April Little Quilt

The 2" squares I cut during the nor'easter . . . 

. . . became this month's little quilt. Does it look familiar? It's sort of a mini version of the Playmates quilt I've been working on. 

 
I've been wanting to make a little quilt with a central focus and had the perfect fabric.  

Rachel gave me this cute 3" x 5" cotton sateen "quilt block" for Christmas 12 years ago! It's a Giclee Fine Art Print on Cloth by Olde America Antiques. I love it!

I did zig-zag machine quilting in the squares.

The border fabric was a cutaway from the stripe I used on Playmates and just the right width--2".
 

I even had enough millennium fabric for the back :) The finished quilt is 20" x 20".

Other news . . . 

GSQ's BOM "Think May Flowers." 

Rachel and I are meeting at Quiltfest tomorrow and I'll be sure to take lots of photos!

Have a great week!





__________
Copyright 2018, Barbara Schaffer

Shakespeare Sale & Cherry Blossoms

One of my favorite things to do is go to the NJ Shakespeare Theater's Costume and Prop Sale to see what goodies I can find.

There were props of all kinds . . . 

. . . and racks of costumes and vintage clothing . . . 

. . . and unique and original items like this wearable train made out of cds.  

I couldn't resist this "button" top :) . . .

. . . or this key-covered vest. It weighs a ton! I'll never wear either of these items but they "spoke" to me and I just had to have them. A bargain at $10 a piece :)

Last Saturday we took a drive through Branch Brook Park in Newark to see the cherry blossoms. Last year we missed all the early-blooming trees but this year we were there at the right time.

 

 

There were so many people and nowhere to park so my husband was at-the-ready snapping pictures from the car. I just love the weeping cherry trees. So beautiful!

At our house the daffodils are finally making a splash :)  We had two 80 deg days last week but our morning temps have been in the 30s. I'm so tired of wearing long johns on my morning walks, lol! 

Wishing you a happy spring wherever you are!




__________
Copyright 2018, Barbara Schaffer

Antebellum #3 and This 'n That

This week just flew by!

I did manage to make Antebellum Block #3, Friendship Star. I hand-pieced it because I didn't trust myself to do it by machine. 

 

I thought I'd try copying this original inked design which Barbara B. provided on her blog.     

I kept "Henry" but changed the last name to "W. Davis" for my 2nd gr-grandfather, Henry Wooden Davis (1800-1874) of Ulster County, NY.  

Uh-oh, I'm bouncing around! See the china cabinet? This pic was taken in my grandparents' house in the 1950s.

And this is it now. Here's the story :) When my aunt Midge moved into our small garage apartment nearly 10 years ago the cabinet was one of her possessions. Then about 1-1/2 years ago I decided I wasn't ever going to re-finish this piece and put it out on the curb hoping someone would take it. In the meantime, I had gone to a 2nd hand furniture shop looking for an end table and mentioned to the owner that if he was interested in the cabinet he could swing by and pick it up. Then just a few weeks ago I went back looking for some chairs and asked if he remembered the cabinet and if he ever did anything with it. Well, look at it now! He had painted it white and I just couldn't resist buying it back :) 

This is one of several pillowcase dresses I made for Lori at Humble Quilts to bring to Colombia. How cute is this little girl? (Lori's pic)

On Barbara B's Material Culture blog she recently showed some quilts where "anything goes" in reference to fabric choices. And that reminded me of this Whirligig quilt top that I bought at a flea market many years ago.

The brown floral sashing reminded me of my grandmother's aprons :)

This is GSQ's BOM for April. It's an I Spy block featuring things that fly. 

Mark your calendars! Our guild is having a Quilt Show May 19-20 in Parsippany, NJ. Rachel, Dawn, and I have each been asked to provide several quilts for a special exhibit :)

Have a great week!




__________
Copyright 2018, Barbara Schaffer

It's a Finish and the River

 #1 on 2018 UFO List is done! 

I started making Patch Basket in January 2016 and finished the top a year later. After that it sat because I couldn't make up my mind whether or not to hand quilt it.

But Barbie provided several patterns she thought would look nice and we agreed on this one. I am thrilled with the result!

The fabric on the back is Rising Sun Medallion by the Rocky Mountain Museum. 

I didn't allow enough fabric for the pattern repeat on the 2nd panel and it ended up being too short. I added a strip and matched the pattern by turning under the edge and top stitching it down. This method works well for me. It's more accurate than sewing right sides together.

 The label :)

We were at the cabin for Easter so I took a few pics outside on the deck. The quilting really shows up in this one. The finished quilt is 67" x 67".

If you walk down to the river . . . 

. . . this is what you see--huge chunks of ice pushed up along the shoreline and onto our yard. In all the years we've been going to the Adirondacks this is the first time we've seen a spring melt like this one.  

When I was out for an early morning walk I saw the reflection of the moon on the river. It was so beautiful and serene.

Sunrise on the mountain :)

Have a great week!




__________
Copyright 2018, Barbara Schaffer