It's A Finish!

Westering Women quilt is done! I decided to name it Blazing A Trail aka Way West.

The first time I saw Barbara's creative Way West design for these blocks I knew that was the set for me. So unique and different! I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.

If you recall, this Block of the Month series ran from January-December last year. I used mostly Barbara's Alice's Scrapbag by Moda for the pieced blocks, and neutrals, pink, and browns from my stash for the large plain blocks and arrows. Barbie Vanderfleet-Martin quilted it for me. She knew right away what design would look best. And I agree! The batting is Hobbs 80/20 which I bought at Michaels with a 40% off coupon :)

 Here's a detail.

Another view.

The back. That brown stripe is the same one I used in Broken Dishes. I think I have finally exhausted my supply!

Another view.

And the binding, ta-da!

Guess what came in the mail the other day?? These vintage fabrics from blogging friend, Wendy The Constant Quilter.

I already made two filler blocks for Gypsy Wife. Thank you, Wendy, for sharing with me!

A daffodil sighting! After last week's snow storm and freezing rain and being without power for 5 hours, it's supposed to be near 70 deg. tomorrow. We've had lots of up-and-down temps this winter but I'm ready for spring whenever it arrives :)

Happy Quilting!

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Copyright 2017, Barbara Schaffer

Ditto Quilts--and Books

Broken Dishes top is finished, Gypsy blocks are moving right along, and I won a Goodreads Giveaway.

Once I figured out how I wanted to do the border everything fell into place.

I had just enough leftover reds plus the fabric I recently purchased to add two borders. So I can check this project off my list--for now :)
 

I'm really into these Gypsy Wife blocks. I make one almost every day. . . 

. . . with no real plan. Notice the 4 dark blue squares in this block?

Here is that fabric in the Postage Stamp quilt I made in 1977.  

 

From a distance the red/white windowpane check looks pink. 

 

 

I'm not sure about this one at all!

 

 

I made this little sunsuit for my daughter when she was two. Would you believe I still had scraps of that red fabric? Just enough for this block.

I've mentioned before that I keep track of the books I read on Goodreads.com. It's not very often that I enter their giveaways but I did--and won! 

Last year I read twenty-five books and entered the 2017 challenge to read twenty this year. We listen to audio books on our trips upstate and those have to have a lot of action to keep our interest :)

Have a wonderful week!




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Copyright 2017, Barbara Schaffer
 

 

Broken Dishes, Gypsy Wife, and More

It's been a wonderfully busy week :)

I was looking through Edyta Sitar's book Handfuls of Scraps when this quilt caught my eye. It was the perfect set for the blocks I received from Barb V's Broken Dishes swap.

I used five Broken Dishes blocks vs four as shown in the antique quilt above . . .

. . . and sewed them together 9-patch style. I love the secondary design. 

I clipped the seams on the back so they would iron flat.  

The large blocks are 12" square and I used all 80 swap blocks--thank you, everyone! I still need to sew the sashing between the rows. I'm contemplating a wide border if I can find the right fabric.

On another note I had my Flags quilt long-arm basted by Barbie Vanderfleet-Martin. You have no idea how happy I am to have this done! This quilt is next on the list to be quilted.

And the binding's all prepped and ready to go for Westering Women :-)

New fabrics from Hancocks and Sew Jersey.     

Here are the first two blocks of Gypsy Wife. I'm primarily using fabrics from the 50s-70s but will fill in with newer ones if needed.

I have no real plan color-wise. Just sort of randomly picking fabrics depending on size. This one is called Color Wheel . . .

. . . and this is Pershing. The white & red fabric in the corners was mine when I was in high school. A friend of my grandmother's worked in the fabric dept. at Macy's in NYC and gave me a box of samples :)

Mark your calendars for Quilt Fest NJ. Three weeks and counting--can't wait! 

Happy Sewing!



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Copyright 2017, Barbara Schaffer 

Simply Swedish

After posting a pic of the fabric my DIL's mother gave me for my birthday, I thought you'd like to see an applique picture and a quilt I made years ago each with a Swedish theme.

I was influenced by this picture in the book Old Swedish Quilts by Asa Wettre as I wanted to make my DIL a birthday present. Something to celebrate the day when my son proposed to her on her birthday in 1996.

So I made an applique picture. Per Swedish tradition, birthdays begin with presents in bed so I depicted my son walking toward his future bride ready to pop the question with engagement ring in hand. What a lovely present to start the day! 

We were in Sweden the following year for the wedding and extended our stay. We took a day trip to Jobs Handtryck in the province of Dalarna to see how their beautiful handprinted fabrics were made.      

All were either block or screen printed on cotton or linen. 

Lucky for me they had a small shop with lots of remnants and samples for sale. 

 

Back home I had mentioned to Natalie that I wanted to make a quilt with the fabrics I bought. She found this Star of Sweden pattern which was just what I was looking for.

The large leaf was the perfect size to put in the center of each star.  

I had purchased 4 cloth napkins in Stockholm's Old Town and added blue sashing and yellow corner stones the colors of the Swedish flag. 

I couldn't resist the block printed reindeer panel and two more prints from a small coastal town :) 

Simply Swedish was finished in 2002. 

The back is a mix of some (yes, some!) of the fabrics I bought.  

The block-printed wreath made a perfect label.  

Thanks for coming along :)

Have a wonderful week!




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Copyright 2017, Barbara Schaffer