Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilts, Part Three

 

  Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilts, Part Three

So, here we are with Part Three.  This will be the final episode of the Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt posts.  I had planned on showing you TWO quilts today, but, after a conversation with a friend this morning....I remembered there were two more of these quilts here in my house.  (My memory is haywire these days!)  

This one is really pretty, it has a "Garden Path" throughout.  I really like that, but I would never have pieced it myself.  This quilt, which I bought at the flea market, is beautifully made, but like most I get at the flea market, it has issues.  At some point, I hope to remedy that.

Can you see the green path?  This is a very pastel quilt.

 

 Look at that edge!  Oh my, binding that does not appeal to me....and the binding does have it's challenges.

 

See!

  Now, repairing that is going to take some creativity.  At this point, I have no idea what I will do, but, I'll figure out something.

 

 Isn't it pretty?

 

 Fortunately, it doesn't need a lot of other work...mostly two of the edges and a few little places to mend.   Well, the binding does need some help....another thing where I will have to figure out what to do.

 

 It's beautiful!

 

Here is another pretty quilt...with one big issue.  A friend of mine past away recently and this quilt top in her stash came to me.  It's beautifully pieced.  I actually think her mother pieced it.  At some point, someone decided to quilt it.  Why, I have no earthly idea, but they took some polyester batting and started to quilt the center of the quilt.

 

 Here is a view of the back.  Isn't that strange?  That's a lot of quilting, then it's trimmed.  I would not know where to go from here, so I am going to un-stitch that quilting and start over.  It deserves to be quilted properly. 

  

 Here is a close-up of it.  Really odd, but like I said, I don't think my friend did this...it's not something I think she would do.

 

 It looks really nice from the front.

 

A close-up.

 

Here is a better look at the piecing.  Lovely.

 

During a conversation I had today, it suddenly came to me that I had two more Grandmother's Flower Garden quilts.  How did I forget them?  So, I raided the quilt closet and there they were.  Of course, you have to see those too. 

 

 A lovely quilt top....beautifully pieced.

  (I love dappled shade, don't you.  I took these photos outdoors behind my house.)

 

 Very nice piecing!

 

The only issue with this quilt...Yeah!  One of the corners is not a full corner.  

What will I do?  Another challenge, for sure.

  I wonder what happened?

 

 And, lastly. a vintage baby quilt.  It has been very used and does need repair.  I've had it a very long time.  So, it will finally be put into the que created by these quilts and someday, I will have it mended and usable agian.

 

 You can see there is definitely work to do. 

 

 But, there are good parts too!

 

 A really special quilt that deserves repair.

The end of the story of these quilts is in the future, as there is lots of work to do.  I have

decided I love this "mending" of old quilts.  I think it will be good for my soul.  Don't you?

These quilts I have shown you the last few days are in need of attention and a good bit of care lest they just gradually fade away.  That could be sooner than one might think, the way time flies.  Somehow, it seems important to me, at this particular stage of my life, that I do my best to rescue and revive these quilts, along with others that I have here.  There are many quilts out there that can't be repaired as they are so very fragile, but I hope to do what I can, while I can, with the ones I have.  And, maybe future ones I run into at the flea market.  You know I can't resist, right?

I hope you enjoyed the stories of these quilts.  I will post more about them as work is done.  I will begin with my sister-in-law's quilt....

from

Bird Nest Cottage

until next time

♥♥♥

Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt, Part Two

 

This is Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilts, Part Two 

This photo was taken behind my house....On a sunny day...too sunny really, as this quilt is actually darker than it shows here.  You'll see later.

So, here's the story:

This summer I went to Texas for a few weeks and while I was there, my sister-in-law, Nancy Jo, brought this quilt out to show me.  Actually, as you can see, it's still in the quilt top stage.

The top was made, we think in the 30's, by Nancy Jo's aunt, who was a school teacher at the time, living in a boarding house away from home.  So, she pieced the top during the evenings to pass the time.  (By the way, Nancy Jo's family lives in West Virginia.)  Her aunt, the sister of Nancy Jo's Mother, is no longer with us, so the quilt belongs to Nancy Jo's Mom.  It was never quilted so I was asked if I could 'do something with it' for her Mom's 90th birthday.  How could I say no?

 

As you can see there are some black places on the quilt.  Those are holes.  There are several.

Before it can be quilted, it must be mended.  That will be quite the task.  The mending won't be invisible, of course, but I will do what I can to make it 'look good.'    It's still a top and that will be helpful, actually.

 

 A better look at the edge.  Also along the bottom, in this photo, there needs to be another row of piecing.  I'm not doing that, so will figure out what to do instead.  Did you hear me say I like a 'challenge?'

 

 I'll even the edges too.....for easier binding.

  

I will have to give some thought to the quilting itself.  I'm not going to quilt around each hexagon....it would just take too long and my deadline is next June.

  

This is the quilt...photo taken at night in my house.  While the quilt really is darker than those first photos...it's not as dark as this photo...although I love the way it looks here!

 

And, another look. 

I will do my best to make the quilt presentable for Nancy Jo's Mom's birthday next year.

And, YES, it will be a challenge!

