Forgotten finishes

Spider web quilt, 44 inches square

I realized the other day that I hadn't posted pictures of these two quilts I finished awhile ago. They had been languishing in the binding stage for a bit behind a couple others.

 

William Morris I, 68.5 x 74 inches

The William Morris one is on my bed. It's not that big, but the duvet is almost the same color brown as the border so it looks good on top of that. The other day, we were reading in bed, and my husband said, "Have you heard of William Morris?" Ha! (He was reading "The Book of the Dead: Lives of the Justly Famous and the Undeservedly Obscure.")

Looking back in my blog, I see it took over a year from start to finish for the Morris quilt, which was quilted by Maggi Honeyman. I enjoyed making this top and figuring out a different method of piecing it.

Monkey Wrench in my plans

Was doing a bit of cleaning and found this UFO so started working on it again. This was my planned baby quilts for the twins, but it didn't have the right tone for two little boys. It's more an older boy quilt, don't you think?

Above is what I have finished now. Colors are better in this pic. Below is what I started with: a partially pieced section and a bunch of squares, half-square triangles and four patches. What a difference all those quarter-inch seams make!

This is the block I'd planned. It's called monkey wrench, but reminds me of Snail's Trails. The churn dash block is also called monkey wrench, I think. So many names for the same (and different) blocks in quilting.

The blocks, when put together, create alternating dark and light stars. I'd added a row to one edge of my pieced section to complete the stars. Now I'll have to work around that to finish this up. Not sure the size this will end up. I'll have to make some more four patches and half-square triangles. Can't get away from those HSTs!

This is the back of the block. I like the technique of opening the seams where four pieces come together. It helps reduce bulk, and in this block, piecing in the order I did, all the seams are going in the right direction so that they can be butt together easily with the next block. I really like a good pressing plan.  

The other New York quilt exhibits

The American Folk Art Museum has two other shows going on besides the red and white quilt show. Photography was allowed, but no flash. The light was not the greatest, and as I have readily admitted, I am not that great a photographer under the best of conditions. But, here are some of the ones that caught my eye from those exhibits.

From the "Super Stars" exhibit at the Lincoln Square branch of the museum:

Broken Star, Clara Boutraeger, 1925-1935.

Carpenter's Wheel Variation, 1945-55.

Georgetown Circle Quilt, 1900-1920.

Golden Wedding Ring, 1930-40.

Star of France, 1930-40.
Pattern 151 from Hubert Ver Mehren's Home Art Studios of Des Moines.

From the "Masterworks" exhibit at the museum's main location on 53rd street:

Bird of Paradise, 1858-63.
Speculation is that this was a bridal quilt, but the wedding didn't take place
based on the groom being missing from his place next to the bride in the top row.

Appliqued and embroidered pictorial bedcover, 1825-45.
Maybe I shouldn't have shown this because it's so blurry,
but I love the composition and colors.

Star of Bethlehem, 1880-1900. Silk.
Love that border!

Sunflowers and Trailing Vine, 1783-1830.

Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts

Wow! The exhibit was fabulous although I have a bit of a stiff neck from looking up at all the quilts.

Joanna S. Rose says she didn't set out to collect quilts. Instead she was a treasure hunter, finding many at flea markets in the 1950s where they sold for $5 or $10 or "were used to wrap purchases." Can you imagine? Of her more than one thousand American quilts, 650 red and white ones are on display at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City through Wednesday, March 30, as an 80th birthday present from her husband. (I got a card, unsigned so I could reuse it, this year.)

The show was not displayed as a typical quilt show, and there was no information on most of the quilts. In a few places, you could call a phone number to hear a recording about a particular quilt, but otherwise no information about the individual quilts was available.

Lots of non-quilters were at the show. I heard one woman on her cell phone telling a friend that she needed to get down here and see this show. "This is the most amazing thing I've ever seen." They were as enthusiastic as the quilters, even buying fabric in the museum shop after I explained to a few what a fat quarter is! Later at another exhibit at the American Folk Art Museum I heard the clerks in that shop talking about how they were selling out of everything at the red and white show!

