Tag Archives: Vintage Fabric

Daisy Chain – Finished

This finished Daisy Chain quilt may be new to you, but it doesn’t feel that way to me! I think I’ve had this quilt done for over a year and it’s just been sitting in a quilt pile waiting to make it on the blog.  Today is the day that happens!

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These quilt pictures were taken on the Brooklyn Bridge and in the neighborhood right next to the bridge, DUMBO.

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I’ve always wanted to take a quilt picture on the Brooklyn Bridge, but unfortunately it was a very cold and windy day in New York when I finally hauled a quilt up there and it was nearly impossible to get a good shot.  So we decided to walk around DUMBO and get some pictures there, too.

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The fabric is Annabel Wrigley’s Daisy Chain collection from Windham.  You can read more about the fabric and this pattern in my first blog post about this quilt here.  Windham describes the collection as “a modern take on the vintage floral vibe,” and I would say that’s about right.

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In fact, I was getting such a 70s vibe from the fabric I thought using a vintage floral bedsheet for the backing would be a perfect match, and it is!

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This sheet was discovered in a drawer at my parents’ house.  It had never been used and my mom didn’t want it so I claimed it.

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A note about using vintage sheets: Most of them are a cotton/poly mix.  That may turn some people off but I’m fine with it.  I did pre-wash the sheet in hot water to make sure it wouldn’t shrink later.  I have not washed the finished quilt yet but I don’t anticipate any problems.

When you touch it you can tell that it has some polyester in it, but I find it weirdly comforting, in a way that reminds me of sleeping in cotton/poly blended sheets as a kid.

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In short, I recommend giving those old bed sheets a try.  I’ve been slowly collecting them and one day will make an entire quilt out of old sheets.  More on that later.

Half Hexagons – Finished

The Half Hexagons quilt featuring Denyse Schmidt’s Katie Jump Rope fabric is officially done!

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When I first posted the quilt top in a June blog post, I was seriously rethinking my decision to group the fabrics together by print instead of randomly distributing them throughout the quilt.  I still think I probably should have randomly distributed them, but the groupings have kind of grown on me.

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For the back of the quilt, I used a vintage piece of fabric I found in an old box of my grandma’s quilting supplies.

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The colors, the little flowers…I think it works perfectly with the Katie Jump Rope fabric.

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It’s hard to see in the images, but the quilting is really dense quilting that follows the hexagons.

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So there you have it!  Another Denyse Schmidt quilt in the books.

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P.S. I have so much Denyse Schmidt fabric I could make quilts with only DS fabric for the next few years and never run out.  Seriously.

Grandma’s Scrappy Pinwheels

Don’t you love scrappy quilts?  I know I do.  And so did my grandma, who was the queen of scrappy quilts and using whatever fabric you’ve got.

Today, I’m sharing another one of the quilts she made and I finished; She made the quilt top, and I put it together and did the quilting.  I have to say, I love this one.

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The colors are bright and happy and perfect.

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I think she did a great job coordinating the fabrics and laying out all of the pinwheels, too.

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It took me about a year to find the perfect fabric for the back of this quilt.  I found this multi-color confetti dot fabric by Dear Stella over the holidays last year.  Once I saw it, I immediately knew it was the one.

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I like the modern confetti dot pattern with the vintage fabrics in the pinwheels.  Plus, the colors in the confetti dot coordinate perfectly with the colors in the quilt top.

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For the binding, I didn’t have to figure it out because my grandma had already taken care of that!  Almost all, if not all, of the quilts my grandma has made in her life have used these little triangles for the binding.  Whenever I see them, I think of her.

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Also, don’t you love the polka dot border?!?!

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So there you have another one of my grandma’s quilts.  The other quilts of hers I’ve finished are this Vintage Fans quilt and this Applique Butterfly quilt , if you would like to read about them.  I have one more quilt top left of hers to finish, but more on that one later!

Snail Trail

Happy 2015!  I hope everyone had a happy new year and is ready for a quilt-filled 2015.  I know I am.  I have big plans and lots of quilt to-dos on my list.

First up for 2015 is the Snail Trail quilt.  A couple of weeks ago, while I was home in Iowa for the holidays, I went antiquing with my mom and found an old Snail Trail quilt top that I bought.  I am in love with this quilt and can’t believe I found it.

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I asked the person I bought if from if she had any of the backstory on it, and all she could tell me is that she got it at an auction in Iowa.  I then showed it to someone who knows quite a bit about quilting and sewing, and she estimated that it is from the 1930s or 1940s.  I’m no expert in this, but I can believe that to be true.  The fabric is a little yellowed and there are some places that need mending, but otherwise it’s in pretty good shape.

There is one spot that’s driving me a little nuts but I’m letting it go.  Whoever made this quilt top long ago turned one of the blocks the wrong way.  Do you see it?

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I didn’t think anyone would notice, but then yesterday I posted an image of the quilt on Instagram and my friend immediately texted me to tell me.  I know, I know!  I see it too!  I thought about ripping out the block and fixing it, but I decided it adds character to the quilt, right?  That’s what I’m telling myself anyway.  And technically this is not my quilt top.  Some Iowa person made the quilt years ago and all I’m doing is finishing it off and I don’t want to change it.  So in the words of Frozen, I will “Let it Go.”

Now let’s talk about the back for this quilt.  I thought it would take me quite a bit of time to find the right fabric for it; something that strikes the right balance between looking modern but also looking age appropriate, because the thing I love most about this quilt is how modern (I think) it looks even though it’s so old.  I think the fabric choices and the placement of the different colors really works.  In reality, the person who made this was probably using what they had and wasn’t thinking about making the quilt look modern for 2015, but I think he or she really nailed it.

Anyway, I was in Jo-Ann’s picking up some quilting notions and I swung by the fabric section.  Now, as many quilters know, you have to be careful with fabric shopping at Jo-Ann’s.  They carry a lot of very affordable fabric, which is awesome, but a lot of times that fabric tends to not be of the best quality.  So just be mindful of that when shopping there.  However, they do have some better quality fabric, and in recent years have teamed up with some fabric designers to offer some pretty great collections.  They have had collections with Denyse Schmidt, which I have bought a ton of, and have also had collections with Cloud9 and others.  In this case, I saw the Elizabeth Olwen collection and immediately knew I had found the backing for the quilt.

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The fabric is called Fairytale Gardens Twig Buds.  I think the mustard color design pairs perfectly with the quilt top.  I love it.  Sometimes I have to really think about my fabric choices, but this was a case where I knew instantly what I wanted.  I’m really happy with the design and the fabric feels of good quality.

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Now I’m working on quilting this beauty.  I’ll be back with the finished quilt just as soon as I’m done, so stay tuned.  Hope everyone has a lovely Sunday full of sewing!