the little quilt I sent for doll quilt swap #2

I admit,
I was a day late in sending my little doll quilt for the swap.
I finished it late evening on the last day of May -
the day it was to be in the mail.
It was cold and rainy and cloudy all day on the first of June
and I needed to get a picture of it before it left to go to it's new home.
So, between showers, I ran outside to try to get a picture of it.
A picture with a little more lighting than inside the house was offering.
After shooting about 25 pics, this is the best I could come up with:

 I do have a couple of close-up shots to share after it's received by my swap partner.

The swap was hosted by Lori of Humble Quilts blog.  It was so much fun to participate again.  My thanks to Lori for all of her work.

quilts!!

It's been rainy, overcast and quite chilly here lately -

like October weather almost. 

Certainly not late April.

So, since it's not warm enough

to be outside playing in the mud flower beds,

I've been doing just a little quilting.

 

First - check out this cute table runner by Sharon:

I think it's from the book "Civil War Quilts".

Isn't that a great one for using up scraps?

 

Next, Janet did this great "quilt of valor":

(sorry, again, can't turn it right side up)

Here's a close up of some of the quilting.

Janet did a great job - I love quilting for her as all of her work is perfection!

And, finally, a picture from my house...

Two things wrong with this picture:

One -
what is that bright, shiny, glaring something back behind the barn?
Could that possibly be what is called sunshine??!!!
Is that what it's supposed to look like?  I kinda' forget :)

Two -
see that huge schmear smear on the glass?
Think the grandbaby had a snack
that he probably wasn't supposed to be having
with GrandPaPa aka Sweetie?  :)

Happy Thursday!
and here's wishing you sunshine and clean windows! :)

HOT PAD/POT HOLDER final step

You've appliqued, pieced, layered, quilted, trimmed to finished size AND bound... so now that you have a whole bunch of "mini quilts" finished?

Lay out and whip-stitch together!

These are 7 inch finished Hot Pad blocks
that I've laid out to audition placement
before whip-stitching together

If I need to pack up the project to have it ready for some travel sewing, I get my layout the way I like and then pin "baste" into rows and columns:

I put my finished blocks right sides together and

whip-stitch from the back:  

Use a matching thread and just whip-stitch away!  

Doesn't take much time at all...
but I love to hand-stitch,
so maybe it does take some time and I just don't realize it :)  .

From Hot Pad blocks to entire FINISHED quilt in no time at all!

This entire method of Hot Pad or Pot Holder blocks came from
Civil War times...and from this great book:

 about the quilts of the ladies aid societies.

(More info about this Pot Holder method

here,  here, and here.)

the potholder blocks

So, I'm sitting in my lazy girl chair,

with a whole

 pile of potholder blocks

on the arm of the chair...

all awaiting the final binding stitch down.

Sweetie walks through and says:

"Why do you need that many potholders?"

"A-HAAA!" I say.

"You do pay attention to my quilty stuff!"

"Quilting?" he says...

"I just see a bunch of potholders."

For a second there I thought he'd

caught the quilting bug...finally!

But after all of these years, he's still showing no interest.

I'm going to keep hoping, though :)

Here's a pic of that final batch of my 7 inch blocks:

Remember, mine are half-sized from the originals

in the Civil War Quilts book by Weeks/Beld.

(I got this great book at one of the local shops-The Good Wives Co.

The GWC have restocked this book several times, and it's available again if you'd like some

history of not only the Civil War, but quilts of that era.

I've already read through it a few times and still want to pick it up and read again!)

Also this week, I quilted the last few potholder blocks for Sandy:

 This picture, above, shows Sandy's 14" square blocks. 

These last four blocks will make a total of 24,

so after binding and whipping together, 

she has replicated

(from the Civil War Quilts book)

the Beverly Farms, Massachusetts original

56" by 84" cot quilt made in late 1864 to early 1865.

I'm off to finish my bindings,

then to do some whip-stitching.

I'll be back soon to show you my finish and where I'm

putting my half-sized potholder quilt-

and I'll have to wait to see if Sweetie notices that they're potholders:).

Happy Stitching to you

this middle week of May!

Pot Holder blocks and a sewing circle.

After my last post about the Pot Holder blocks,

I received some many questions.

Questions about the WHO's making them ,

 not the how of making pot holder blocks.

So, here's a little more-

There is a group of quilters

at the LQS that are working on

Pot Holder quilt blocks.

(And, I've been lucky enough to be able to quilt for some of them!)

History lesson first :D...

If you don't know what Pot Holder quilt blocks are,

here's the scoop thread:

In the same method of crocheting or knitting  "granny squares",

you make a specific size of finished quilt block.

And finished means each of the quilt blocks have been

pieced, layered, quilted, trimmed, and bound.

Each woman in the Civil War times"group"

would make as many finished blocks as she could.

Then the group would get together with their finished blocks,

and whip-stitch those finished quilt blocks together to make

quilts for the soldiers aid.

A quilt made, long and narrow,

just big enough to fit a soldier's cot.

Then these cot quilts were sent to the

soldiers serving our country.

If a soldier gave his life in the line of duty,

his possessions might have been taken and used by his comrades.

Or, those possessions were raided by camp followers or area residents.

 Occasionally, his possessions were buried with him,

his cot quilt used as his burial wrap.

Because of the tough times and hard conditions,

there are few Civil War Pot Holder quilts

that have survived until today.

So, back to this group of women at

The Good Wives Co....

we have started a sewing circle to

make Pot Holder quilts,

reminiscent of this historical time period.

We all enjoy quilting, and also enjoy the history of quilts.

And doing a couple of finished blocks here and there

seems to fit right into our schedules!

So we came up with our own

pattern/fabric kit for each of the 14 inch blocks,

similar to an antique signature quilt

(**shown in the book, below) 

made in Beverly Farms, Massachusetts.

Here are Cindy's first blocks:

 and more of Cindy's blocks:

 Here are Sandy's first blocks:

And, here are a couple of mine:

My blocks are only 7 inches square, as you can see from the cutting board scale.

If you enjoy the history of quilts,

and specifically the time period of the Civil War,

then get yourself this great book**:

The LQS - Good Wives
has the book in stock if your local shop doesn't have it.  They also have the kits for each Pot Holder block, with fabrics chosen to replicate the antique quilt; just call to order and they'll ship right out to you! You can find their link over on the right side or by clicking on their name above.
AND, YES, there are a couple of these groups meeting!!!
If you are local, please feel free to join in!!

Hopefully that cleared up a few things.  And, maybe some of you will join our sewing circle making Pot Holder Quilts.  Let me know, and I'll add your block pictures, too.
I'm still thinking I can put together my "Path to the Civil War" blocks this way,
using the Pot Holder method...What do you think?

OK, I'm off to bed. 
I'm heading to the International Quilt Festival tomorrow,
(now TODAY as it's after midnight!)
and I still have to pack!

Back soon to share potholder blocks and IQF finds!
Happy Stitching!