International Blocks

I bid on (and won) a group of square-in-a-square blocks at Dana's Auction more than a year ago. All of them were dated between 2003-2005, signed with name and location (mostly Belgium), embellished with inked drawings, embroidery, beads or even a button. Needless to say I was fascinated!

Some blocks had already been sewed together in colorways which I thought was an interesting way to assemble them. Rows were vertical, some horizontal while many blocks were loose. I spread them out on the table and continued with the colorway theme as best I could.

There were times when I had to take apart and restitch blocks so they would be the correct size but for the most part they fit together. 

 

Looks like I took this pic before adding the last 2 rows but you get the idea. The top finishes at 58.5" x 58.5". I've contemplated adding a border but nothing seems to look right, yet. 

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On another note, I finished sewing all those vintage string blocks together. The top is done and it is twin size 70" x 90".

Here are some of the rows laid out on the floor. Blocks are 10" and haphazardly put together.  

The best view is draped over the railing. Actually, it should be turned 1/4 to the left so the diagonals run upper right to lower left. Not sure what I am going to do with it at the moment.  

Just look at this beautiful doe! She so wanted to eat the bird seed I put out for the birds. 

That's all for now.

I am so ready for spring!

 

Copyright 2026 Barbara Schaffer 

  

All Over the Place!

During my quilting downtime, I slow-stitched this linen vintage towel using indigo scraps and buttons. At the time I thought it was a great idea and spent lots of time working on it.  

I even added a rubber stamped "B" in blue ink. I'm not really excited about the end result but it served its purpose and kept me focused.  

I couldn't resist buying a nicely pieced and embroidered friendship top with four ladies in the center. It was dated 2000. After pondering how to quilt it I ended up doing diagonal lines straight through the center. 

The ladies are tiny buttonhole-stitched all the way around, the hats and shoes are made of felt. The whole piece makes me smile. 

Yikes! Can you believe I bought these bright blocks that were made with fabrics from the 40s-60s?? Certainly not my style but wanted something different to peak my interest.  

I purchased a pieced quilt top on Ebay for $20 for the sole purpose of using it for the backing. I didn't have to make any adjustments. Of course neither the fabrics (above) nor the other colors--aqua and gray--had anything to do with the front of the quilt. But it worked! It was longarm quilted. 

 

With collage in mind, I was at another local thrift shop when a framed calendar picture of a cute little girl singing and playing the piano caught my eye. I ended up cutting out a portion and combining it with "The Old Piano Roll Blues" sheet music. Added lots of flowers, bride & groom punch outs and some stickers. I've since made a few collages incorporating sheet music. It's something new and different.    

A gorgeous sunrise where the top of the mountain range is literally glowing. 

I received a new Smart AI Happy Birdy feeder for Christmas. What fun it's been to watch the birds up close and take pictures. Isn't this the cutest little Chickadee with a sunflower seed in its beak?

Till next time . . . . 

 

Copyright 2026 Barbara Schaffer 

 

 

Another Catch-up and Collage

I must admit I hadn't done much quilting over the past year and a half but my interest never waned. I found myself immersed in scouring Ebay and Etsy for interesting quilt tops/blocks to satisfy my urge of not spending time making a quilt from the start.

This lovely yo-yo quilt caught my eye. The soft hues reminded me of an early patchwork quilt. It needed some repairs which I was willing to spend time doing. And I'm still finding a few areas that I missed. This quilt is huge. 

I always wanted to make a totally haphazard random-strippy quilt and took my chances when I purchased this on Ebay. It was a quilt top all right but it had been foundation pieced on newspaper. Most of the paper had been removed except for what was left in the seams. Ugh! Would you believe I spent hours removing all those little bits with a tweezer but ultimately ended up taking the entire top apart. I had sixty-eight 10-1/2" blocks to sew back together but so far I've only used 5. 

I squared up all the blocks and used 4 to make this little quilt. The fabrics are mixed--shirtings, seersuckers, flocked flowers, some poly-cottons, etc. 

Then I made this one for a friend. Poor photo on my part! 

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Lately, I've been into collage using lots of different papers. I also joined Margarete Miller's The Vintage & Collage Club where members share their work. 

This was my first attempt. The assignment had to include something that represented: Fire or smoke (Smokey the Bear), Something with a spine (person), Anything that starts with a B (bird), Something royal (postage stamps), A famous city (Cape May NJ), Bonus: A chevron or zig zag pattern (recycled packaging paper).  

Here's another: Bells (wedding bells), Something imaginary (walking jingle bell), Dictionary page, A leaf or leaves (puppies playing in the leaves), Something that turns or spins (wheels), Bonus: A date (1956 car)

It's been a fun journey!

Till next time . . . 

 

Copyright Barbara Schaffer 2026