March's Little Quilt & Hallway

I knew exactly what little quilt I wanted to make for March. . .  

. . . after all, it's been a favorite of mine for a very long time and is featured in Childhood Treasures by Merikay Waldvogel. What appealed to me most was the simplicity of the 4-patches set with gingham, the large-scale floral on three sides only and the woven tape binding.

I had just enough Oakland Museum fabric (P&B Textiles 1998) for the border and several pinks to complete the four-patches. (I actually made this quilt once before which you can see here on Barb V's Hello Dolly! post.)

I hand-quilted cross-hatch in the center . . . 

. . . and this design in the border. 

You can see it better from the back.

When it came time to do the binding I thought this striped fabric looked a lot like woven Trenton tape so fussy cut it on the straight. 

 

It looked okay after a little pressing :)

Ta-da!  

On another note . . . 

I finished painting the first section of the upstairs hallway and hung a few quilts to make it a bit more presentable when guests arrived last week :)





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Copyright 2018, Barbara Schaffer

 

#10 on 2017 UFO List

In 1996 we (HQPNJ) documented Florence Peto's quilts at the home of her grandson, William Peto and his wife, Helen. Twenty years later the Peto quilt that was started by Natalie can finally be crossed off my list. Here's the story: 

Florence made Playmates in 1951 from her collection of scraps of conversational prints. The center was a panel depicting cats and the corner fabric featured dogs. 

In the late '90s Natalie began cutting and sewing small squares together with the intention of reproducing Florence's quilt.

She had an impressive collection of conversationals, too. 

 

When pieces of Natalie's quilt along with some of her fabrics were passed on to me I came up with this version of Florence's quilt in 2012. But it didn't look anything like what I envisioned it to be! Why I added 2 strips of watermelons I'll never know, the side borders just didn't look right, and the stripe at the top and bottom was just wrong! So the quilt sat for 5 more years until I finally decided to tackle it one more time--in 2017.

The first thing I did was get rid of the watermelons and remove all the borders. I appliqued the stripe that was once at the top and bottom of the quilt over the melon strips hiding them forever, lol! (I cut them out.)

 

Oh, in case you're wondering what the fabric is in the center, it's this one from the millennium.   

 

Anyway, I recut the borders to focus on just the light section. I've always liked this Peter Pan fabric :)

 

Since I didn't have anything close to the cute dogs Florence put in the corners of her quilt I added castles which I cut from a panel in Natalie's stash.

 

Ta-da! I finished the top this morning! I bought the striped border fabric on Hancock's a while ago and it ended up being just what I needed for this quilt.

So this time around I'm pleased with the result. I even have the backing ready to go but it's a little short so will cut and sew a strip across the center to add some length. 

Have a great week!




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Copyright 2018, Barbara Schaffer

Is It Over Yet?

It's definitely been an interesting week as Nor'easter #3 passed through town.

Just before the heavy snow arrived last Wed. the transformer blew in front of our house, the telephone pole broke off at the top and wires burned and fell blocking the road. The Fire Department was here in an instant and told us NOT to go outdoors. Our property was cordoned off. Our firewood is under that tarp but we couldn't access it.

By that evening it was really an eerie sight. So much snow!

 
We were without power for 4 days. Late Friday night the utility crew came and installed a new pole. 

This is what's left of the old one.

Our local mall was the staging area for the hundreds of out-of-town utility workers who came to help.

There wasn't much we could do except try and stay warm--and read :)

The only "sewing" I did was cut 2" squares for a new little project. 

I can't believe there's another nor'easter in the forecast for next Tuesday. That'll be #4!

Hope you are staying warm!




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Copyright 2018, Barbara Schaffer


 

What's Happening?

Not much--sewing, that is--though I did make Antebellum Block #2 Lend and Borrow and the BOM for GSQ.

I've been holding on to this wonderful Prussian Blue fabric designed by Natalie's daughter, Laura, to use in something special.  

Barbara B. offered this inked design on her blog and it seemed to be the right one for my block. I did, however, eliminate the eagle and signature.

I enlarged the design so it fit in the corner of this triangle.

 Again, I used a 05 Pigma pen.

In stark contrast to the above block, this is our guild's BOM for March. The theme was to think St. Patrick's Day and use green & white. It went together in no time at all.  

 

This is what my sewing room looks like at the moment. What a disaster! I must have fabrics for at least 4 projects piled up on the table with more on the floor.

The reason I'm behind in my sewing is that I decided to paint the upstairs hallway. I've already done the ceiling and walls and am now working my way through 6 doors and trim. I'm waiting for the electrician to come and install a new light fixture. 

Our hallway is in two parts so this is the second section. There's some serious scraping that needs to be done on the ceiling. My ultimate goal is to turn the hallway into a mini-gallery for my quilts :)

 

This beautiful Amaryllis is blooming indoors . . . 

. . . and Winter Aconite is blooming outdoors. Spring is on its way :)

Really?? Would you believe we are supposed to get 6-12" of snow today and all it's done so far is rain. Maybe later :)

Have a great week!

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Copyright 2018, Barbara Schaffer