Winter

I have been busy, just not a frequent blogger. The above quilt is based on  the vintage quilt shown below.  I kept the nine patch motif and had the blocks rotate around the center square. The outer border is a fabric that languished in my stash for many years. Now it has finally found a home. To me this is why you have a stash. You just never know what may be hiding there.

This top is from the 20's to 40's. It appears that the quilt maker liked the idea of  using a little assymetry or accidentally put them together and didn't realize her "mistake". It makes for an interesting quilt.

Actually the hard part for this block was selecting a fabric for the slashed cross.  I knew I wanted the light background block. After several tries this was the most striking.  This is one of those sale fabrics where you got a discount for buying what was left on the bolt. I had about 2 1/2 yards. It will all be used up by the end of the quilt.  Who knew? Another stash find. I love the intensity of the reds/oranges used for the daisies.  My husband says it reminds him of the poppies in Flanders Field...a poem about a cementary from WWI in Belgium and the poppies that grow there over the graves. These poppies bloom every spring  are the kind that are annuals and reseed themselves every year.  

This is the quilt coming together. I have one more row to complete. The borders will make it seem like the crossed block are floating on the borders.  I loved taking the "ordinary" background block and making them so lively. 

 Then of course I had to start another crazy hand pieced project. A friend lent me a book about reproducing old quilts. I had looked thru all my block compendiums without success for a simple circle and amazingly there was what I was looking for in the book.  Someones grandmother made this quilt and so the author called the blocks Ursula's Circles. The author said she had never seen it before. Anyway, it is 22 inches and the center is simple but I will have to admit that the 40 little triangles around the outside are a bit tedious. The good news that if I finish them at 24 inches I only need 3 turned on point to make a good size center to a quilt.

I think I mentioned that I was volunteering at the MSU Museum in quilting. I am organizing the patterns that were willed to the museum by Cuesta Benberry. Currently I am sorting thru patterns in a box labeled OCS(Old Chelsea Station), Laura Wheeler and Alice Brooks. This block pattern mail order service has some of the most original designs. Many remind me of Art Deco designs. I may be unable to resist at least making one or more of quite a few of the blocks. I couldn't ask for a better thing to volunteer to do.