A Man's Quilt

Some fabrics just cry out "don't cut me".  I bought this fabric when I had the idea to do a landscape quilt because it has so many textures from nature ... leaves and grasses and rocks and mountain peaks.  I never made the landscape quilt.

The strong horizontal graphics on this fabric whispered in my ear
"don't cut me, I'll make a wonderful modern quilt".  I agreed.

This is the strip with the mountain peaks.  They remind
me of the Flatirons outside of Boulder Colorado.

A strip of circles seemed just the thing to add.
Each square is 8.5" finished with a roughly 7" circle.

The circles are pieced which is my favorite way to do a circle ... they go fairly fast and always perfect.

This quilt is for my Etsy shop and I made
it specifically for the man in someone's life.
It's strong and earthy and straight forward.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/152770901/modern-couch-lap-quilt-great-guy-quilt?ref=shop_home_active

And a PS to the girls, it's a pretty quilt,
it'll look nice in your living room :}

A Simple Little Nine Patch Quilt

You can never go wrong with a nine patch baby quilt, especially a nine patch set on point ... it makes a good case for less is more.  I find the simplicity very comforting.

When I was contemplating starting a blog, I read Pioneer Woman's tips for a successful blog.  The one that keeps sitting on my shoulder is "blog every day".  Every day?  Yikes. This is my 3rd post for the merry month of May.

So I've decided this is a blog-let as opposed to a blog.  With a blog-let you are free from the every day rule when, say, for instance ... you catch hEXiE MaNIa!!

I'll post about my hEXiE MaNIa!! the next few days.  And some of my other distractions that are keeping me at a 3 post per month average.

Dawson Brothers 1906 Fireplace Insert

I recently had to do some restoration work on the firebox of my beautiful 1906 fireplace insert.  When I pulled it away from the fireplace, I found a stamp in the back that it had been made by "Dawson Bros - Chicago, Ill".  I did a wee bit of research and found a picture of the the Dawson Bros building in Chicago which I posted on Pinterest so I'd know right where to find it.



I didn't think anyone but me would be much interested in the Dawson Bros building, but Beth found it.  The Dawson Brothers were her Great Grandfather's brothers.

So Beth, this post is for you ... these photos are a right-click away for your collection of your Great Uncle's work.

The insert in all it's glorious detail.

It is a coal burning fireplace ... the firebox is very small
and with the solid front, designed to burn coal long and slow.

It was made in an era of fine detail.
No surface is left unadorned.

Detail of the 'door' which lifts off to reveal the firebox.
The pastoral scene is done in heavy relief

So sweet ... she is wearing
sabots on her feet.

The makers stamp is in a place that it cannot be seen unless the
insert is removed from the fireplace ... a modesty lost with
today's marketing practices.

And a separate plaque for the grate
Vulcan Series Grate No. 422

The complete fireplace a la 1906.

It's a wonder that after 107 years it is still all
in place as it was in 1906.

Matching Baby Quilt Gift Set ... and the last of my jungle print fabric

This is the last of my cutest ever! jungle print fabric ... which  I made into a set of three quilts ... a crib size toddler quilt,  a small newborn or car seat size quilt and a square 'on-the-go-mom' quilt for laying a wee one down wherever she might end up.

L - R:  Crib size, square mat and for the car seat

This is the kind of fabric you avoid cutting into small pieces ...
different sized squares for each quilt 

The large crib quilt has a modern back.
The small quilts have a simple white dotted swiss back.

There are Monkeys! and
a momma Hippo with a babe on her back

The center of the square quilt ...
Giraffes and a Dino with a cap

And a momma elephant with her
babe ... in a party hat!

The sewn on binding with a white piping strip ...I really like the finished tailored look.

For the quilty girls, I learned to do the flanged sewn binding with the fabulous tutorial by Thirteen in '13.
http://www.52quilts.com/2012/05/tuesday-tutorial-susies-magic-binding.html

I like a narrow binding so I cut my pieces a bit smaller ... 1.5 inches for the flange piece, and 1.25 inches for the yellow binding.

These quilts are for sale in my Etsy shop

https://www.etsy.com/listing/150578817/three-matching-jungle-print-baby-toddler?ref=shop_home_active