progress, have to admit they are addictive. This has been a great project for me this week, between the allergies then what feels like a full blown cold it was nice to have something to applique without thinking. This is not the way they will be laid out I just keep adding each one to the design wall. Having them up there inspires me. Since I love scrappy for me I will use lots and lots of colors, prints, nothing is off limits in a quilt like this. I try and mix up my blocks some match, some don't , some blend, all in the attempt to get that aged "antiquey" look I am always after!

I have a layer cake of this fabric line Northern cardinal by Holly Taylor with Moda and WOW fell in love with this fabric with the words on it. I know a lot of you like fabrics with words on it, this is great, I can see this as a background fabric for applique or a pieced quilt, its a great color in mho...folk art/prim/country ah yes fits in with my repros too, don't you agree??? Great new line of fabric that will be available in May/ June :) fits right in with my repros scrappy quilts too!

my next set of blocks to baste and applique, yes I always leave the sewing room with blocks ready to sew or baste/applique in the morning, a great way to jump in and start the day, after the coffee and blog reading of course!

this was a cheater cloth fabric from Judie Rothermel last year or so , doesn't it now look like a game board? I am going to do a utility stitch on this following the triangles by hand with pearle cotton.
Have you hand quilted a quilt with pearle cotton? If so any tips? whats your favorite brand? what needles do you use???
thanks!

check out Vicky's blog she decided to make the blocks too!
let me know if you decide you need to delve in your scrap baskets, charm packs, layer cakes are perfect for this type of project and start making them too!

Wishing I was in Paducah , I loved seeing the winners. have to admit to being a bit biased was really hoping that Nancy Kerns
Mary Simon quilt would have one best hand quilted , hand appliqued quilt, it is a masterpiece. She drafted all the patterns herself. She won the Founders Award in Houston 2010, let me see if I can find a picture of the quilt.

ok one more thing! Did you see Stephanies post about this antique quilt, oh my how I wish I would have seen this summer coverlet in person! makes me want to drive to Pittsburgh! Isn't it amazing how we find quilts when we least expect it!

a few things to share....a little quilt I just made, it was suppose to be brown and beige for my 2 color quilt collection!. Ok, how come I seem to have to add RED to all my quilts lately????
I am really happy with my little quilt! Can't wait to quilt it and use it!

Have you seen the new issue of Quilts and More Summer 2011 yet? oh there are quite a few great projects in here ...
love that rail fence on the cover, doesn't that say spring/summer to you???
there is a new column in the magazine, Scrap Lab, how fun does that sound! you can read about it here on Joanna's blog! Cute little projects you need for a road trip this summer, love that little case for your iphone! Oh I could go on and on this is an issue I think you will want!
and then there is one of my quilts in here! Baby Steps, This is one of my favorite patterns to use for baby quilts, quick and easy and use up that scrap basket!
Hope you check it out!

As I was looking thru a "new" quilt book to me, published in 1991, Abstract Design in American Quilts: A biography of an Exhibit by Jonathan Holstein look what I found!


looks like my Tribute to Joanna S. Rose quilt!


here is the quilt from the exhibit

this is a great book! full page pictures of antique quilts...I am so happy I bought it


progress on the drunkard path blocks
so many of you emailed and asked me how I was making these...HAND APPLIQUED! just easier for me then curved piecing :)

not much else going on...suffering terribly with seasonal allergies, the worst year ever! must be all this rain we are having and then too much blooming at once.

Added to my 3' nine patch collection this week, some day I hope I have enough for a queen size quilt! These are just fun to make and one of my favorite blocks. Why? you get to use LOTS of fabrics in one quilt, I make them as I am making other blocks with left over pieces. for each block you see here I made another block and it wasn't a nine patch :)

I fell in love with this quilt from my V and A Diary 2011 so instead of working on finishing another quilt, I started another quilt this weekend! (Tell me does this ever happen to you too?) I think this is how I get in trouble with my ufo's I am cutting fabric for one quilt and think oh these would look great in drunkard path blocks just look at those combo's and before I know I have 5 blocks made! This will be an ongoing project even though I then made another 7 blocks last night! What is fun about this block there is so many ways to lay them out. I love playing on my design wall with blocks like this. When I have a few more made I will show you what I mean.