Pictures were allowed, but the lighting was rather dim even with a flash, the quilts were hung rather high up, and I'm not that good a photographer in the best of conditions. Plus there were so many!

My husband's favorite quilt from the show.
Not sure how you pick just one.

I found one quilt in the same pattern as my Woven Blocks!

Saw several examples of this pattern that is similar to the Woven Blocks.

The piecing and quilting are amazing on this one.

One of my favorites. I'd like to make this.

A few house quilts in the show included a church. 
Most had signatures, which I think means they may have been fundraising quilts.

Loved this one too! Amazing quilting.

This Ocean Waves quilt had amazing quilting too.

Not the greatest photo, but you can see some of the amazing quilting on this one.

Not really a quilt. This is two pieces of white muslin, seamed together to make the fabric wide enough. Then it was covered in red embroidery. There's no backing. There were two examples of this in the show.

I have a piece similar in construction, but without this volume of embroidery. Mine was acquired at a white elephant sale at my grammar school in the late '60s in Maine. I once had it informally appraised at a quilt show and was told the fabric was the width it was because it was hand woven on a loom and that's how wide the loom was. I think I was told the fabric was early 1800s. I'll have to dig it out and show it some time.

Isn't this fabulous? Two sets of owls, and a butterfly
much bigger than the bearded guy next to him.

My husband wants me to make him one of these.
I have the templates somewhere so maybe I will.

This display included my favorite polka dot quilt in the exhibit.
I'd never seen one until this show, and there were at least three on display.

Border mystery solved

62.5 inches/158.75 cm square

This is the border I ended up putting on my version of the mystery quilt. I have enough units left for another round of checkerboard, but I think that would make it too wide. I think I'll stop here. I'll make the binding and backing before I put it in the top pile. Red binding?

Red and white quilts

Taryn of Repro Quilt Lover is hosting a Red and White Quilt Exhibit in honor of the show coming up in New York. Here are a couple that I've made. Red is my favorite color. If anyone is hosting a Red and Brown Quilt Exhibit, I've got a few entries for that too.

Woven Blocks, 60 inches/152.4 cm, 1997?
Quilted by Maggi Honeyman

This is one started earlier in my quilting career. Maggi quilted it with red thread so it has kind of a redwork look to it. Once I started making quilts faster than I could hand quilt them -- it took me a couple years to hand quilt my first quilt -- I started going to a long-arm quilter so the top pile wouldn't give me guilt pangs every time I started a new one. 

Split Ohio Stars, 92.5 inches/234.95 cm square, 2007?

I need to do a better job labeling my quilts (and/or putting dates on patterns and class handouts) so I know when I made them or at least started them. Time flies by so fast now I think it's been only a year and it's been three or four, and the top is still waiting to be quilted. (That's code for sent to Maggi!)

I'm excited about the New York exhibit because I'm supposed to be going. Hotel reserved and flight reservations made. But I had big plans to go to the V&A last year for that exhibit and Eyjafjallajökull ruined those so we'll see. If Mother Nature foils me again, I will have to rewatch this video from Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims' blog as consolation.

The A Word

I am determined to finish my version of the mystery quilt. At least to the top stage. If I take it off the wall while I decide on borders, I might not go back to it. I needed to let the options sit for a bit so I picked up the Prairie Flowers UFO and was pleasantly surprised to find that half of the above block was already appliqued. I wonder when I did that? I swear I haven't touched this project in years except to move it out of my way.



Colors not so great in this picture.

I started this in 2004. I remember my friend Lynn and I were going to do a block a month, but only for six months, using Barbara Brackman's book. Right after that I ended up moving across country. I did one or two of the blocks while waiting to be reunited with the contents of my sewing room.


Seems like this one is missing something.

When I finish the fourth block, I think might work on a setting rather than attempt the other two blocks. Although I do have one more cut out. ...

 

I can feel some freezer paper behind a few of the leaves in this block.
My applique techniques leave a lot to be desired!