Icicles II

Finished quilting and binding this little piece. Batiks are one of my favorite things in the quilting world and I also love the way paper piecing gives you such lovely sharp points without much trouble at all. Love the colors in this one and the quilting turned out nicely. It's hard for me to come up with a pattern to quilt a piece with, but once I have it figured out it works out pretty well.This is my favorite block in the little hanging - love the fabrics so much. (Click picture to enlarge)

Be It Ever So Humble

I have been wanting to post some pictures of where I grew up so today is the day. I wanted to put this picture in a different spot, but I have not figured out how to change the order so will just let it be the opener. This would have been taken probably three years after we moved into the old house where we would grow up. There was an apple orchard behind it - orchards are fun places. This is my sister, Jo, and my brother, Bud (everyone else calls him Chuck - but he will always be Bud to me) and for some reason they were posing under the pretty blossoms. One thing for sure, there are not that many pictures of us through all those years - unlike today! My sister has been gone for almost 11 years and I miss her.

This is what the house I grew up in looked like the last time I saw it. Not long afterwards, the local fire department burned it down. I was back in Chillicothe for one of my high school reunions and Jo and I went down to look at the old place. This would have been taken about 1976.

Below is how it looked when we moved in when I was seven years old. My parents, like so many other people, had gone into debt because of the depression and lack of jobs. They had unsuccessfully tried living with my grandparents. North of Peoria about 20 miles was a little village called Rome and they found this house that could be rented for $10.00 per month, and Dad was able to pay the rent by doing work for the family who owned it and three cottages along the river. He took care of their yards and kept meticulous records of the time he spent. We three kids knew never to take his pencil - that was a given!

Regardless of the fact that we had no bathroom or telephone and were probably considered poor, I look back on my childhood and high school years as happy ones. My parents were hard working, loving people who took good care of us and loved us very much. The picture below is in 1943 when the Illinois River left it's banks and flooded the heck out of everything. We had a one room cellar (with a dirt floor) and I remember hearing the fruit jars gurgle as they filled with water. The water did not come up into the house and we stayed in it throughout the flooding period. Everyone had to have typhoid shots since all the wells were covered. Naturally, drinking water had to be boiled. We rowed the boat around the yard and up and down the street - kids enjoy things like that.

This next picture is not really very good - but that is our outhouse!! And to the left is the coal shed. In front is Dad's canna bed and in the right background are lots and lots of gladiola. His garden was gorgeous. Almost every kind of vegetable you can name and also peanuts and popcorn.

In the picture below is my cute, grinning kid brother, Bud, maybe 10 or 11 at the time. I know you read my blog, Bud, so leave me a comment and set me straight on whose gocart that is. I think you told me it wasn't yours and I don't remember you ever having one. The old house looks much nicer with a coat of white paint and roses climbing on the old fence. That, I am pretty sure, is our old Chevie parked there. And the gate is where I stuck my tongue one winter day and lost some taste buds! Never did that again.

Hope you enjoyed a little Piece from my Past. I look back on it fondly. (Click to enlarge)

The Little Bluework Piece Finished

Here's the little wallhanging with the antique bluework squares all finished. I just did a loop-de-loop quilting motif in the blocks and outlined each of the little squares. Binding was cut on the bias.

I decided to sew old buttons in each of the little blocks in the sashing and border. Sixty-three buttons are a lot to sew on by hand!

So I got out the glue stick and my applique foot and figured out how to do it by machine. Several times in the past I have sewn on lots of buttons that way but, as usual, I forget from time to time just how to go about it. It was easiest to glue the button down first then finally get the zigzag stitch the right length and it's a piece of cake to get the job done. I did break two needles but one of them needed to be changed out anyway! I am lax at doing that.Now here is a peek at what I will be doing with six more of the old blocks using some different colors. It will be the same size and the only thing different will be no triangles in the block corners. Some of the embroideries were a little large for that. (Click to enlarge)

Flower Garden Quilt Blocks

I decided to post the rest of the blocks for you this morning. I am making them smaller and hope that when they are clicked on they will be the same size as the blocks posted beforehand.

You are so welcome to these patterns - I am glad to share with you. Another thing I will share one day is an old quilt that has quilt blocks my mother-in-law she embroidered when she was quite young and that was quilted by her mother-in-law. I will get it out and take some pictures one day soon. I think the blocks are of state flowers, but probably don't remember correctly since I haven't looked at it in a long time. Probably out of the Peoria paper, also. Enjoy!! (Click to enlarge)

My Totebag

Some time ago, the guild sponsored a class taught by Melissa, one of our talented members. We were to give her pictures that we would like to have on a totebag and she had them put on transfers which we later transferred to fabric.

