewing bee...
Happy sewing,
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