Out and About

We're up in the north country for some leaf peeping and fun activities.

Out for an early morning walk. 

Sunrise looking west . . .  

. . . and sunrise looking east.   

On to Sugar House Creamery where cheeses are handmade and aged in an underground cave.  

And look at the pumpkins around the silos at Asgaard Farm & Dairy known for its award-winning goat cheese.     

Meet Hazel :)

On the back roads the foliage was beautiful . . .   

. . . especially at Franklin Falls where my daughter and I had paddled a few years ago.

We rode the Adirondack-themed Carousel in Saranac Lake . . .

. . . where all the animals (24 of them) were made by carvers both local and from across the country. 

The fox was a favorite.

And so was the otter :)

Driving through the 'Notch' . . . 

. . . the scenery was spectacular.

A hay bale 'snow' man.

The view at Whiteface Mountain Ski Area was the end to a perfect outing :)

Thanks for coming along!

Happy Fall!




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Copyright 2018, Barbara Schaffer




 

Quilt Sightings

Last weekend Renee and I spent an afternoon visiting local historic sites in NJ that were open to the public free of charge.

First stop was the Little Red Schoolhouse in Florham Park. It was constructed in 1866 and expanded in 1905. It's on the State and National Registers of Historic Places. 

A portion of the interior was set up to depict a school room.

Quilts were displayed on racks in between the large windows.

This one, in particular, caught my eye. The label states the quilt was made c. 1850 by Mrs. Jesse Keys, Sr., mother of the first mayor, Jesse Keys. 

Check out these fabrics including my all-time favorite, Prussian Blue. 

Across the way were a few more quilts and the one in the middle was really interesting.

Love the squiggly fabric and the turkey red.

The Silas Riggs Saltbox House in Ledgewood was moved to its present location at Drakesville Historic Park in 1962. 

Going from room to room we saw a Carpenter's Wheel on a rope bed . . .

. . . and a Log Cabin on a rack against the wall.

Another Log Cabin was in the upstairs bedroom.

A Bicentennial Quilt was prominently displayed on the way out. 

And here's a block of that little Saltbox House. 

Next door is the c. 1827 King Store which provided food staples to boat crews along the Morris Canal. It was also the post office, polling place and general store. No quilts in here just an interesting building that is being restored.

Another gem is the King House Museum which features period furnishings and two exhibit rooms on the first floor.  

In 1935 English artist, James Marland, painted a mural on four walls in the dining room. The upstairs rooms were not open due to ongoing restoration. 

All in all it was a fun afternoon!

Have a great week!




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Copyright 2018, Barbara Schaffer

 

September Mini

I don't know about you but I love making these small quilts every month. It's a fun way to get those creative juices flowing and to think outside the box :) Thank you Wendy for this fun challenge! 

Here is my September mini and how it evolved:

I've always liked this little quilt in Merikay Waldvogel's book, Childhood Treasures: Doll Quilts By and For Children. I wasn't sure I'd do the cut-out corners but I loved its simplicity.

I pulled strips from my scrap bin early this summer so when it came time to make this month's mini I knew it was time to get serious. 

 

I decided on these early florals and then chose scrap triangles in pink, brown, gold, and neutral to add to the mix.

And this is what I came up with :) The strips are 1" and the finished quilt is 17-1/2" x 15-3/4".

The back and label.  

I see Kyle has just posted her lovely September mini so be sure and stop by for a visit :) 

Enjoy your week!




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Copyright 2018, Barbara Schaffer


 

Blogger's Quilt Festival 2018

After reading Wendy's and Barb's posts about the quilts they entered in Blogger's Quilt Festival 2018, I decided to join in the fun! Make sure you hop on over to AmysCreativeSide.com to see all the quilts and think about entering one of your own :)

I'm sharing the Morris Hexathon quilt that I made in 2016-17. I was participating in Barbara Brackman's SAL making blocks inspired by English textile designer, William Morris.

 

The top is pieced entirely by hand.

There was lots of fussy-cutting :)

I hand quilted each pieced block following the design . . . 

. . . and quilted three concentric hexies in the setting blocks.

I added a little 'something extra' to the label.




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Copyright 2018, Barbara Schaffer

Antebellum #8, Alice King, and Triangles

Southern Cross was a quick and easy block to make. 

Does that fabric look at all familiar? It was actually from 1996 and I'll tell you more in just a minute . . . 

I chose one of Susan McKelvey's classic inked designs in memory of my 2nd gr-grandmother, Alice King, who was born in 1826 in Preston, Lancashire, England.  

She married John Hankinson (last month's block) on October 10, 1838 at St. Michael's Church in the Parish of Liverpool. He was a bachelor and brick layer and she was a spinster both residing at 16 Kent Street.

They had six children: four born in England and two in NYC but only three survived to adulthood. One was my gr-grandfather, Frank Hankinson.

Alice died on Jan. 22, 1904 in NYC and in her will she left $100 to her grand-daughter Maud (my grandmother). The rest of her estate was divided equally between sons Charles and Frank and grandson John Charles.

Getting back to the fabric I used in this month's block . . . 

In 1996 I was in charge of GSQ's friendship quilt (more about it here) when Rachel was president and Natalie had provided some of the red fabrics . . .

. . . including this one. Note the same leaf design in her inked block :)

On another note . . . 

Yesterday I added a 4" border and corner blocks to Triangles :)

Enjoy your week!




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Copyright 2018, Barbara Schaffer
 
 

Triple Play 3

I guess I've made enough r/w/b quilts to last the year, lol! 

Triple Play3 reminds me of windowpanes. I used the rest of the light-colored prints and added red and blue borders. I did simple quilting in the ditch and 1/4" straight lines in the borders. I had lots of threads to bury!

2" squares and 1/2" strips and corner blocks worked well together. 

This time I did a 1/2" binding. I think it's my favorite. I used 1/4" masking tape as a guide for quilting the straight lines--that was a first. It worked fine.

The back.  

 

Here are 1, 2, and 3. I forgot to mention sizes: #1 is 20" x 20", #2 is 17" x 17" and #3 is 18-1/2" x 21."



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On another note . . . 

Do you follow Barbara Brackman's Material Culture blog? Every so often she will post a picture of a quilt that was published in HQPNJ's book, New Jersey Quilts. Here is a link to an 1860 medallion. The quilt is 3rd from the bottom and appears on p. 104 in our book :) The leaves were actual tracings of ones from the family farm in Scotland and the fabrics were stripes and plaids. The quilt was sent to the maker's daughter who immigrated in the 1840s and lived in Scotch Plains, NJ.




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Copyright 2018, Barbara Schaffer