The brilliantly talented Stephanie over at make it… a wonderful life calls this the Trick Or Treat quilt:
and it strikes me as just about the perfect fall quilt. Aren’t the nine-patch/flying geese houses the coziest blocks you’ve ever seen? Such a wonderful way to show off fall fabrics. I can also see this looking equally cute in springy florals or holiday reds and greens, and versatility, to me, is one of the marks of a really great block.
Stephanie also deserves serious accolades for her scrappy borders. I think we all understand the impulse to rush through this part of the process – between the block-making and the quilting itself. But to me, these details are what makes this quilt extra-special.
I’m dead certain that old quilts are so cool because some Depression-era dearth of resources forced people to be creative in ways we can’t even dream of in our superindulged society. Which is clearly ridiculous. Particularly because this quilt was probably made in the 60s or 70s.
But isn’t it neat?
I love the way the solids, prints, and florals mix, and the way the blocks are arranged. Even if you don’t share my proclivity for pastels, you have to admit, there’s so much charm in the layout.
It does my heart good to see a quilt like this – all one block – now and again. It takes such a level of commitment to make 30 churn dash blocks. It’s like finding out somebody’s been married 30+ plus years – just nice.
If you win big in Vegas this weekend, you can pick up this lovely over on the ebay.
Is it terrible that I look forward to Thursday evenings because my husband and I watch criminal amounts of TV? Including, of course, Project Runway. I often wish there were a Project Runway-type show for quilters, though I’m not sure how the super-tight schedule would allow for binding time.
A prime candidate for Project Quiltway (or whatever, I’m open to suggestions) would be The Silly BooDilly whose art quilts, like the boob tube above, make me swoon. Check out all the loveliness in her etsy shop.
Is anyone else watching Bored to Death on HBO? So delightful! Ted Danson is beyond hilarious – who knew? And there are quilts!
This appeared a few episodes ago, and has been on my mind for a couple of weeks, but I didn’t think to look up a still photo until just now. Isn’t it a wonderful specimen of two-toned piecing? Just the right balance of homey and chic.
It looks familiar to me, somehow, so naturally my mind leaped to Denyse Schmidt. But I’ve been unable to find any evidence that it was her, which means it must have come from somewhere REALLY special and unique, like… Crate & Barrel? (Snicker.)
If you’re a quilter and you don’t live under a rock, (not that there’s anything wrong with that!) you’ve probably heard tell of Margaret’s Hope Chest, a great organization that collects quilts for people in hopeless situations.
What you might not know is that quilters have mobilized not just to make physical donations, but also to provide patterns for those of us who might want to whip up a warm blanket for the latest MHC project: collecting quilts for homeless children.
Kathy at Pink Chalk Studio has designed a simple but colorful ISpy quilt that’s perfect for kids, and is also linking to a wonderful portable project over at a stitch in dye.
Both are ideal candidates for charity quilting – cheerful, but not so complicated they can’t be completed and sent of by the project deadline of November 15th. I love the idea of getting your family involved and making two matching ones – one for a special child in your life, and one for a child in need – to remind us all of just how connected we are, when we stop to think about it.
Actually, it’s my lap. The impossible has happened.
After mentally accepting the notion that I might be able to talk myself into making some hexagons, and after going so far as turning to my husband at the county fair and asking, “Do you like these? Do you think you might want to learn to make them?” like the shamelessly lazy cow that I am, I found a vintage 36″ x 42″ hexagon quilt at Goodwill.
Pardon me, I’m still in awe.