Remember that when you leave this Earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received, only what you have given, a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage. -St. Francis of Assisi

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Quilt - A to Z blog challenge

click on the link to see my other blog


I have always been drawn to the patterns of old quilts.  In my mind, hand quilting is preferable to machine quilting, although machine quilting can be beautiful, too.

So far, I have only made a few small quilts (not including some quick baby quilts) and I hope to have the time to finish one or more quilts each year.


I have a small collection of quilts and quilt tops.
I plan to hand quilt some of the old/antique quilt tops.

My first real quilt, quilt as you go, hand quilted
9 - 18" blocks
Irish Chain
The instructor said to bring in 5 colors of fabric.
I have always wanted to make a red and white quilt.
I don't think she was real happy with me.
Everyone else in the class had 5 fabrics.


Flannel, twin size
no batting, no quilting, flannel backing
made at a workshop
Used daily, includes some flannel shirt pieces



The following pictures are of quilts or

quilt tops purchased at

flea markets, garage sales
or antique stores























I do not like cutting and piecing quilts,
I prefer to do handwork.

There are a few more purchased quilts,
 they are at my daughters house.

















this is large, queen size, hand-pieced


this is the back stitched by hand

I really like this last quilt top, some of the fabrics look like old men's shirts or pajamas. It is stained but in excellent condition.
It is very large, probably king size, I would like to handquilt it,
but can't decide on what design to use.

Do you like quilts, old or new?

What pattern do you like, what is your favorite color?

3 comments:

  1. I love the quilt show! I really liked all of them! I have never done a quilt as you go quilt. I think yours looks fantastic in red and white. I really like the flannel one too. What size are the squares in that one? I am still trying to decide on a pattern for my youngest son and girlfriend's quilt. That one looks similar to a pattern I was thinking about, but a lot easier. I too favor the hexagon quilt and that is partly because the back looked almost as good as the front! One of my long term quilting goals is to completely piece and quilt a quilt by hand.

    ReplyDelete
  2. There are two ways I've seen grandma's flower garden quilted. One is to move in a quarter-inch from the seam line and outline the shape particularity if the hexs are bigger than the one-inch size. The other one I've seen is to quilt a line down the center of each hex and then 90 degrees to that line.

    Your choices for an Irish chain were excellent in my opinion. If you had used all of those different fabrics I would think the distinctive pattern would have gotten lost.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I prefer the look of an old hand quilt. I had a patchwork my Mom made of scrap from her sewing dresses and shirts. Always wanted it quilted. You have much patience. I don't like to sew.

    ReplyDelete

Hi, I welcome your thoughts and comments.

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