Do you read Nedra's blog???? Cactus Needle is the name of the blog.She shares so much and I just love visiting her I hope you will to. I loved these 3 posts on how to read a quilt. beautiful antique quilts to see!
If your looking for Chintz panels check out Margo's Reproduction Fabrics Store, she just had some printed!
Margo has a blog too! Cottonopia check it out and you can learn about the chintz panels.

A great new book if you love antique quilts like I do! I love that the book has quilt history as well as diary entries, very fun to read! AND yes of course it has great quilt patterns in it!
Home on the Plains:Quilts and the Sod House Experience by Kathleen L Moore and Stephanie Grace Whitson

just a sneak peak...one of my favorite quilts, don't you just LOVE this border????? and of course that green fabric I need to track down some of that color!


check this book out I am sure you will want to add this to your library.

I finished the binding on my little quilt from the Simply Charming book, I am thrilled with it, i am pleased with how my friend Lorre quilted it for me, the clamshells add so much texture to this little quilt.

I was inspired by Lori's quilt to start my own, I played around with the size of the blocks and decided I liked this size the best,
this will be made from my scrap basket and as I cut for other quilts. Long term project I think!

one more thing A new blogger that I am really enjoying reading Dawn , she loves reproduction fabrics and antique quilts like I do! I look forward to her posts! I hope you will enjoy visiting her too. Collector with a needle is the name of her blog.

My Tribute to Joanna S. Rose

My first quilt inspired by one of the quilts I saw at the Red and White exhibit ,
Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts and you know it won't be my last!
I used the moda belle country red solid I bought the other day, I love this red. I just may need to buy a bolt of it!

How lucky am I? I opened up the mail box and there was a package from Lori of Humble Quilts.
She made me a little quilt, how beautiful is this? I was so sorry that our schedules for viewing the Red and White quilt show didn't match up in NYC. One day we will meet in person!
this little quilt is a treasure to me, thank you! It will definitely go on my wall of little quilts one day but for now it will reside in my sewing room so I can enjoy it everyday!

have you checked out Linda's photos of the Red and White Exhibit? These are the best photos I have seen from the show in mho. Please leave her a comment thanking her for sharing these with us.
as soon as I opened it up I felt like I was standing right back in the Armory.
Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts was the quilt show of the century I doubt one will ever top this one.

so what do you do when you come home from seeing a quilt show with so many red and white quilts????
order red and white fabric of course! It arrived yesterday
I ordered Christmas red and Country Red and then a bolt of a white 9900-60, Moda Belle Solids! the piece in the middle is Betty's Red, nice bright color, I think my favorite is on the left Country Red or maybe the Christmas Red!
now to decide which quilt to make I am inspired by so many of them, yes there will be a few made this year!

Here is what I started 2 weeks ago...delectable mtn blocks...oh not sure this will be the setting yet! Yes there were a few of them at the Red and White exhibit, one had a star in the center, I can't find a picture of it at the moment but I liked that idea!
When I showed this to my friend she showed me an antique one she owned and I thought wow! maybe mine will be just like that one!!! Isn't it great to have options?
EDIT found a picture of the delectable mtn quilt with the star in the center!!!! on Minick and Simpson blog and look theres that rick rack quilt, ah yes, on my list just LOVED that quilt!!!! and the quilting was to die for.
I will continue to make blocks and see where it leads me...yes these are prints not solids, there were a few quilts with printed fabric, very few Less than 5 out of the 650 if I had to guess.

I have wanted to do this 15 minutes of play with this group, I started and then stopped.
Last week I decided I need to do this a few days a week, I will use my scrap basket and I had to join the simply sixteenths club, this will allow me to add fabrics I didn't pick out and just the right size to cut up into fun shapes and pieces! I may have to add a few more of these bundles to my project!
think Gwen Marston and liberated quilting and of course adding to my little log cabin blocks!


I also ordered a Faith quilt kit from the Collection for a cause by Howard Marcus of Moda
Brown and pink quilts just speak to me and this fabric line I just love it, yes I had already ordered a fat quarter bundle of the line a few weeks ago....so can you tell I love this line???? I also appreciate that they chose a charity for each of these fabric lines in the Collection for a cause and donate money to that charity from the sales The charity for this line is The Coalition to Salute American's Heros. Read about it here, very interesting... The Moda Cutting table newsletter.
Its going to be fun making this quilt that was reproduced from his antique quilt collection.
The lunch box tin the kit came in is going to be turned into a travel sewing kit for me!

hope you find something to inspire you to sew this week!