The fan pattern is one of my favorites. I’ve completed two fan quilts and have two others in progress. I like all fans — smooth, pointy or scalloped. I purchased the fan blades for this quilt on ebay, and they were so clean, all I had to do was trim them a bit to fit my template. I was surprised to see some fabrics that I recognized from the quilt shop. It’s funny — even though they’re called “reproduction” fabrics, I hadn’t realized that they actually are exact copies of the old patterns. Too bad they only reproduce the cute ones, because a I think a few “ugly” (although I don’t find them ugly) prints add to the appeal of real vintage quilts. I’m not a complete purist about the vintage thing. Most of my quilts are made with vintage fabric, but occasionally I add a repro when I don’t have just the right color of vintage fabric for a block (rare) or I need a larger piece for borders or binding (more common).
This is a rather feminine quilt with it’s pastel colors and bow and heart quilting. Everything was done by hand, except the front side of the binding. The solid green and the binding (and 3 or 4 blades) are reproduction fabrics. Originally I made all of my quilts with muslin backs (like this one), but gradually I have made more with printed fabric. I think the printed backs are so cute, but I sort of miss being able to see the quilting pattern on the back.
Grandmother’s Fan
Martha Dellasega Gray, 2005
hand pieced, appliquéd & quilted
57″ x 77″
I love this quilt. I wonder if you have the instructions on to make this quilt. I like the rounded fan blades but not sure how to piece it together.
Can you please tell me how you attached the handle of the fan to the block.
I prefer your fan with only 5 blades. I, too, would love to know where to buy this pattern. Thanks for any help.
Molly
I would like to make this quilt, how do i get the pattern and the instructions? My email address is carolabirss@gmail.com. If anyone knows ply could you send me a email. I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you
Carol-Ann Birss
I rarely use published patterns for my quilts. If I see a quilt I like, I just draw up a pattern myself and trace it to make plastic templates.
The fans in this quilt were hand pieced, including the base. If you sew the blades together leaving 1/4” open at the curved end, you can turn the curved fan edges in 1/4” and appliqué the fan to your muslin square. Once this is done, I turn the block over and remove the fabric from behind the fan to reduce bulk. I then used those scraps to cut the muslin pieces for the border.