Stories from the Sewing Room

Last week I mentioned I was going to a workshop on dating antique quilts. We were a small group and each of us had brought two to three quilts that we got to examine. It was a very pleasant way to spend a morning. I own two antique quilts of unknown provenance. While the presenter, Dale Drake, was unable to determine the age of one of them, she said the date on the other is probably 1850 - 1860 due to the green fabric. (!!) Can you see how the green has discolored the muslin around it? 

Here are some of the things we talked about. You should not wash an antique quilt unless you are prepared to lose it. If you wash it, use a very clean bathtub and two tablespoons of Orvus soap. Rinse thoroughly and remove as much water as you can. It's best to air dry flat between two white sheets. 

Another way to clean a textile is to use a fiberglass screen and the hose attachment on your vacuum. I did purchase a polyester ironing screen on Amazon, but haven't tried this yet. 

Rather than typing more things, I will refer you to the Smithsonian Institute for more information on cleaning and storing textiles.

If you own an antique quilt that you know any bit of information about, make a label that notes what you know and hand stitch it to the back of your quilt. It could be where and when you purchased it, how much you paid, who made it, approximate age, etc. Of course, labeling is always a good idea for any quilt. I am the worst about putting a label on a quilt!

After the workshop, we had open sew day. I worked on my Grassy Creek borders a bit more. I had to leave a bit early because my husband needed my vehicle (the only one with a hitch for the utility trailer). I sort of want to work on these now and get them done. I'm not even close to halfway, sadly. Maybe I should be brave and pick it for next month's OMG. We'll see.

I have been very slowly making progress on my Betty quilt. I finished all the blocks yesterday. I changed my mind on which fabric I want to use for the sashing and borders. This means that I will need to very creatively piece the back--and remember to pull out some fabric for the binding before I start piecing the back. I was going to use the brown in the lower right for the sashing, but changed my mind. Now I'm going to use the aqua in the lower left. I also have charm squares and the other three pieces. Should I use the aqua math print or the brown ruler print for binding? 🤔 I'll probably let my daughter decide. 

Over on the longarm, I've completed a few quilts. I got slowed down a bit when I decided to do my annual cleaning on the longarm and discovered an issue in my tension assembly. The inside of the one piece was covered in some brown dust. This part was very easy to clean with rubbing alcohol.

Ok, back to quilting now that the machine is put back together. These quilts all belong to Linda. This first one is quilted with Alfalfa. She hand pieced all the hexagons!

This one is quilted with Primrose Stipple.

And Stipple on the last one. 

Out in the garden, I harvested 12 ounces of green beans, which I promptly blanched and then froze. I learned my lesson from last week's loss.

I also had more cucumbers than I thought. I discovered that I accidentally planted the wrong type. This particular variety has very fine, prickly/hairy skin (think 5 o'clock shadow) and shrivels almost immediately after picking. In my opinion, they aren't good for eating, but are okay for freezer pickles and/or relish. I DO NOT need any more relish since we're still working on jars from years past. I thought I'd have enough for a quarter batch of freezer pickles, but decided against using the parts that had major insect damage. So I bought a few small cukes at the grocery store to have enough and made my quarter batch, using four to five cups of sliced cukes, which is two freezer containers, of pickles. The chickens got the insect damaged parts. They were scared of the whole cucumber, but ate it once my daughter broke it in half. 

My zucchini are still struggling. All but one have gotten blossom end rot. Not sure of the cause or combo of causes. No ripe tomatoes yet, but lots of green ones. The beets are very close to harvest. Have you ever eaten beet greens? What is your favorite method of preparation?

I've been having issues trying to comment on blogs, and I'm thinking I'm not alone based on all the anonymous comments I've gotten recently. Thanks for still making the effort to comment! Leave your name and/or blog or email and I'll try to respond to you directly. Or send me a message using the form at right so that I can email you. 

Linking with For the Love of Geese, My Quilt Infatuation,  and Alycia Quilts.

I have a finish! A really tardy one, but still a finish. I ran a block of the month program for the smaller guild I belong to in 2021. I pieced all the blocks in 2020 because I had to write all the instructions, but since we did it as a mystery, I couldn't sew together any of my blocks. I pieced the top together in 2022 and quilted it in December of 2022. Here's a picture of the completed quilt. 

Edit: a couple closer pictures with more accurate color.

I also got all the rows assembled for my Melodic Mystery--this month's OMG. I was so surprised that I was able to complete all the rows in just a few hours. Now I need to press the rows and sew them together into a top. And then figure out quilting and binding. Baby steps. 

I'm working on binding the Board & Batten quilt from the QAL earlier this year, so hopefully I'll have another finish in a week or two.

I've done a few quilts this week. First up is Mary Ann's, quilted with Gulf Stream.

Next is Amber's king size, also quilted with Gulf Stream.

Then Melissa's, quilted with Zupas. 

And Deb's, quilted with In the Swirls.

Last night the speaker in the big guild was Carey Champion from the Wylie House (you can do a virtual tour from the info page linked), part of Indiana University. She brought tons of antique quilts to show us. Most have been donated and they use them in the exhibits. I tried to grab a few photos to share because the quilts were stunning. The vast majority of the quilts she showed were from the 1800s.

This next one was absolutely huge and all the hexies were fussy cut.

Look at this quilting!

The tiny HST in this one were about 1" finished! I thought the scalloped edge was unusual.

 

And now for the most fun one...remember Paula's Harry Styles quilt from a few weeks ago? Here is the 1800s version!

This quilt is a newer one in their collection and they think maybe it is William Henry Harrison.

I hope you enjoyed the mini show. See you next week!

Oh, one last thing. Remember when I said my sewing chair broke in half while I was sitting on it? The part ordered from China arrived very quickly and the chair is now repaired.

Linking with My Quilt Infatuation, For the Love of Geese, Alycia Quilts, and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.