Update: It's A Finish, Hexies & WW Blocks

I finally finished In A Flash! and am caught up on hexies and Westering  Women.

I really felt the need to finish some projects and this was the first on the list. In A Flash! was quilted by Barbie Vanderfleet-Martin who did a wonderful job as always! The binding is the same fabric as the edge triangles. 

This is the back. Remember I sort of worked from back to front on this quilt?  I always knew this NYC fabric would be perfect for the back of one of my quilts so I chose stars in reds, blues, and blacks for the front. 

The label. Yay!

I'm  moving right along with the Morris Hexathon. This is #20 Walthamstow.

21. Queen Square. The red is really bright so I'll see how it looks when I start laying out all the hexies. 

22. Hyde Park. The star diamonds were cut from one piece of fabric.

23. North End alternate version. If you click on the photo you can see my initials BDS cut from art nouveau alphabet fabric I've had for years but never found a way to use it.   

24. Brighton Church. This may be one of my favorites! Only two more hexies to go . . . :)

Westering Women #8 Chimney Rock and . . .

#9 Sage Bud. Only three more months to go in this quiltalong . . . :)

I couldn't resist buying these fat quarters on Ebay. It's Windham's Dargate Cheddar. 

And I started playing around with some more stars and a dark toile. 

I'm about ready to machine quilt the little piece I've been working on for Lori's Quilters Madder QAL. I'll show it to you when it's time for the "linky party."

Happy Quilting!




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Copyright 2016,  Barbara Schaffer

Look At This Beauty!

So here is the amazing quilt I mentioned in yesterday's post :) When Rachel and I were walking around checking out the vendors' tables at the show this quilt caught our eye in the appraisal room. Of course we had to take a peek!

Sharon Waddell, AQSG member and quilt researcher, brought this c. 1830 quilt in to be appraised by Dana Balsamo, AQS certified quilt appraiser and owner of Material Pleasures. 

If I remember correctly the top is huge--something like 114" square. It's backed but not quilted. 

 

So many beautiful glazed chintzes!    

 
Large edge triangles frame the entire quilt.

 
 Interesting leaf shapes surround the center star . . . 

. . . and appear in each corner.

Thank you Sharon and Dana for letting us study this piece up close. It made our day!




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Copyright 2016, Barbara Schaffer 

 

Stars of the Valley Quilt Show

Last Saturday Rachel and I went to the Warwick Valley Quilters' Guild show in Warwick, NY. It was a beautiful show staged in a fall theme. 

Best of Show was Cliff Dwellings of the Anasazi by Susan Schweikhart, Vernon, NJ. 

Rachel and Dawn swept the top three places in the Pieced/Hand Quilted/Small Individually Made by One Person category. Dawn's Fruit and Nut Case (left) won 1st place and Best Workmanship - Hand Quilting; and Baby Bella (below) won 2nd. Rachel's Blair and Chris' Wedding Quilt won 3rd place.

 

Baby Bella by Dawn Hayes, Montclair, NJ. Congratulations to you both!

Here are some other favorites:   

 

Cathedral Windows by Francisca Rodriguez, Hamburg, NJ, won 3rd place in the Special Techniques category. There is an appliqued circle at every intersection!

Birdsong by Dorothy Decker of Sparrowbush, NY, won two ribbons: Judge's Choice and 2nd place in the Hand Applique/Individually Made/Hand Applique category. The felt stars are actually attached to clothespins which hold the label on the quilt. A nice touch! 

Dorothy also won a blue ribbon for Tending the Garden quilted by Carol Cosgrove. The blocks are 28". So effective!

Grammy's Blocks by Tricia Herskee, Warwick, NY, won a blue ribbon and an Award of Merit. The 400+ pieces are machine-pieced and hand-quilted. 

 

Out of My Comfort Zone by Cindy Curcio, Otisville, NY, who "always considered a Judy Niemeyer pattern to be the ultimate challenge". I can see why!

We attended Victoria Findlay-Wolfe's lecture and thoroughly enjoyed seeing some of her quilts. Such creativity!  

Stay tuned for pics of an amazing chintz quilt . . .




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Copyright 2016, Barbara Schaffer
 

 

Spectacular!

Normally when we go to the North Country in early October we miss peak leaf-peeping season but this year we timed it just right. The colors were amazing! Come along with me and enjoy the spectacular views.

From our cabin an early morning sunrise. A mass of red as far as the eye can see.

Outside our front door.  

Along the driveway. 

Only minutes away . . .

. . . gorgeous!

At the crossroads in Wilmington. . .  

. . . where we stopped to see the recently installed sculptures honoring fly fishing legend, Fran Betters. Three of his most famous flies: Haystack, Ausable Bomber and the Ausable Wulff. If you care to know :)

On the way to Lake Placid. . .

. . . where flowers were still blooming in town.

Saying goodbye to a perfect leaf-peeping weekend. 

Heading out to the Adirondack Northway . . . 

. . . and snapping pics from the car. 

Absolutely breathtaking!

Have a great week!



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Copyright 2016, Barbara Schaffer

All That Madders

Here's a new little piece I've been working on and how it came to be.

On a whim I pulled these stars from my star stash, put them up on the wall and added the large triangles. But where was I going with this?? I thought for sure I wanted to use that fabric on the right. . .

. . . in a triangle border such as the one I saw in this quilt on Pinterest. But did I really want to figure out those measurements??

Stripes! I love the way they look on this little quilt.  

I wanted simple. Simple is good. Stripes on two edges only??  

How about stripes as the inner border and top and bottom? That worked.

I liked the look of a simple border with corner blocks (Jo Morton's book Jo's Little Quilts). If I added a border to only two sides my piece would be square but I wanted it to be rectangular.

 

Then I remembered the 1876 Centennial-striped repro that Rita Erickson had given me a long time ago.

It was perfect. Ta-da! 

More madder news: Lori at Humble Quilts announced her next quiltalong--Quilters Madder. Check it out! She's posted some great pics of antique blocks with madder fabrics. I'm hoping to participate :) 

On another note . . . 

I cleaned out, packed up, and delivered boxes and bins of jewelry and vintage clothing to Andi Charkow for her next Vintage Clothing, Accessories and Textile Auction on Nov. 19th in Horsham, PA. Check out her website and click on View Photo Gallery to see some of the goodies that are being auctioned off :)

Have a great week!




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Copyright 2016, Barbara Schaffer