Why Bother?

The sudden burst of summer-like weather has meant that it's too hot for me to pin baste my vintage stars quilt for quilting. I use a table tennis table in our shed and as the shed isn't insulated it gets very hot in there. We are expecting cooler weather later in the week so as a change of pace I pulled out these vintage star blocks to work on instead. These are from a cutter quilt I bought some years ago from the US. It was tied and is from the 1930s or 1940s. Several of the blocks had started to come apart and when I took the blocks apart I could see why.

 They were stitched with double thread which was still in good condition but the pieces hadn't been cut very accurately and the stitching had gaps in some blocks which ranged from 1/4" to 3/8ths of an inch apart. This meant that some of the seams were opening up and the knots in the thread were 1/16th to 1/8th of an inch in size which meant that they didn't sit accurately. Most of the fabric is in good condition but faded but some of the white pieces are stained and quite frail.

I've started to take the stars apart and there are 42 in total. It was a single bed size but the stars were separated by pink floral sashing which wasn't very attractive and was quite faded. I've saved the sashing which is in good condition and I plan to make more stars using this fabric as it will tie in nicely with the others. The stars are mainly in pink and the pattern is Sawtooth Star.

 I've washed the deconstructed pieces which will help to close the stitching holes left by removing the threads and then I re-drafted a pattern so that I can use the pieces of fabric in a slightly smaller size and avoid some of the areas of wear. I'm also replacing some of the fragile white fabric with fabric from my stash of off white. I may discard some of the stars but by re-making them I can make sure they will be in good condition. I made one new star from the pieces so far and I'm very happy with the result. I was going to hand piece it but I think it's easier to use the sewing machine and it places less stress on the fabric. I will be remaking these stars and finishing them off as a new/old vintage quilt.

So why bother with all this extra work? Well I love to finish off UFOs, both mine and other people's and by remaking the blocks and re-quilting them it will give it a much longer life and bring enjoyment as I just LOVE antique and vintage quilts. I love to bring these old quilts back to life and as it is 75 to 85 years old, I love to think of the life of the original quilter and hope that she is pleased with what I am doing to prolong the life of her well-loved quilt. I'll post progress as I get more blocks done but at the moment I'm mainly working on deconstructing the stars, washing the pieces and then re-cutting them. The modern aids we have like rotary cutters makes this so much easier than it would have been for the original quilter.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Jan Mac

Spending the Day with Joseph

 I've been neglecting Joseph and his Coat for most of the week and have been spring  cleaning and making QAYG blocks instead. I've also been busy putting more QAYG blocks into quilts and finished off another one yesterday (shown on my other blog soon).
Today it was time to spend sewing on more buttons and piecing the last row of blocks together. I only have 4 more blocks to add and then it will be finished. I have sewn all the buttons on so far and then will have to applique the top to the border pieces.Then I can concentrate on making the half square triangles for the outer border. I was thinking of making the quilt larger as I was enjoying the piecing so much but I have the next quilt I want to make already planned so this may be large enough as it is. I'll make my decision when I have the last row pieced together as I have cut more petals than I need but I've also found some more 1930s repro fabric that I can use for variety.
  I'm also planning the quilting for the 1930s star top I've recently finished so it looks like I will be busy for a while.
Thanks for stopping by.
Hugs, Jan Mac

A Flurry of Scrap Busting.

 I delivered 10 more quilts this week and have been busting though more scraps to make QAYG blocks. I've even been piecing them together to make the backs of the blocks and there's still more to get out of the containers and into quilts.
I have managed to empty one large drawer and several smaller containers so I can see some progress. I've  were also been throwing out all the patterns etc that I've downloaded and printed off as I know that I will never live long enough to use them up. Next I plan to sort through and donate the bought patterns I know I won't use.
 I am going to use the storage drawers to store the patterns I do want to make for me and cleaning out the clutter will give me room for things I want to keep. It is taking me a while to get through the scraps but at least I've been productive with making the blocks and I made 3 more QAYG quilts yesterday so I am getting results. The photos of the finished quilts are on my other blog and I'd better get back to the machine and keep cleaning out the old scraps.
Hugs, Jan Mac

It's Time

 I've had another productive day with finishing off 2 more QAYG quilts from donated blocks. I'm also working my way through many small containers of cut squares. I've made more QAYG blocks and I'm also using up squares which have been sitting in containers for 20 years or more. Some of them are from dressmaking scraps and it's time they were used. I'm randomly piecing them into backing sqs for more QAYG blocks. I don't seem to have made much of a dent in the amount yet but there's always tomorrow.
 Check out my other blog for more finished quilts and thanks for stopping by.
Hugs, Jan Mac

Taming the Scraps

 It's springtime here in Australia and I've been inspired to start spring cleaning. The weather is lovely and that has made me feel like clearing out the old scraps so I can make more new quilts. I've taken 4 weeks off paid work and we were supposed to be going to Western Australia. However we've had a change of plans so I'm enjoying some time at home.
 My lovely father is 87 and has had some recent health challenges which has resulted in him relinquishing his driver's licence. Luckily he is mentally able to accept this decision but it has meant a change in the amount of support he needs. It's been lovely to have more time to spend with him, taking him shopping for his groceries etc and just having a cup of coffee in the sun. We are deliberately making time for short outings so he doesn't feel house-bound and I've been quilting late into the night instead.
   Last night I was sewing until 11.30pm and didn't even realize that it was so late. I managed to finish 2 QAYG quilts from donated blocks as well as making more QAYG blocks from my many scraps.
It's a good way to tidy up my sewing room by sewing scraps into blocks and I find that I use up the scraps if I leave them in long skinny string pieces rather than cutting them into different sized squares. Cutting the squares is not the problem but when they are cut and sorted into storage I seem to forget them and I don't use them in my scrappy quilts. Whereas if I have lots of leftover string pieces of scraps, or even sew several smaller pieces into long strings then I use them up quickly in QAYG squares. Have I tidied the sewing room yet? No but it's an ongoing process LOL!
 Every now and then it is useful to examine what I actually use the most of and not waste time cutting pieces I won't use.
 I'll show both the quilts on my other blog tomorrow when I have another one of today's finishes photographed and ready to show. Thanks for stopping by.
Hugs, Jan Mac

Almost There

I can't believe that I have almost pieced the whole top so quickly. I started it in a class with Chris Serong just 4 weeks ago and it has been surprisingly easy to make the blocks and join them together. Making the buttons has taken more time than the petals and it is all hand pieced but the buttons are appliqued on top. In spare time I have also started making 2.5" half square triangles with the left overs as I am changing the border from that of the pattern.
  I may also make the quilt a bit larger as I have cut enough petals to make a larger top and I'm enjoying it so much that it won't be a hardship at all to enlarge it. Hopefully you are also getting some time to stitch.
 I'm off to make more buttons now.
Hugs, Jan Mac

Sewing on Buttons

 I had planned to stitch the needle turn applique for the borders of my Baltimore Album quilt but I just can't stop working on my Joseph's Coat with Buttons top. I have now joined a third of the top together and have enough blocks finished for another row. Progress seems to have been a bit slower this week as I have had to make and applique the yellow buttons where each petal intersects.
  I am very surprised at how quickly this top is growing and really just want to get it completely finished before I put it aside for something else and lose the momentum. Now I'm working on making more buttons to keep up with piecing all the rows and blocks together. It's been lovely to have a break from my paid work too.
Hugs, Jan Mac
PS I took away the visitor counter as it had reset itself again for no reason and wasn't worth persevering with when it was obviously inaccurate but please leave a comment so i know someone is reading lol!