ANTIQUE QUILT # 7

 I need better photos of this old top I bought a few years ago:

Album Sampler, Berks Co, PA

I believe I bought it from Cindy Rennels, antique dealer extraordinaire, in 2019. It was after I designed and made this quilt: Charming Sampler:

It was several months after this class quilt was done that I noticed the similarity it has to the Album Sampler from Berks Co, PA. Not the same at all, but similar. Just goes to prove there is nothing new under the sun. 

Now, whenever I teach Charming Sampler, I bring this top to show about half way through the day-long class. 

Let's quilt.

Barbara

ANTIQUE QUILT # 6

 Another purchase from Cindy Rennels in 2017. The pink and green caught my eye. And I love Sawtooth Stars. 

Interesting way to turn the corner: 

Unusual print in the center of each star:

The quilt in Cindy's booth in Chicago 2017. I put this one on layaway and picked it up in Houston later that year:

Let's quilt.

Barbara

A Few Antiques

While searching in the storage closet for an antique top to take with me on a teaching trip, I came upon one I had forgotten about and two that needed to be photographed.

The most recent purchase is this Flying Geese Strippy quilt top, bought from Cindy Rennels, of Cindy's Antique Quilts.:

She posted photos on Instagram and I bit--the fabrics are quite interesting and I am a fan of Flying Geese quilts. Entirely hand pieced. She sells at all the big shows, and will be at Paducah later this month, check out her booth.

The next is a quilt top I forgot I bought--the tag on it says $10 so I am guessing this String Quilt came from an antique shop. It is also entirely hand pieced, a bit primitive, even humble, but someone put a lot of time into it many years ago:

The backdrop is my Lifetime quilt, still covering the design wall

I enjoy studying all the different fabrics and researching their approximate age.

This third top I bought in 2015 from Julia Hodenius-Kelly of Pique'. She also sells at the big shows and always has interesting quilts, usually quite old and often has wonderful old fabrics which I don't buy buy admire--how did they survive all these years? I believe this one came from Pennsylvania as did I. I began reproducing it and need to get back to it. It, too, is entirely hand pieced:

Several of the fabrics are "patched"

Pretty cool fabrics

On an edge, I think she was running low on fabrics

Far right is the "border"--a half row--perhaps she got tired and just stopped

You never know what you'll find in my closets. Oh, here was the one I was searching for and found:

I have written about this quilt top and its' interesting story before--check it out here.

Let's quilt!

Barbara

My Next Lifetime?

As my first Lifetime quilt is heading toward completion, I find myself thinking "What's Next?" A new Leader/Ender quilt has to be decided upon...

Here is one I am considering. It is an antique top I bought in 2014 from Cindy Diller Rennels. She is an antique quilt dealer I have gotten to know and buy from at the big shows. This one came from Paducah, April 2014.

When I bought it, I thought it was a Shoo-Fly block but upon closer examination, it is an X-block block with alternate white blocks between. Here are some detail shots:

This beautiful bright blue print is a Centennial print, with 1776 and 1876 printed on it along with many states' names. So the top is no older than 1876--I think it is somewhat newer than that--I will have to study it again closely to try to find the "newest" print:

Not the best Leader/Ender project as I will have to pre-assemble fabric groups if I want to create blocks with the same fabrics in each, and pre-cut a bunch of the white background. But it is certainly a contender.

What say you, quilt world friends? Would you make it as close to this as possible or use different background prints? Do you find it appealing?

In the next few posts I'll present a few others for consideration.

Let's quilt.

Barbara

Stash Enhancement Expedition: Paducah 2014

I had a great time in Paducah these past few days.  It's such a treat to spend quality time with my two best friends, Sharon and Ellen, and this year we all wore "contestant" ribbons for our Round Robin quilt, A-Round with My Friends:

The quilt is directly behind me, except I don't recognize that woman in the middle. 

Red and White--By the Numbers was there too but I didn't take any pictures of it--since I know what it looks like and it was a side-hanging quilt and it's hard to get good shots of those. 

A friend of Pam Dransfeldt, the awesome Joyful Quilter!, took this photo for her.

Shopping wasn't too bad.  I bought an old quilt top as a show souvenir from Cindy Rennel's Antique Quilts, www.cindysantiquequilts:

 

And I added to my own stash, mostly reproduction fabrics:

 

The large piece of batik yardage on the far right is for our guild's next raffle quilt--it's back and background, very glad I found that.  I'll be eager to see what fabrics our members got to add to that quilt.   Members were asked to donate one fat quarter as a way of participating in the project.  I wrote all about and showed the project here.
It was a terrific couple of days--I got to see most everyone I wanted to see and was able to have lunch with one of my favorite people, Mary Sorensen.  The teachers who know me from Houston, Chicago, Long Beach, etc., all do a double take when they see me in Paducah--that's funny!  "What are YOU doing HERE?" 

Now to clean off my cutting table, ironing table, put all this stuff away and get back to being creative.  When asked what I'm going to do with this new stuff, I simply say: "Put it in the closet with its' friends, the stuff I bought at the last show, and the show before that, and the one before that...  If you're a quilter, you get it.  If you're not, you never will.

Let's quilt!

Barbara

Grandmother's Choice--Fini!

I managed to get my Grandmother's Choice top finished this week:

Grandmother's Choice, 74" x 74"

This is a block of the week created by Barbara Brackman, quilt historian extraordinaire, to tell the story of the fight for voting rights for women, in this country and England and Canada.  The patterns are still available here:  Grandmother's Choice.  Each week for 49 weeks there was a block pattern and a history lesson--very interesting and educational.  The colors I chose were the colors used by the English Suffragist movement--purple and green, right up my alley.

Don't know what I'll do with this top--let it rest for a while, I suppose.  Another project I can mark "done".  Yes, I'm a "topper" sometimes, more than a "quilter". 

Thought you might enjoy seeing an antique top I bought at Long Beach from Cindy Rennels.  It is not in perfect shape but is a great collection of old fabrics and the price was right.  I love how the maker add those much smaller squares on the right side.  I'll just protect this one and use it to study the old fabrics.  I might even replicate it because that's the best way to honor the maker:  "anonymous" was a woman.

 

And here's a new project I started, easy hand work I can take with me when traveling or work on at night while listening to TV--if I can keep the kittens from helping:

They are just stuck up on the design wall--as I get more done, I'll start sewing them together.  The blocks are 6" square.

Patches and Stitches--always in constant motion, unless they're asleep!

Check out Judy L's Design Wall Monday blog to see what others are doing.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara