Grandma Martha’s Quilt

Full View of Grandma Martha’s Quilt

Originally uploaded by Q_uilted T_hrifted

Here is almost a full view of Grandma Martha’s quilt.

Here is a view of one of the “less worn” blocks in the quilt. I had written better but I then decided that was not the right word.

There are those of us in the quilt world that have hearts that lean toward the wear and tear.  I am certainly one of those.

Backing solid fabric. Most likely a sheet.

I was so happy to see M Smidt on this quilt. It tells me I got it from Martha Smidt’s daughter Katherine.

Kay has lived with my family since the very early 70s. She is our Guardian Angel.

I was wondering where this quilt came from and then I realized two tags are sewn on both sides of the quilt. I am not certain if they were put on by the maker or put on due to going to a nursing home and all personal items needed to be labeled. The label is machine stitched on.

Rosa asked me to add this block to the Vintage Quilt group on Flickr.

There are today 646 members whom have loaded 2,133 photos of vintage quilts.

There are some really sweet fabrics in this quilt.

Vintage mushrooms

cabin with smoke coming from chimney

little bunny rabbits

Vintage Quilt Square  – sort of a Pinwheel

Here is the fabric the maker placed with the rabbits. It is so perfect in my opinion.

What I love about Flickr and being a quilter is the correspondence between two people. I am in North America and Robyn is in Australia.

Robyne:

“it’s such a great pattern hey? really dynamic but simple. You have some amazing old quilts. luck america.”

Me:  (56 months ago)

“Thank you for the nice comments. I feel very lucky and really enjoy taking these photos and sharing them. I love the fabrics, the detail, the gentleness, the love that went into these quilts, the fabric choices people made….the beauty of this blue stripe with the rabbit print…it is great!!! I get absorbed when I look at quilts and when I do random sewing and my arm reaches out and grabs two fabrics and puts them together…that is where the pleasure is for me. I like working with scraps and leftovers from projects of others…their throw aways! I salvage…that’s me!”

Now Robyne introduced me to Waggas. I had never heard the term before. I started a Wagga Gallery in Flickr of some of them I have come across over the years.

Read what Robyne has to say about Waggas here.

http://robynefmelia.blogspot.com/search?q=what+is+a+wagga

and check out the rest of her blog. Especially the Crazy Quilt she sold.

this quilt does not have any batting to it….summer weight…..

Piece Play (also from Australia):

“Love this too. The colours are so soft modern and graphic, unusual pattern but simple too.”

Me: “Thank you Piece Play for the comment. I am not used to quilts without batting. I guess they call these summer weight….which makes sense with how hot it has been lately. It is nice to sleep under a quilt even in the heat of high summer.”

Gingham fabric….the fabric I remember from my childhood.

I like the print on the binding as well.

See also…

The rocking chair quilt

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Farm Quilt repair

Farm Quilt repair

Originally uploaded by Q_uilted T_hrifted

I was able to seam rip this square out while driving up north for my great niece’s baptism.  I took some time to take some of the strips out so I can reuse them in the new block. 

This is a very worn quilt but I am determined to get a little more mileage out of it. Plus I am intrigued by taking it apart and putting it together.

These two blocks show where a thick binding was and how the fabric has faded.

I have to make a new foundation to put these strips back on.

This is the back side where the foundation has worn completely away.

The quilt is warm? When it is all together.

Our bedroom….

Our bedroom….

Originally uploaded by Q_uilted T_hrifted

The monkey was an “I gotta have” at the thrift a few years ago. He hangs out between our room and my son’s rooms.

The Log Cabin quilt below is on our bed right now. It is usually underneath the bedspread. We put in on a few months ago when the temperatures dropped so low. The quilt is so warm. In fact some times it is too warm. It is also shredded and has holes all over it. This quilt was not loved. It was abused. It came from an old abondoned farm house.  A few critters chewed on it something fierce. I acquired it a few years back from a family member who had washed it numerous times and realized it could not be used in its current state. Well we use it…..at least while the temperatures are so cold.  My Mr would die if he knew I put this on the internet.

This is the back side of the quilt. I find it incredibly fascinating.  The foundations are shirtings. There is no batting. What is/was the back is what looks like two old hospital blankets.

This huge hole goes through the entire quilt. I intend on ripping the entire block out and using as much of the old pieces and rebuilding it. I have the perfect pink stripe shirt that I “should” never wear again. (my Mr would be happy to hear that come from my lips) It will be perfect for this quilt.

It is a log cabin design. My first thought was string piecing but there are logs that go around a center block. The quilt is them tufted through the center of that block.

This is the better side.

Since I had the camera out I figured I’d photograph our most recent thrift book purchases. We hope to some day own every book by these two authors.

Ezra Jack Keats and Eric Carle.

I wrote about the Eric Carle collection a few months ago.

My recent reading has been Emilie Richards books with a quilting theme in the Shanandoah valley.

I was just on vacation and just about finished one book and realized my arm was getting sore from holding the book so far away from my body so I could see the words. Before I started the second one it was a trip to the store to purchase a 3 pack of 1.25 reading glasses. What a difference. I even used them yesterday for a while as I sewed.

I have been yearning for Spring. I spent time over the weekend looking at Easter quilts online. There are some nice quilts. I put a few in my favorites.

I remembered this little bunny I purchased at the thrift either last year or the year before. It is so perfect in every way. I took this photo and when I saw it thought….maybe someone would read my palm while they looked at this photo. How long of a life do you think I will have. I am not even going to go there.

Although I just read about Biorythms and it seems pretty fascinating to me.