Day 26 - Sending Sunshine

After wintery days, it is nice to remember the summer sunshine so I'm sharing a few miniature landscapes I've made in honor of my home in Moab, Utah in the high desert.

This is one of my all time favorite quilts: Miniature Moab Landscape (9" w X 6.5" h). It shows the beauty of my hometown of Moab, Utah. It won best miniature (hand quilted) at the 2004 Springville Quilt Show at the Springville Art Museum (Utah) and also best miniature at the 2003 Utah Quilt Guild. Also shown at the NQA show. I like working small.

Mini Moab Landscape - pattern is available on my etsy shop.

This vertical version is a bit bigger but still only 8 1/2" x 11 (page sized).
My Corner of the World,  made for the 2006 Journal Quilt Project - a special exhibit shown at the Houston International Quilt Show.  Page sized, part of my miniature Moab, Utah  landscape series.

It is over a 100 degrees almost everywhere in Utah today and I think this quilt captures the feeling of HOT, HOT, HOT!

The postcard I made for the Cyber Fyber art exchange and exhibition. The 3rd in my Moab Landscape series (click on landscape quilt on right to see the other two). It was interesting to develop a new technique (machine applique, no raw edges) to make this mini quilt. I attached the pieces with yarn and decorative trims, sewing over the folded seam allowances: piecing, quilting and embellishing all in one step. #1 in the series was all hand appliqued and hand quilted so this was quite a departure but definitely a technique I will use again.

Day 25 Bethlehem Christmas Star

Perfect Christmas quilt - Bethlehem Star!

Day 24 Christmas Love Birds

Detail of c. 1850 crib quilt clearly made for a much loved little one. Love the tiny tail feathers on that red bird!

Whig Rose Center

36" x 36" Antique Crib Quilt

day 23 Super Christmasy Quilt

This is probably my most Christmas-y quilt.
Wreath or Horn - so cheerful

Cheery curved floral border.

The full quilt

Detail of quilting  and note the applique dots with embroidered stems.

day 22 Red and Green Applique Beauty

Part of the Sandra Starley antique quilt traveling collection - I'd love to share it with you in the cloth!
c. 1850 applique sampler

From the auction listing:
Pieced and appliqued cotton quilt with urn of flowers design. American.
Hand stitched quilt composed of four urn of flowers motifs interspersed with oak leaves and acorns, a wreath of flowers, a leafy pinwheel and floral sprays with undulating flowering vine borders in shades of green, red, orange, pink, navy, and brown solid and printed fabrics on a white ground with white backing and diamond stitched quilting throughout.
.

80" X 90"

21 More Christmasy Quilts -Caesars Crowns

This Caesar's Crown top seems quite Christmasy with the seconday design of a cross or 4 bells.
C. 1860 from SE Pennsylvania.

Caesars Crown is not a very common pattern due to the difficult curved piecing involved in the design. YES, you read that correctly, the block was generally curved pieced not appliqued. In finding a few more to add to my collection, I was surprised to find that it was used as a signature quilt pattern in the 1840s and 1850s and even a century later in the 1940s and 50s.

Detail of a signature Caesar's Crown quilt from Berks and Montgomery Counties in Pennsylvania, Dated 1851 and the names and inscriptions were written by a paid professional scrivener and he signed one of the blocks- Edwin G. Fritz. German community. I'd love to find some other signature quilts or frakturs, birth announcements etc. signed and written by him. Starley antique collection.

And here is one more. It is also a signature quilt (top) dated 1850 and likely also from Pennsylvania.The writer on this one was a likely from a German community.

Day 20ish More Christmasy Quilts

Signature quilt from New Jersey circa 1860

Oak leaf and reproduction

day 19 more christmasy quilts -DOTS

Love this Christmasy quilt from my collection. c. 1850. It is a unique version of the Cockscomb and Currant pattern. Usually the stem with dots spin out from the center as 4 separate pieces.

An extra special detail: the 4 flower baskets in the border

Another supper dotty antique quilt- the pattern is Cherry or Foundation Rose and Pine Tree. Starley Collection.

18 More Christmas-y Quilts

Reel Quilts

An elegant reel block quilt  in red and green. 1850- likely from Maryland. Love the secondary design created by the  block placement and of course that swag and tassel border!

Close up of the swag border- look at the quilting under the green swag piece - yes those are 2 spoons. Now look above the swag- a pair of quilted scissors. Be sure to click on the photo to enlarge so you can see the quilting.

And here is another Reel block but this one is a left over from a dated 1846 Reel quilt top and it was recycled into a  English paper pieced Star quilt dated 1850, shown below.

Enoch and Mary Hoopes Worrall's signature quilt from Chester Co., Pennsylvania.. The corner reel blocks are from a reel quilt made for Enoch and Mary's daughter, Mary Worrall. The Worrall's were Quakers and the quilt is family record/genealogy quilts with other wonderful details.

17 ish More Christmasy quilty love

Details of this amazing antique signature album quilt made for Sister Esther McAlister of New York City. Dated 1858. Quilt is full of heart motifs and loving tribute inscriptions.

Day 16 Some Christmasy Red and Green

Can't believe it is almost Christmas! Time to share some antique beauties with you. And if you'd like to see these in the cloth. I'm available to come to your guild, shop, or show. I love sharing these and making people smile. I have a variety of trunk show/talks, 1/2 day and all day quilt history classes and also classes that combine sewing with antique viewing.

2 blocks of turkey red prints with lovely delicate blue details. c. 1850.

The quilt has beautiful quilting. Below is a maple leaf - stem is bottom right and leaf is pointing left (it helps to hold your head sideways). Click on the photo to enlarge.

A cool quilted sunflower

Like many early quilts - it is very large. 96" x 100"

Large size is often a good clue to an early quilt.

Preview of tomorrow's quilt - come back for more Christmasy quilts

Day 15 - Pick Me I'm Cute

Pick Me, I'm Cute (Flower Humor) 

2010 Sandra Starley - original design

Part of my Word Play series

finished for the 2010 Hoffman Challenge 

Selected to travel across the US in the challenge

The 2010 challenge fabric:

However, the quilt was started for the 2009 Hoffman Challenge 

All the letter were completed but life intervened ...

 Here are the 2009 letters before they were trimmed and integrated to work with the 2010 blue fabric

And here are a couple of close ups of the altered blocks

I'm glad I got it finished and accepted into the 2010 challenge and that I didn't give up!