‘Hands All Around’

As a follow up to my previous post where I featured my antique red and white quilt, a comment was left on my blog by Donnelly saying that she had made a wall hanging using this pattern which is called ‘Hands All Around’.

Donnelly posted a picture of it on her blog and enthusiastically granted me permission to ‘borrow’ her photo in order that I may post it here.

It would appear to be the identical pattern that was used on my quilt.

Thanks, Donnelly for providing us with the block name and also for the permission to use your photo here.

Happy stitching!

Kaaren

Antique Quilt Collection

My love affair with antique quilts goes back more than 20 years.  I recall when I bought my very first one for $35 at a country auction near Cambridge, Ontario back in the early 80’s.  At last count, I believe I have 22 or 23 that I’ve given an interim home til they’re passed on to someone else after I’m gone.

Currently, I’m busy working on swap gifts so I can’t reveal too much.  Instead, I’ve decided to show you one of my favorite red and white antique quilts.

It’s in wonderful condition and the red fabric does not show any signs of wear which is very unusual given it’s age. 

The quilting is quite detailed and the stitching ever so tiny.

I ‘m not familiar with nor do I know the name of the pattern.

Do you?

Happy stitching!

 

Kaaren

 

Dresden Plate Quilt

It was always my dream to have a Dresden Plate quilt but in my travels, I was never able to find an antique one to add to my collection.  Sure there are off-shore facsimiles available that are marketed as ‘hand made’ but they never struck my fancy.

I spotted the ‘Easy Dresden’ template/ruler at my LQS last year and decided to buy it.  The instructions are well written and very easy to follow so I decided to give it a whirl.

I used Madeira and Shangri-La by Moda to make the wedges for the Dresden Plates and Shangri-La for the sashing and borders.  The blocks had to be cut at 14 1/2” to accommodate the size of the Dresden Plate.  The wedges took two charm packs in total and I cut them at 5”, the actual width of a charm square which yielded 2 wedges per charm square. The centers were cut from additional yardage.

From the outset, I knew that I wanted to quilt this project by hand.  I purchased a beautiful feather wreath stencil that I used as the quilting pattern in the alternate blocks.

The actual construction of the quilt did not take long at all.  Because I decided to alternate the blocks, 25 in total were needed to complete the top.  The finished quilt including sashing and borders measures 100” x 100”.  Never in my wildest dreams did I plan on making a quilt this size!

It took eight months to complete the quilt.  Not too long after I had started the hand quilting, I realized that I should have had it machine quilted simply because the actual size of the quilt made it both awkward and difficult to manipulate for hand quilting.

The 108” wide backing was a blessing when it came time to sandwich the layers.

The scalloped border added the finishing touch.

What started out as a relatively ‘simple’ project turned out to be a very ambitious one.  I’m happy I did it but I doubt that I would attempt to hand quilt another project of this size.

Will I make another Dresden Plate quilt?  Absolutely!  That was the best part…cutting, assembling and appliquéing the Dresden Plates.

Happy stitching!

 

Kaaren

House Hunting, Shopping and Gardening

We had a busy weekend, starting with Friday when we went to Vermont to look at houses.  We left our house at 7:00 a.m. and didn’t arrive home til 6:45 p.m.  Without going into too much detail so as not to bore you, that part of the trip was unsuccessful.  Although all of the houses had some good features, none met with our expectations.

We looked at houses til about 1:30 then decided to have a leisurely lunch.  Sam asked me if I’d like to visit the quilt shops and Joann’s since they were nearby, so I naturally jumped at the chance.  I can’t show you everything that I bought because some of it is for swap gifts, but here’s a smattering of what I can show you…

Two yards of Qsnaburg fabric, a ‘Purple Thang’ for turning, stuffing, rounding edges and poking out corners and some ‘Steam-A-Seam 2’ tape.

I also bought some really cool buttons and the neatest thread grouping called “Oliver Twists”.  Each package contains a variety of cotton and rayon threads for hand embroidery with a matching spool of cotton thread.  I have great plans for these.

I’ve been wanting some vintage tea towels for quite a while and I found these at Joann’s.  I am going to do some redwork embroidery on them…when my other projects are completed…of course.  (wink)

And the last thing that I can show you is some pink and brown Judie Rothermel Civil War fabric that Leanne, my Easter swap partner from Australia requested.  We are going to continue swapping different things that we have difficulty finding in our respective countries.  Cool, huh?

On Saturday and Sunday I spent a total of six hours in the garden weeding, edging and loosening the soil around the plants and shrubs.  I also thinned and pruned some of the cedars and fir trees and did some dividing of irises that so badly needed it.  I still have more outdoor work to do which I hope to complete this week. 

Now I can devote my time to work on swap projects.  I know what I’m going to make for each one and I have everything I need to begin. 

I’ve also been able to sneak in a few stitches here and there on the Red Radiance quilt that I’ve been working on.

All in all, it was a very productive weekend and it just seemed to fly by.  I hope you all had a great weekend as well.

Happy stitching!

 

Kaaren

    

Thank You Mel!

Isn’t blogging great?

It still boggles my mind as to how much smaller the world has become since I started blogging at the end of January of this year.

When I went to the post office today, the clerk announced, “You’re going to be happy because there’s a package for you from Utah!”  I’ve really kept the gals busy and in awe with the amount of packages I receive what with swap gifts, fabric orders, santas, gnomes etc.  I think it’s gotten to the point that when I go there to collect my mail and there isn’t a package for me, they’re disappointed!

  

Not too long ago, Mel spoke on her blog about her nephew Brock who is autistic.  Her total devotion to the cause to find a cure was heartfelt and many of us donated something in support of the auction that she was conducting on her blog to raise funds to find a cure for autism.  As a thank you, Mel sent me these gifts.

In addition to a personal note of thanks, I found a bookmark and two magnets that Mel made, a Hemmingway House charm pack and…

a pattern that Mel designed called 30-Something Triangles and…

some awesome fabric!  By coincidence, in our last house, I had wallpaper exactly the same as the fabric on the right.  On it are the words, “Light Up My World With Love.”

If you’ve never visited Mel’s blog, you owe it to yourself to do so.  It’s a virtual breath of fresh air and a ray of sunshine rolled into one.

From the bottom of my heart, thanks Mel.  HUGE hugs to you for your dedication and tenacity.

Happy stitching!

 

Kaaren