Mountain Mist II

 Wanna see a few more Mountain Mist quilts?

In 1972 I started making Dresden Plate No. 75.

Some of the fabrics were from my high school days and were already 13 years old. Those were combined with samples that were given to me by my grandmother's friend who worked at Macy's NYC in the fabric department.

Each plate was the same and appliqued to the background. 

 

Fifteen years later, in 1987, I decided to finally quilt it! I traced the quilting pattern onto a manila folder and cut out slots with an X-acto knife. I used a well sharpened No. 2 pencil to mark the lines and then a soap eraser to remove them. I continued to mark, quilt and erase as I went along. Can you believe it???

It is 68" x 84. Here it is on the bed in our NJ house many years ago. I still like looking at this quilt--so many memories!

 

I made Mountain Mist Quilted Counterpane Pattern Y in 1983. What a challenge! You can read more about it here.

Sometime in the late 80's or early 90's the Basket of Flowers Pattern K caught my eye. I played around with colors on the master sheet.

 I purchased fabrics . . .

. . . and cut out all the pieces.

I made ONE BLOCK and that was it! It's been in a storage container all these years. So I looked at it again thinking maybe there was a remote possibility that I would be moved to make another block or two. But that isn't going to happen! Too bad 'cause I do like the pattern--and the block :)

The last Mountain Mist item is this pattern that I purchased along with the Stearns & Foster catalog (last week's blog post). 

Inside are the instructions for making Pomegranate No. 31 and no, I'm not going to make it :)

I'll leave you with this gorgeous sunset . . . 

Thank you for hanging in there on my Mountain Mist journey :)

Copyright 2024 Barbara Schaffer

Mountain Mist Part I

Recently, I purchased a Stearns & Foster catalog of Mountain Mist patterns which took me back to my mom's quilt, a couple contests, and quilts that I made. 

This catalog contains pages and pages of quilt pattern drawings along with instructions for making a quilt and a comforter.

This all too familiar batting wrapper offered a diagram and complete instructions for making a specific quilt on the reverse side.

In the mid-50s my mother made two quilts from this Lone Star Pattern F . . . 

. . . one in pastel colors for my brother and another in autumn hues for me. She had mapped out all the colors on the pattern and this one even had my name written at the top :)

Unfortunately the quilt doesn't lie flat because all the pieces were cut on the bias. 

For my 16th birthday my parents bought me a canopy bed. I appliqued the star to a sheet, added yellow and red borders, and put it on my bed to admire. Even sewed ball fringe trim to the canopy for a complete ensemble :) Of course, I still have this top but keep it stored in a lined trunk with other early quilts.

In 1978 I entered the Mountain Mist Famous Women and Their Accomplishments Friendship Quilt Contest.
 

My entry represented Louisa May Alcott and was derived from Marion Cheever Whiteside's Little Women Quilt.

It was one of 35 chosen and I won $35 for my winning block. See 3rd down on far right. Subsequently, the quilt was published in Lady's Circle Needlework Fall 1979 and in Patchwork Quilts 1983. 

The following year I entered another Mountain Mist contest "Nursery Rhymes."

My entry was "Georgie, Porgie, Puddin' Pie". I don't recall where I got the inspiration for this block but I do know I had fun making it even though it wasn't chosen. 

More Mountain Mist coming soon . . . 

The spring peepers are making a whole lot of noise. I love hearing their evening chorus!

 

Copyright 2024 Barbara Schaffer

It's A Finish!

One year ago I started putting together the twenty remaining churn dash blocks from Barb V's 2018 swap. You can read more here and here. 

Then sometime last fall I sewed Dawn H's fabrics together for the backing. That's an oldie on the right--I had some of that fabric as well. 

In January I took both front and back to another Dawn (Dawn D.) to be longarm quilted. This is the photo she sent when it was ready to go. I must admit I don't know much about pantograph patterns but Dawn found Willow Leaf's Whirligig and it was perfect!

I chose to float the blocks within the finished block. That meant the distance between the points of the churn dash blocks and the sashing varied as much as 1/4" which was fine with me. The finished blocks are 9". 

The striped border was a thrift shop purchase and the sashing stripe was purchased for a different project which didn't work out. But I also used it for the binding.

Another view. All those large triangles were scraps.

And here it is all done. The final size is 53" x 63".   

One last thing. This is a preview of the border fabric I'm using for Call Me Crazy aka The Good, The Bad and The Ugly :)

More to come. . .

 

Copyright 2024 Barbara Schaffer