Antique Quilts, Trip to the coast

On Sep 29, Wendy and I traveled to the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell MA for a quilt study group meeting and to see the exhibit of Rhode Island quilts.....saw lots of early quilts.....and some Potholder Quilts which I hope Wendy will write about!!

Let's start with this wholecloth using a bird fabric ........

Sorry for the blurriness!  Operator error!  We could not use flash so the photos are a bit dark sometimes.   I enlarged them hoping for better viewing....  This is a patriotic print from early 1800's that was wonderfully re-printed by Moda several years, called "Georgetown" on the selvage but it was before Moda began printing designer names on the selvages.  Moda printed it in 3 background colors: white, tea and light brown.

A small piece of the white background Moda reprint is in the lower right corner below, next to a piece of old fabric.

Love this "Yankee Puzzle" quilt......lots of scraps!  Border is another famous bird print from about 1815 that was done in several colorways.  A friend and I shared a 2.5 yd length of it that she found in an antique shop here in Maine. Think it is the brown colorway.....haven't looked at it for a while so I'd better look for it soon!

This is a reproduction that Fons & Porter did for Benartex several years ago.....line was called "Savannah".

Lovely Ohio Star with a gorgeous pillar print Chintz border!  This section looks like a "blended quilt" with its low contrast........

Isn't this bird print beautiful!  Sometimes there are two birds and sometimes the tree is similar to this palm tree and I've also seen plum trees. 

Recently-received fabrics include "Rue Indienne" by French General for Moda.....love their designs, and colors!

Nice solids were included in "Rue Indienne".

And this is the latest from Jo Morton, "Caswell County". ......nice Paisleys!

Columbus Day weekend was picture perfect here ......guess it would be Indian Summer.....warm days after having frost.  My daughter, granddaughter and I ventured to one of our favorite spots on the Maine coast, Pemaquid Lighthouse.  Water was deep blue and the sunshine was very warm!  Walked on the rocks,p Poked around the gift shop and had lunch on the way home in Wiscasset.........a most memorable day....

Sure wish I owned this house!  

As we drove through Damariscotta, we encountered their annual "Pumpkin Festival" unexpectedly.......a Very Slow Ride the length of Main St to reach the route to Pemaquid!  But is was Most Enjoyable!  I wish I had taken more pictures of the creative uses of large Pumpkins, but this "Pincushion" is most appropriate for me!  

One day as I was climbing the steps to my door, some color caught my eye.....the rosebush blooms in June/July so this must be the Last Rose of Summer for us!!  

Another Book in the Mail!!

Another new book in the mail!  Greatly anticipated revision of one of the "Bibles" of fabric history (Printed Textiles by Florence Montgomery in the 1970's).  As wonderful as her book was, it is now Wonderful to have the photos in color!  Have looked through most of it and am Really Reading this one (have several books going at once as well as an audiobook on Elizabeth I).  Will never live long enough to read all my books, but that's okay....won't use all my fabric either!!!

 Froncie Quinn designed "In the Time of Toile" and included the chintz print that graces the front cover of the book!  Her fabric line was based on a specific quilt in the Shelburne Museum collection (VT).

This gorgeous fabric filled a whole page!  Isn't it truly amazing the designs and colors used 150 to 200 years ago and that many have survived so well?!

This fabric is found on page 258 and was printed in Britain in 1808.......

This reproduction below was found, until recently, in my shop!  Part of the Cadet Paisley line by Andover Fabrics.

Arriving the same day was also the latest issue of Quiltmania......nice LONG spread of photos from the Melbourne Australia show!  Those Australian ladies make the most wonderful quilts!!  And I found a pattern idea for a quilt I want to make.......as if I need to begin anything at all until I have some Finishes!!

Sampling of some 3.75" log cabin blocks from the recently completed batch of 82!  Now I need to cut more red center squares and start all over again!  Can't really say it is Work because I Enjoy making them so much!  Will need 400 and have 177 .........223 to go......don't think I will even need to cut more strips as the shoeboxes are still pretty full!

This is the stack of 82 blocks......4.5" tall!

AND, I finished another batch of Railfence Leaders and Enders.  Need 576 of these little darlings.....have 268.......so need 308!  Sounds daunting but sometimes I just sit and sew them.....think I will finish sooner than if I just use them for leaders/enders!!  These 24 blocks would make a sweet little quilt and if I had not already made one in Jo's Club a few years back, I might be tempted to do just that!

Love looking at the stacks in the box but will love them even more when in a quilt!  Time to separate them into two boxes....this one is full!

This is my little Reminder that I keep handy......haven't worked on the little Shoofly blocks for a while.  There are other WIPs .......too many of them!  But, that is what keeps life interesting.....

And new fabric!  This is from American Jane (Moda) and maybe not intended as a reproduction but it is.......looks French provencal!!

Customers have said they would love this stripe for tablecloths!  

Have been writing this for several days with several life interruptions and finally have most all paperwork caught up so will reward myself for the rest of the day with some sewing room/audiobook time!  Fish chowder for supper will need only re-heating!

When I was in the fifth grade, I had a teacher whom I dreaded getting as I had heard she was strict.  Well, she turned out to be my favorite all-time teacher......no one was more strict OR more fair....you could hear a pin drop in her classroom and if someone acted out, a look from her was all that was necessary.  She had us memorize a new poem each month and I always loved the one from October  (December was The Night Before Christmas....a long one!)  Helen Hunt Jackson also wrote a lovely poem for September that I will try to remember time September rolls around!

October's Bright Blue Weather

O suns and skies and clouds of June,
And flowers of June together,
Ye cannot rival for one hour
October's bright blue weather;

When loud the bumblebee makes haste,
Belated, thriftless vagrant,
And goldenrod is dying fast,
And lanes with grapes are fragrant;

When gentians roll their fingers tight
To save them for the morning,
And chestnuts fall from satin burrs
Without a sound of warning;

When on the ground red apples lie
In piles like jewels shining,
And redder still on old stone walls
Are leaves of woodbine twining;

When all the lovely wayside things
Their white-winged seeds are sowing,
And in the fields still green and fair,
Late aftermaths are growing;

When springs run low, and on the brooks,
In idle golden freighting,
Bright leaves sink noiseless in the hush
Of woods, for winter waiting;

When comrades seek sweet country haunts,
By twos and twos together,
And count like misers, hour by hour,
October's bright blue weather.

O sun and skies and flowers of June,
Count all your boasts together,
Love loveth best of all the year
October's bright blue weather. 

Helen Hunt Jackson  (1830-1885)