You will probably recognize all of these pictures except maybe the one above which I don't believe I have posted before. It's a sweet picture of Nan, my mom.

This is one side of the bag. I used old lace, buttons and other trim to embellish my piece.

The other side of the bag. I don't think I did the bottom quite right as it sags, but that's okay - it works anyway. Here is a close look at the fabric, old buttons and lace. A fun bag to do - however, I don't carry it anywhere since it is kind of special and I want to preserve it. (Click to enlarge)

More of the Flower Garden Patterns

I am happy that some of you are enjoying these old patterns from the Peoria paper back in 1931.

Nice to be able to share them with you. Would love to see anything that you make with them. Enjoy! (Click to enlarge)

The Birdies from Across the Street

The little occupants of the wreath across the street have flown the nest but are evidently still around the neighborhood. There have been several sightings of Momma Robin feeding at least two little ones - may be more.

A little while ago I looked out my front door and there were visitors in my yard. Momma has scared up some nice, juicy worms for the little one. And here she is ready to give the little fellow (or gal) a nice meal. Wonder how many worms she finds in a day for the family? The pictures appear to have come out pretty well despite the fact that I took them through the screen door - try clicking to enlarge.

Two More Christmas Stitcheries

Two more of the blocks for the Christmas stitcheries for a total of six completed.

I have one more almost done and two more in the wings for the total of nine that I want to make into small wallhangings for my three favorite granddaughters. The first two or three I did are not quite as neat as the later ones so each will get one that is not so good and two that are better. Altogether, though, I think they will turn out okay! (Click to enlarge)

The Flower Garden Quilt

Here are two more of the embroideries. (Click to enlarge) I just googled Ruby McKim's Flower Garden Quilt and came up with this website with pictures of an antique quilt made with these patterns. Thought you might want to take a peek.

http://cindysantiquequilts.com/dynapage/IP377.htm

Click on the link above to see the old quilt and pictures.

Some Very Old Flower Garden Embroidery Patterns

Looking through some old, old embroidery patterns, I found a set of embroidery patterns for a flower garden quilt that ran in the Peoria Journal-Transcript in 1930. These were probably from a box of things I bought at an auction. There are 24 out of 25 but still plenty if someone wanted to make an entire quilt. I have scanned the drawings and am posting three of them to see if anyone would be interested in seeing more. They might make good redwork or bluework or work with assorted colors.
There are some that are really pretty and others that are quite plain but together they would still make a pretty wallhanging or quilt when mixed with some scrappy blocks of one kind or another.

I love this lilac block. There is also one called canterbury bells that is really cool. If anyone likes them, I would be glad to keep posting two or three at a time. When you enlarge the picture, you can read the suggestions for sewing the blocks and making the quilt. (Click to enlarge)

Fashion Friday

When I looked at this picture, I realized that this one was taken the same day in Glen Oak Park as a previous one I posted of my mom, Nan, and her friend in the plaid skirt in the conservatory admiring the flowers. In this picture, Nan has her hat on and it is such a pretty one. Joining them are Nelle, Nan's sister, who is seated on the bench on the right. She is also a very stylish woman with a confident air about her. Her outfit appears to be a suit and her hat is stunning, along with her light shoes. The fourth lady on the far left is unknown but is wearing a plain but pretty skirt and blouse. I hope they all had a lovely day in the park.

Standing in front of Ben Franklin Print Shop in Peoria is Nan and a friend both dressed in a timely fashion. It is hard to see the friend's outfit except it is obvious that she is wearing a lovely hat and is clad in a stylish manner. Nan's hat is very pretty and her fur stole is showing an appearance again worn over a plaid dress that is probably made of cotton fabric. Note her shorter skirt, high button shoes and her lovely purse that appears to be beaded with a metal chain.

(Click to enlarge)

The Old Bluework Blocks

Today I put this little wallhanging together using six of the lovely old bluework blocks that were done by my sister's mother-in-law years and years ago.

The stitching on the blocks is beautiful. The only problem was that the blocks had been left in the hoop for a long time and in the same place. You can see the circle where the hoop held the fabric. I soaked the blocks for a long time and they did come out much better than they were, but there is still a trace to be seen. However, I think the quilting will cause that to be less noticeable. And despite of everything, they are so cute. There are a lot more of them - a lot of rabbits and some Alice in Wonderland - so I will do at least two more later on.
(Click to enlarge