The little 19th century quilt is just a top now, because someone decided to separate it from its backing and batting. You can still see remnants of the quilting stitches (a basic outline pattern) and where the binding was attached. I’m thinking it was once a crib quilt because of its scale and size (43″ x 50″),…
I love this unusual pattern, but I have not been able to find a name or photo anywhere. If you have any information about the pattern, I would love to hear from you. The diamond shaped pieces appear to be from the 1950s, with bright solids and small novelty and floral prints. Although it must have…
My sister and I stopped by our favorite Goodwill last week, and I spotted a vintage Singer machine in a cabinet that I recognized as a 15-91 because of the distinctive potted motor on the back. It was a little dusty, but otherwise looked super clean. There were lots of accessories and bobbins in the drawers,…
This is one of two tops that I recently purchased from a seller who bought them at an estate sale (the other top was featured in an earlier post). She thought they were made by the same person, and I suspect that’s true. The hand piecing is similar, and several prints are repeated in both quilts. Like…
These politically incorrect “squaw dresses” were a fad in the 50s, and my mother made elaborate versions for me and two of my sisters. This involved sewing yards of rick-rack on blouses and 3-tired skirts made with vibrantly colored wrinkly cottons marketed, of course, as “squaw cloth.” When I was growing up in Oklahoma, and…
I came across this small article in a 1947 issue of McCall’s Needlework magazine, which sent me looking for more information about Grace Snyder and better photos of her quilt. These types of grid designs have always fascinated me, and I’m a huge fan of Anne Orr’s pieced quilt patterns. Grace, though, takes the grid idea…
Does your partner help with household chores? I am lucky to be married to someone who does almost all of the cooking and lots of other things I won’t mention, because you would begin to wonder what I contribute — besides quilts, of course. Anyway, it’s fairly unusual to see men (even bird men) participating…
Since I first began using vintage and antique fabrics to make my quilts, my sources have been old tops, blocks and scraps that I carefully pick apart. Most of the tops I purchase have issues related to condition and construction, so I never feel guilty about taking them apart. Until last year, only one top I purchased…
I was so pleased to see this pattern in my catalog, because I was able to identify 15 vintage quilt blocks I had purchased in this pattern. Later I found the original pattern, so for this McCall’s Monday I’m able to provide scans of the actual transfers. The pattern instructions from the envelope back are located…
I’m always trying to figure out a way to duplicate these patterns from the very small images on the catalog pages. These Mexican motifs seemed like they would copy easier if they were in grayscale, so I changed them. Click on the images to enlarge.
This cute story about a little boy who makes a simple star quilt appeared as part of a series titled “Daddy’s Bedtime Stories” which was published in the Salina Evening Journal (Salina, Kansas) from 1913 to 1916. Below the story are pieced diagrams for 3 star quilts — two very simple (like the boy in the story…
I’ve added individual images of the appliquéd animals in #1101, just in case you’d like to try printing and tracing the patterns.
The last top I quilted was a wonky antique log cabin variation. This Courthouse Steps version is much crazier in every way — design, fabric selection, and construction (the only consistent element is the red center square in every block). It’s not completely flat, the foundation stitching is too big, and the edges are not straight (the…
