The Chester County Criswell Quilt.

Block 13- The central block and equivalent to 4 other blocks in size.

 Thanks to my new skills in back basting as well as spending time at airports, I have made a lot of progress in catching up with my CCCQ blocks. I am now thinking about how I will put them together for quilting which means the end is in sight.
 Sharon of Two Bits Patches is providing 33 blocks for this BOM and we have 26 so far. I expect to be caught up with them by the time we receive our last block.
I have 3 more ready to back baste and join these. I wasn't sure I liked the odd looking leaf and floral blocks but now I think it adds some visual interest. I have laid them out in no particular order so I expect they will look better when properly situated in the quilt.
Many thanks for sharing your family's keepsake with us Sharon and allowing us to join you in recreating this lovely quilt.
Hugs, Jan Mac

Block 24

Blocks completed to date.

Noah and Matilda Album Quilt

Yes I know I have enough needle turn applique projects on the go already but as I love applique you can never have too many appliqued quilts. I joined up with Dawn's BOM on Collector with a Needle's blog. The blocks measure 8 inches finished and are really cute. Dawn reproduces antique quilts and her patterns are very easy to follow. As I'm on a back basting binge I also prepped blocks for this BOM and plan to get caught up with them really soon.
Dawn posts 4 blocks a month but they aren't complicated and this timetable should be doable. I've had too many other things to work on first so I am behind but that doesn't matter. I can see that my Chester County Criswell Quilt will be coming to an end soon and these blocks will take their place.
  Pop over to Dawn's blog page and sign up as she is still offering the BOM and the cost is only $5US per month and I think that's good value for 4 patterns. The patterns are available to download via the internet and they will make a cute album quilt with a different style.
  I have a few applique quilts on the go in civil war colours so I have chosen to make these in brighter and more modern colours for a change. Sorry the photo of the two single blocks are on the side. I can't figure out how to change that and time is awasting as I have more stitching ready to go.
 I hope you're all getting some time to stitch as well.
 Call back soon as I will have more to show and share very soon.
 Hugs, Jan Mac

Hexagon Progress.

 I'm surprised at how quickly these hexagon flowers grow once the originals are de-constructed. I am making them a slightly smaller size to avoid the frayed edges of the hexagons. Originally they were 1 inch in size but these measure 3/4 of an inch. I'm piecing these over papers as the original hexagons were hand-pieced and the white ones were pieced in-accurately and were quite a bit out of shape. The paper allows me to retain the hexagon shape and they will look much better when the colored cardboard is removed from the hexes.
I'm happy with my progress despite still being caught up with spring cleaning.
Thanks for stopping by.
Hugs, Jan Mac

Hexagon Madness.

Here is where I share my weirdness with you all. I love to take old tops, blocks and cutter quilts and re-make them. Yes it takes more time than making a quilt from new fabric but I love to give these old treasures new life. I bought this 1930s hexagon piece at the IQF in Houston. It had been made into a dresser runner with a lace edge along one long side. The hexagons were nicely made but the white hexagons in the pathways look like they were made by someone else as they are not all hexagon in shape where they are stitched. it looks like the hexagon flowers were made by an experienced stitcher as the stitching is fine and the flowers are all regular in shape. However, where the pathways join the flowers, there are folds and edges which are no longer hexagons.

I too lots of photos so I can re-create it as it was intended. The hexagons were 1 inch in soze so I am re-making them as 3/4 inch hexagons which allows me to avoid the seams where they are worn and also allows me to still use those white pathways which seem to be smaller than the hexagon flowers. Some of the hexagon flowers were cut to make the dresser runner and I will re-join these again using the sewing machine so I can use as many of the pieces as possible.

You can see how the hexagons have been cut and edged with lace along one side. I removed the lace and I'm going to repair as many of the hexagons as possible. A couple of the fabrics used in the hexagons have frayed too much to use so they will be eliminated from the re-purposed piece.

Here is the first hexagon flower I've re-stitched. I find that re-purposing the fabric means that I get the old world charm but I can make it sturdy enough that it will last for more years to come.
 If you are interested I'll check back through my blog for more examples of my rescues. So there you have it- I am weird but I love to rescue old pieces and fix them. It makes me feel connected to quilters from the past. No one starts out to make an ugly quilt and I have seen some "interesting" tops and blocks which look so much better when they have been rescued.
 Yes I have plenty of new projects to work on but rescues make me feel good!
Anyone else feel this way?
Hugs, Jan Mac

Mary Koval's Antique Quilts At Houston

I was really pleased to see that Mary and Joe Koval also had a display of some of their beautiful antique quilts. It was wonderful to be able to see the detail up close and as usual the applique quilts were my favourites for all their stunning detail.

This fabulous Tree of Life panel is being reproduced by Mary and will be on sale early next year. The colours were beautiful and I just wish I could have taken a better photo.

Isn't this a cute 1930s quilt.

I didn't even get to see all of the displays at the IQF but I did spend lots of time with the displays that made my heart beat faster. It was such a joy to see so many fabulous quilts from around the world and if you get the chance to attend this wonderful event you will be sure to enjoy it.
Hugs, Jan Mac

Carolyn Konig Was Featured At Houston 2014.

Carolyn Konig was also featured at the IQF at Houston this year and here are her beautiful quilts. All three Australians, Di Ford Hall, Michelle Yeo and Carolyn Konig have had books published by Quiltmania and were invited to display their quilts in Houston as well as give a lecture about quilting in Australia. They gave  brief background information about quilting from our English heritage and how waggas were used in necessity during the depression. They also explained that they drafted their quilt designs, based on antique quilts, and using just a pencil, ruler and eraser.
 Their lecture was very well received and over much too quickly.
Well done ladies! It was lovely to see them being recognized on an international stage.
Hugs, Jan Mac