Christmas--Quilts and Joy!

If it's Wednesday, I try to have a blog post ready.

Today is Christmas. So, Merry Christmas to You! And Happy Hanukkah! And special wishes for whatever you are celebrating this time of year.

I decorate my home with quilts year-round. But at Christmas, a few special ones come out. Here are their stories.

1. Sawtooth Stars: Found at a First Monday sale day in Scottsboro, AL, about 10 years ago. We went early, I turned left instead of right and ended up at a booth just being set up. This quilt was still folded, no price tag in place. I asked the vendor the price, she told me a really low number and I jumped on it. Fortunately, she took my check since I hadn't brought much cash. As we walked away I told my husband I got a steal. His response? "Flip it.". No, never, it's my treasure for now.

When I got it home and was able to study it more, I found two amazing motifs quilted in it. The first is an initial: this appears to be a "W" to me--since my husband's last name starts with a W, I'm going with that. If it was turned over it would be an "M"--no, it's a "W":

The second motif I found is a dragonfly. I LOVE dragonflies and have several of them on display in my home in quilts and paintings. This proves this quilt was meant to be mine. Such a kinship I feel to this maker from long ago:

And I love feathers--this wreath with heart in the center is quilted in each large block:

2. Christmas Around the Country:  I made this in 1989. I won the blocks at a guild meeting, added a couple more and pieced this top with a garden maze set. I was a baby quilter then, so everything was a learning curve. I designed the hand quilting motifs and spent about a year quilting it, so it was ready to use by Christmas 1990:

Old house, don't have that mauve sofa anymore, so 1980's

It was featured on the cover of Christmas Year 'Round magazine, 1991:

3. Cross and Crown: the one quilt that goes on the wall each year. I designed and made it in 1996. It is the first quilt I had longarm quilted:

Titled "Yuletide Elegance"

This quilt appeared on the cover of  McCall's Quilting, December 1997 issue:

4. Christmas Log Cabin: There is one more Christmas quilt I should mention. This Log Cabin I made in 1989 for Christmas Year Round magazine. It was a commission for them so I don't own it. When the magazine came out, they said a kit was available from Patches & Stitches, where I worked and bought the fabrics for this project. They neglected to mention this to Patches so when the phone started ringing with orders--this was WAY before the Internet--they scrambled to fill hundreds of orders. I suppose there are many of these quilts around the country but I don't have one, just this photo with my son's fingers and feet:

I would love to find someone who bought the kit and made the quilt. It appeared in the Premier issue of Christmas 'Year Round magazine, 1989:

That's all for red and green Christmas quilts.

A very Merry Christmas to you!

Let's quilt.

Barbara

Lessons to Learn from an Old Quilt

I planned to show this in December but just got these photos taken the other day.  My son, Joshua Black Wilkins, is a professional photographer.  He found a few hours to shoot a lot of my quilts and this antique.

I found this at a trade day, sort of like a flea market, September 2009 in Scottsboro, AL.  Unfortunately, the seller had no information on this quilt:  who, what, where, or when.  It is in excellent condition, very bright colors, no holes or tears, and nicely quilted.  I've had it appraised and think the date on this is most likely 1875-1900.  I hope I look this good at that age!

The lessons I think today's quilters can learn from this quilt:

1.  Create a LABEL--by hand or computer, please sign your work.  Someone in the future WILL want to know who made your quilt, when it was made, where you lived, and why you made it. 

2.  Don't be so hard on yourself it things are not perfect--notice the four corners on the four sawtooth borders--each is different.  That is part of charm of this quilt for me.  The quilting motifs change direction--three rows point in one direction, two rows in the other--probably so it would look "right" on the bed.

3.  Take care of your quilts--don't store them folded up for years.  Don't store in plastic bags or against wood in a chest or drawer.  Watch the amount of direct or indirect light your best quilts are exposed to.  This one is in such excellent shape it must have been stored out of light and I don't think it had been washed.  I'm currently storing it rolled up, around several other quilts, inside in, out of direct light.

4.  Put a "secret" hint into your quilts.  There are two interesting motifs quilted into this--a dragonfly and an initial--it might be a "W" or an "M".  Since my husband's last name is Wilkins, it's now a "W".  I am a huge fan of dragonflies, often wearing one of the many dragonfly pins I've collected, and so you can imagine my surprise and delight when I got this home and discovered those two motifs!  Here are shots from the back so you can see them--they are almost invisible from the front.

5.   Make a record of your work, with photos, and notes.  Make a journal, a photo album, some kind of record to tell the stories of your quilts.  As I often say, when non-quilters see the labels I put on my quilts and wonder why I did that:  "I'm not going to live forever" and I want generations yet unborn to know a little about who I was, what I created with my hands, and why I made the quilts I did.  With today's technology, it's easier than ever to have such a record.

6.  Finally, keep your eyes open at flea markets--you never know what kind of treasure you'll find right around the corner!

Let's quilt!

Barbara