 Every year I look for the first Bluetts to bloom.  I missed that this year, but while I was out taking the photos behind my house....there were lots of these!  You see them in white, pink and also BLUE.   So tiny and cute!!!!

 

Tomorrow, Part Three!

from

Bird Nest Cottage

Until next time

♥♥♥

 

Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilts, Part One

 

GRANDMOTHER'S FLOWER GARDEN QUILTS. 

I've  never made one, but I find myself in the possession of four of them.  One temporarily.

Two are hand-quilted, two still in the "quilt top" category.  They have stories. I wanted to show them to you and tell their stories, but I have realized that I can't do it in one post.  So, tonight, 

PART ONE:

 

  

I bought this quilt from my favorite flea market a few months ago for $25.  It was damaged.  By damaged, I mean that it had been washed and the red fabrics had faded giving the quilt a pink cast...and oddly enough, only two of the"flowers" had the entire middle totally worn away.  Why those two, I wonder?  I took it home.

I figured I couldn't hurt it any more, so I soaked it in Oxyclean in the washer for two days.  Rinsed it twice after that.  That procedure did not removed the fading, but it did lighten it somewhat and it was lots cleaner.

 

 Here is one of the blocks that was missing it's middle.  Once again, why just the two?  Maybe the fabric used in these two blocks had issues to begin with???  You think?

 

 Here is the other block with a missing middle.  It's identity will remain a secret......

 

 Here the quilt sits on my work table. Now, remember, I said I had never made a quilt in this pattern.

While I have pieced quilts before....my favorite quilts (to make) were always appliqued, so I had to figure out how to go about repairing this quilt.  It's pieced.  And, it's quilted.  If it were a top, I think it would be easier to repair.  What to do? 

 

I set out to piece a flower center.  One hexagon for the middle, surrounded by six hexagons of a different pattern.  Which, in my mind, meant Applique.  So, I pieced two flower centers and set about to applique them in the center, then quilt them.

 

 Here you see that flower appliqued to the quilt

 

 Here you see the other quilted.

 

And, closer here.

 

 This kind of work requires many hours spent HERE.

  Here is the second block, repaired.

 

 And, here are both on the quilt.  I hadn't paid any attention til just now, but both damaged blocks are on the edge of the quilt, but not the same edge.  Odd.  

 

 And, here is the repaired quilt.  Notice the one block, five up on the left,  and four over from the bottom left corner.  I think they look pretty good, considering.  And, by the way, I suppose due to the soaking...it is one of the softest quilts I have.  I've already slept under it several times lately.  (Never agitate when washing a quilt...just soak, then spin.  I usually rinse twice...the same, no agitating, soaking, then spin.)

 

While photographing this quilt....I found a feather nearby.  I really like when that happens!

 

Here is the back of the quilt....the pink flowers are where the red fabrics bled from front to back.  There is also some staining from who knows what on the back...but it's very clean now, so that doesn't bother me.  

  

 The quilt had to be mended in several places...just little rips, tears,  You can see where I mended it, there on the binding and above that a bit.  These tears did not go through to the front of the quilt, one reason it looks so good.

 So, an old quilt, renewed.  "Rescue the Perishing" as they say.  I enjoyed this work and with any luck, tomorrow, I will post Part Two. 

 from

Bird Nest Cottage

until next time

♥♥♥

A Lamp...A Shade

 

 A couple of weeks ago, I bought this lamp at the flea market.  $5.00.  So cool, just my style and  favorite color combo.  It didn't have a shade and the only one I had here was this one.  Too short.

Not wanting to spend any money on it, I decided to take this little girl's petticoate and use it to create a longer shade.

 

 Here is the petticoat...sorry, I don't know how to flip this photo once it's in the blog post.  But, you can get the idea.  There are tucks....

 I do love tucks!

 

 And, there are embroidered flowers!

 

 And, here is the new old lampshade...with a bit more to come.  My daughter, the Minimalist, saw this photo and said it didn't look right for me....it needed beads.  Really, a Minimalist said that!  So, me being me....I took it upon myself to bead the lower edge.

 

I also added ribbon near the top and pinned an old brooch there at the top.  It 'kind of' matches the lamp.

 

Here is a close-up of the lower edge.   

 

 And, here is the brooch and the ribbon...actually, it is rayon ribbon...the kind I tend to hoard if I have any.  Love it.  I just attached it with large French Knots.  The petticoat is sewn to the lampshade at the very top.

 

  

Click to see a close-up version of the lamp...I dearly love it. 

 

 And, here it is...in my living room....I do so love lamplight!

 

This is another lamp I have in the living room.........a very old floor lamp.  I thought I'd actually make a shade for it too.  Just a different one altogether.  I seem to be collecting lampshade frames for some reason...so this one I had....and since I had plenty of muslin, I decided to tear strips of it and just tie it on the frame.  Kind of an experiment.  

 

 Finished!

 

 And, here...turned on.  I kind of like the thing!!!  Did I say I love lamplight? 

 

 Indeed I did!!!

So, there you are.  Two lampshades, created out of practically nothing and a lot of time.  

FUN.

 (Quilts coming on Sunday if all goes well.)

from

Bird Nest Cottage

until next time

♥♥♥