Historical quilting

 Thursday afternoon I saw something amazing and beautiful - an antique Political Ribbon Quilt.  This was a full sized quilt covered with antique ribbons from all over the country, along with a few pins and buttons.  There did seem to be a focus on Mitchell, and even the Corn Palace, but there were many other locations and organizations represented.  

The edges of the quilt and a few ribbons were Shattered Silk, so it was beginning to disintegrate in a few places.  But most of the ribbons were in remarkable condition.  And most of the dates on these ribbons were 1890s. 

The quilt was donated locally and I don’t have many details, other than the donor wishes to remain anonymous.  There is a plan to display this incredible quilt, in a safe and responsible way - once they figure out what will work best.  This is a big quilt so it will take some creativity to preserve.  

I took a few photos, in particular of ribbons that were specific to Mitchell.  I'm wishing I could have taken more pictures because there were some really interesting ribbons and pins.  At this time, I don’t have any details on who might have made this beauty or who collected all of the ribbons.  But I’m sure glad I got to see it in person.  

Random stitching

Wednesday morning was wide open for sewing, but I had so many project ideas floating around my head that it was very hard to focus.  However . . . I bribed myself.   

If and only if, I got both Farmers Wife Sampler blocks for the week made, then I would allow myself to play with something else.  This Homemaker block was really tricky, with angled seams.  Victory was sweet when it turned out the right size and layed flat. Yay!!

Old Windmill was simple because it was just half square triangles.  We've completed 58 of the 11 blocks to date.  Seeing that pile of 6.5" blocks growing taller is very satisfying.

Checkered Star is a PIG that I've been working on all summer - very slowly.  Two more blocks have joined the set.  The parts are cut for more, so I'm hoping to keep doing a couple of them every couple of days until they are all done. 

And my reward for progress on some on-going projects was to play with one of the Halloween panels that have been languishing in the drawer.  So far a couple of mug rugs are taking shape using sections from the panel plus scraps from the drawer.  

Midweek progress

 My spreadsheet tells me that with the Halloween pillowcases I just made for the grandkids, I've made a total of 29 so far this year.  Mason chose the purple bat fabric for his pillowcase.  And Jonah - my bug boy - picked the spiderwebs.  That didn't surprise me as he is fascinated by all bugs. 

Daughter #1 had an idea for a good Christmas gift for Olivia.  She's taking piano lessons, and could use a nice music-themed tote bag for her piano books.  I think that will be a fun project.  

Tuesday I pulled out a pile of quilts for babies and kids to see what I had available.  Daughter #1 needed a gift for a friend.  There were several good options for a little girl.  I sent her pictures, and she chose the Beads quilt that I made about a year ago.  Seeing it again made me think that I should make these blocks again for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  

I've made enough of the Halloween blocks (20) for a good sized couch throw.  However, my obsessive need for symmetry is having trouble with having those half squares across the bottom.  So now I'm trying to decide whether or not to make it bigger. I have plenty of fabric.  Or maybe I need to change up the layout completely to eliminate those obvious squares.    

Hmmm . . . an alternative layout would solve that problem.  I left all of the blocks in the same location, but turned them so that the background forms a stripe between the colors.  This will require some thought.  Any feedback would be highly appreciated.  

  

It's Tuesday!

 Sunday morning was cool and beautiful, so it was an excellent day to go to the zoo.  These 2 kiddos and their mom were my companions for a couple of hours.  The animals were pretty active since it was cool outside.  We saw bears fighting over food, the Singing Dogs were howling, the Komodo Dragon was walking around flicking his tongue, and the black rhinos were happily grazing up close to the fence where we could see them easily.

Sophia was headed to a softball camp right after the zoo, so she was wearing her softball pants and shirt.  I passed on sitting in the stands for 3 hours watching the camp and went shopping for new tennis shoes instead before hitting the interstate and heading west toward home.  No luck finding shoes however!  I have trouble with shoes due to my Achilles problems.  I'll keep looking.  

Monday afternoon sewing was brief, and interrupted when the contractor showed up to fix our deck door.  The locking mechanism had arrived.  Now, we're still waiting on the new garage door - which we thought had arrived, but is actually back ordered yet.  Olivia chose the black cat fabric for her new pillowcase and I got that one done.  Jonah's spider web case is partially sewn.  

And I made 2 (identical) blocks for a charity block drive. They chose a modified 9-patch block in fall colors.  Today I'm hoping to make a couple more of these, and finish Jonah's pillowcase. Then I can start working on Mason's pillowcase. 

Design Wall Monday - Summer Soirée

 The Summer Soirée blocks from last Wednesday are very different from previous weeks.  But they were kind of fun to make, and they do look good with the other blocks.

One block using the brights, and the other block using the red, white and blue.

There are only 2 blocks to go on this sampler, so at some point I'll need to actually make some decisions on layouts, sashings, and borders. 

I’m linking up with Design Wall Monday and Making Monday.  What are you working on today?

My weekend

 As usual, my husband is playing in a golf tournament all weekend. Again. Is it winter yet?  But I had plenty of fun things going on this weekend to keep me busy for a change.

Saturday I went to the movie Queen Bees with a friend, and then out for a beer.  We enjoyed a nice cool evening on the patio of a local establishment.  So relaxing!  And I would highly recommend that movie.  I know it’s available to stream on some platforms.  But I was glad it came to our local theater.  I think there were maybe 10 people at the 4:30 movie, so social distancing was not a problem.  

Earlier on Saturday I had quilt guild, and then the Sew Vintage group met. I think there were only 8 of us at Sew Vintage, but it was enjoyable as always.  

And today the plan is the zoo in the morning with 2 of the grandkids, and then who knows what else will end up on my agenda.  I hope you all are having a good weekend too. 

Playing with orange

With the Rainbow Scrap Challenge moving into orange for the month of September, I found myself drawn to Halloween fabrics and falls fabrics.  

I wasn't playing with scraps for these Halloween fabrics, but instead pulled out some fat quarters and other yardage.  There is a whole drawer full of Halloween prints in my sewing room.  There are some new Halloween pillowcases kitted up for grandkids, and then there are these blocks.  I picked out one of the Pat Sloan blocks that I really liked and decided to play with the block in Halloween fabrics.  This is block #7 from her Summer Soiree series.  I have no idea how many I'll make or how they will eventually be layed out, but these will make a cute quilt.  
https://www.ilovetomakequilts.com/2021/08/block-7-summer-soiree.html

Now . . . the Ohio Star blocks and the Twinkle Star blocks were made with scraps.  These have now been added to the hangers with the other blocks made with previous colors.  More of both are needed to make quilts using them, but there is no rush.  These may just continue on into 2022.

There will NOT be a new orange Country Bunny block made this month.  A few months ago I made a coral bunny block, so I think this satisfies that colorway sufficiently.  But I do plan to make an orange house block - maybe that will happen next week.   

I'm linking up with RSC today . . .

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/