The eight-week challenge is over. I want to thank Luann and Sherrie for linking up to my posts, and sharing the challenge on their blogs. I’d also like to thank those who commented, and those of you who emailed me privately to tell me what you were doing. So glad we could do this together. So now what?
I went thrift shopping a bit more this past week, and found this shirt. I am so excited. I will be cutting it up to make into some fabric. I love the design and the color. It’s like a big doily! The picture doesn’t show the lovely yellow color.
Here is a closeup. Love the daisies!
I also purchased a few of these blocks. I’ve been around quilts all of my life since my grandma always had one of them in a frame in her livingroom, but I have never seen blocks that were built on Montgomery Ward and Spiegel catalogs. I am guessing these blocks were made in the 40s or 50s and they are all hand stitched. Removing all of the paper looks like it would be time consuming, and almost impossible. I assume this is what some people did prior to the modern paper piecing. And this is not a pattern I’ve seen much of either. If I use these for anything, I’d make them into squares – cutting off the points. What do you think? Any suggestions on how to use these blocks?
Here is the front and then the back. There was a lot of time and work put into them.
As a kid I remember spending a lot of time looking through these “wish” books, including the Sears Catalog. I don’t remember buying anything from them, but they sure were fun to look at and dream.
Our Magnolia trees are blooming, making walking out the door a sweet adventure. I love this time of the year.
On March 15, I received the next SAQA Collaborative Quilt design, and I have yet to even pick out the fabric. I need to do that in the next couple of days.
Lastly, I’ve spent a lot of time on genealogy this past week. I go in spells with it. I’ll spend hours and hours, and then I won’t touch it for a couple weeks. But when I’m in it, that’s all I can get done, and pretty much all I want to do! I continue to be amazed at the difficult lives my women ancestors led, and all of the sorrow from losing children and also raising so many. Yesterday I found another relative who died after childbirth. I’ve yet to find if the child lived. My maternal great grandmother’s husband died a month before she gave birth to their fourth child. She did remarry several months later (yes, I said months! He was a farm hand they had hired to help with the farm prior to my great grandfather’s death.) She ended up having seven more children, two of them being a set of twins who died at birth. And I just found another set of twins on my dad’s side of the family who died after living one day. I had no idea that twins were in our line. I learn something every time I search.
Last year this time the asparagus patch was all weeded and ready for the season. However, with this new cold spell, it will probably be another week or so before it’s finished, if then. But it will get finished!
Hope you are a great creative week.
The paper pieced blocks are an amazing find!
Rather than have to clip corners to even off – consider using them as an appliqué. Use a solid background that is representative of a popular color or fabric of the time. They will look very cool!
Have fun!
P.S. Now that I’m vaccinated, one of the first things on my list is to visit a thrift shop. So much fun!
Guila, Thanks for the suggestion. Have fun thrifting!! I sure have missed doing that.
Rather than destroy the star, try to figure out a compatible background and stitch the star down to it, with one point turned down to show the paper on the back. Or if there is more than one star, do one facing front and one facing the back, perhaps overlapped a bit. They are fabulous just as art pieces! Love them!