Blotch-Ground Chintz Stars & This 'n That

This week it's a little of this and a little of that :)

 
Blotch-Ground Chintz Stars from last week.

The same fabric I used in my Early Stars quilt. 

A green version of another fabric I used in Early Stars though I like the other colorway better.

The center and corners are the blotch-ground chintz but maybe that brown/cream print can also be considered one.

One of my favorites from the Oakland Museum collection. 

I enjoyed a hike with my daughter this past weekend. My grand-dog cooled off in nearly every stream along the way.  

Couldn't pass up taking a photo of this Tree Fungus. 

Back home where my African Violets are blooming :)

They do really well in this southeastern exposure just off the kitchen.  

This one is getting leggy and hangs over the edge of the pot but still produces beautiful flowers. 

I bought this unfinished Bowtie at a flea market a couple of months ago. I paid $2.00 for it and a whole lot of other sewing stuff. The blocks are hand-pieced and nicely done. The two rows on the right still need to be sewed together so I may just do that!



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Copyright 2015, Barbara Schaffer
 

Petit Fours and Chintz Stars

Another little finish and White Ground Chintz Stars.

 

I'm still having fun with the 1-1/2" squares I won from Lori at Humble Quilts :) I named this one Petit Fours. 

The back. 

 

My White Ground Chintz Stars from last week. 

A small piece of Kaye England's Enduring Grace and reds from Moda's French General.

An oldie but goodie from the Ann Robinson Collection @ Shelburne Museum by RJR Fabrics.

Oh, how I love this fabric! I purchased it specifically to reproduce a c. 1820 Ohio Star quilt featured in NJ Quilts, p. 54. The chintz was used as the setting squares. Maybe this will be the year.

This is a decorator fabric that I've had for at least 35 years. Even made shower curtains out of it back in the late 70s.

And used it when I made this little repro of a "late eighteenth or early nineteenth century" quilt published in Sandi Fox's book, Small Endearments.  

 

The back. Looks like I need to make a label :)

 

I sewed a piece of the selvage down the middle: Williamsburg "Plantation Calico" Copyright 1958 Williamsburg. Wow, is it really that old?

This week it's Blotch-Ground Chintzes--a term I never heard of even though I used two in my Early Stars quilt which you can see on Barbara Brackman's blog today :)

Happy Wednesday!

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Copyright 2015, Barbara Schaffer

The Story of My S.O.S. Quilt

Do you remember when I posted an S.O.S. for some Wm. Penn's Vision border fabric to finish a quilt?  

 

Well, I just finished the top and want to extend a BIG THANK YOU to Barb, Florence and Susan for coming to my rescue.

 

The 1828 Sawtooth Star quilt in NJ Quilts was on my to-do list for a long time but had been on the back burner because it was so fabric dependent. Then Barb offered to send me two fabrics that she used when making her version of the same quilt. Perfect! The fabrics belonged to quilting friend Jill Reid who passed away last year.  See Barb's quilt here in the header of her blog. 

 

Like Barb, I pieced both fabrics together for the setting squares: Florrie's Favorites--A Florence Peto Collection by Froncie Quinn on the left (how apropos!); and Sturbridge Village Scarlet by Judie Rothermel for Marcus Brothers on the right.   

   
When the stars and setting squares were all sewn together . . .

 

. . . I kept going back to this vintage border piece that I purchased many years ago at our local Historical Society Fair. Look familiar???  

  

About 5 years ago I couldn't resist buying two strips of Windham's grapevine border at a PA quilt show. Needless to say I only had enough for 2 sides of my quilt, thus, my S.O.S.!

It just so happens that Florence in CA sent me a strip she no longer needed. As it turns out I had taken photos of a quilt she made for the 2010 AQSG Stars quilt study so I sent her my pics. 

Then Susan responded to my SOS on Barb's blog. We got together at our local guild meeting and I was surprised! thrilled! ecstatic! to receive a bundle of fabrics that also belonged to Jill including the border fabric. 

THANK YOU to everyone who responded. I appreciate your willingness to share :)

Happy Quilting!

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Copyright 2015, Barbara Schaffer

Natalie's Tulip, Oak Leaf and Neat Stripes

It's been a good week. I finished Natalie's Tulip, Oak Leaf block and Neat Stripes stars.

I started this small piece back in March and then set it aside. A couple of weeks ago I decided it was time to finish it. I did outline quilting around the tulip and broderie perse, cross hatch in the nine patches, and zig-zags in the border squares. I'm very pleased with the result. It's SO Natalie :) (Oops! Sorry for the shadow in the lower left.)

The back. 

I finished the 2nd block in the NJ Sampler that I'm hoping to reproduce. It would have been much more interesting if I had used a red print but I'm trying to keep to the original where a solid red was combined with a small-print green. 

The block in the middle is next. I especially like the ones with "natural-looking" leaves. Reverse applique may be the way to go with those dots/circles. 

 Last week's Neat Stripes.

This one is "so not balanced." The stripes on the right should match the ones on the left, lol! 

I used a piece from Moda's French General line for the background.

I am most comfortable using the older fabrics in my stash. 

Don't know why I have such a hard time putting stripes horizontally, but I do!


Have a great day--and a great week!


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Copyright 2015, Barbara Schaffer

It's a Winner! GSQ Show and Excentric Stars

I entered two quilts in the Pieced/Hand Quilted category at the GSQ show this past weekend and both won ribbons :)

My Civil War Heroes got First Place and Best Hand Applique. I always look forward to reading the judges comments and for this quilt they were all favorable :)

Early Stars got Honorable Mention. The judges felt the border was too wide (overpowering) for the size of the blocks. 

Rachel's Cosmic Fragments 2. Rachel makes the most amazing fabrics. "The background was created using thickened dyes, discharge paste, freezer paper and Thermofax screening." The quilt is hand embroidered and hand quilted.

Another one of Rachel's titled Mist using the same techniques as above. "Raw-edge appliqued squares are commercial and hand-dyed fabrics, both cotton and silk." 

  
Chocolate, Raspberry and Cheddar by Laura Wagner who challenged herself to make a "pink" quilt she would be happy with. 

Garden Path by Betsy Vinegrad. Designed for a class at City Quilters using a "split-complementary color scheme and some negative space."

Celestial Parquetry by Judy Josephson was "loosely based on Kaffe Fassett's Paisley Stars quilt."

Colorful Hexies by Barbie Vanderfleet-Martin. She is my go-to person for machine quilting :)

Well, the only fabric that is anything like the excentric prints that Barbara Brackman described on her blog last week is the one on the top left. All the others are "eccentric" to me, lol!

I was lucky to find this piece at the show so at least I have one that meets the criteria--wavy concentric lines. 

But what about this one with jagged lines and dots?

Or this reproduction?

A squiggly with dots? Oh my! So much to learn :)

Happy Wednesday!



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Copyright 2015, Barbara Schaffer