A Great Big Voluptuous Dresden Plate Quilt

I broke into my stash o' Kaffe Fassett fabrics for this quilt ... and oh my gosh, is it ever pretty.  I'm quite taken with it ... I love the citrus colors and the significantly over-sized Dresden plate.  Just makes me smile.

The Dresden plate measures 34" across.

The background is a solid white ... the 'stripey effect' is from the sun shining through and showing the back fabrics.

I added a Free Spirit fabric for the back with ...
AQUA! and FLOWERS!
and the combination just sent me over the moon

But what really made my heart sing was the quilting.

I took a lot of time to detail the Dresden plate... outlining the petals
and doing a free motion floral motif.

Oh my gosh again ... I just love it.

The Dresden plate really shows well on the back.

With my favorite little piece of yard art,
a garden fairy with a butterfly on his finger.

This quilt is available for purchase in my Etsy shop.https://www.etsy.com/listing/130911754/spring-summer-lap-quilt-throw-citrus?ref=shop_home_active

Quilting Family Treasures ... A very large Lone Star and unfinished Signature Blocks

I come from a long line of quilters.  Dad knows that three generations worked on this Lone Star quilt ... his mother, grandmother and great grandmother.  He thinks it is very possible that his great great grandmother put her hand to it too, making it a four generations quilt.

Lone Star Quilt c. 1910 - Davenport & Sprague, WA

It is stunning and it is in unused condition.  And it's huge.  It generously fits on a queen size bed which is why I think maybe it was never used ... it ended up too big for on anyone's bed at the time.

The diamonds are thumb size.  It is a marvel to contemplate the hours that went into the piecing.

Unfinished Signature Quilt Blocks c. 1930 - Davenport, WA

And then there are the signature blocks ... there are nine of them.  I'm trying to figure out who they may have been intended for and why the quilt was never finished.

Many of them are signed 'Aunt' ... Aunt Sarah in the bottom right corner is my great grandmother.  And three of the other blocks are signed by her sisters.

Their generation was gone by the early 40's but grandma kept the signed blocks neatly packed away until she passed away.  And then I became the caretaker of all her quilty things.

I hope to figure out who they signed these blocks for, but I fear the quilt was unfinished because of some sadness which I don't even really want to contemplate.

But one of these days, I will piece the signature blocks together and finish the little quilt.

Oh that I could time travel, I would surely love to meet my great grandmother and her sisters.

Yiayia's Sunbonnet Sue Quilt ... A Christmas Present

When I was 12 the girls all received Sunbonnet Sue quilts from Papou and Yiayia for Christmas.  Papou didn't have much to do with the quilts of course, except maybe taking Yiayia to Newberry's to get batting or more thread.  Yiayia never did learn how to drive.

Papou was 16 when he immigrated by himself to the US from Greece.  He worked laying railroad tracks in Idaho, got 2 nickels to rub together and opened a shoe shine stand, then got a couple more nickels and bought a small hotel and tavern.

Yiayia's family made the trip west by covered wagon in the late 1800's to homestead in Davenport, WA where they raised wheat.

They met when Yiayia stopped to have her shoes shined at Papou's shoe shine stand during one of her infrequent trips to the city.  I love their story.

Papou and Yiayia and The Cousins

I am top row middle ... the little devil child
who didn't want her picture taken

I love that each Sue is set a wee bit different ...

Some Sue's wear their hats brim up ...

... and some brim down

Some Sue's slouch ...

... and some Sue's have
I-practice-with-books-on-my-head posture

I love the old fabrics ... many are much older than the quilt.
The quilts were made in the early 60's but this bird fabric
I will guess is 30's or 40's.

But most of all, I love the little free hand embroideries on the bonnets.

Daisy ...

And how sweet is this?

A bouquet of violets ...

And a blue butterfly ... on chartreuse!

I would give anything to see Papou and Yiayia gain ... just one more day.

Update .... July 11, 2014

I added a picture of the back for Sandra ....
who wondered what the back looked like.

Very sweet to see the Sue outlines.
And this diamond quilting is what Yiayia usually
did on her quilts ... it goes fast, looks nice.

Country Quilt ... A quilt for The Simple Life

With each passing year, I am more and more drawn to simplifying my life ... I'm removing gotta do and gotta have from my vocabulary.  There are things that need to be done to have a somewhat ordered life, but very little anymore needs to be a gotta.  Life is good without lotsa gotta's.

I had a blast making this quilt ... there are no points that I gotta match.  And no pattern I gotta follow.  I didn't pay much mind to which fabric went next to another one.  And I just love the result.

The colors and fabric choices were drawn from the wonderful fabric that is on the back ... blues and browns and tans and peachy rose.  These are comfort colors, just like there is comfort food.
This quilt just makes me want to wrap up.

The backing fabric is a South Seas Import fabric that I call
Country Cupboards ... a print of a full up cupboard.

The fabric is split with a creamy panel down the middle.
I like the stripey effect

Close up of the shelves.
There are little hearts.
I pretty much love anything with a heart on it.

The free motion quilting ... an edge to edge overall
pattern of swirling swirly loopy flowers.
The batting is 100% cotton so there is nice quilty crinkle.

The binding is machine sewn down.
For years I poo-poo'ed machine sewn binding.
Another gotta I got rid of ... I quite like the machine binding.

This quilt is another quilt available on Etsy.
I made it with Mother's Day in mind ... it should be someone's mom's quilt.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/128265303/traditional-country-patchwork-lap-quilt?ref=shop_home_active