This image is not actually from a vintage children’s book, but I hope you don’t mind. It was drawn by Beatrice Stevens, and published in the Milwaukee Sentinel in July, 1914. The illustrations in the Sentinel are some of the best I’ve seen in old newspapers, there were tons of them, and they were large…
These are more difficult to find than the other major holidays, but I managed to locate a few in my collection. There are some additional transfers in last year’s post.
These elongated triangles were part of a lot I purchased on ebay several years ago. There were some vintage quilt blocks and cardboard templates, but the real prize was an old shoebox packed with about a zillion different triangle swatches in three sizes. Today, in keeping with the theme, I have picked out a few…
In honor of our upcoming Independence Day, here is a vintage quilt pattern booklet featuring Centennial Quilts.
A couple of years ago I purchased a bolt of Irish linen manufactured by Belfast Mills. The linen is off-white with a beautiful feel and nice light weight; probably produced in the 30s or 40s, but possibly earlier. I’ve been hesitating to cut into it, but I finally got up the courage. The machine appliqued…
This is my new book, and I love it so much. Each of the ABC pages has a companion outline page to paint, but they are all colored or painted and would be nearly impossible to clean up. Fortunately, the example pages are in good shape. ABC Painting Reading Whitman Publishing, 1934
This booklet was in the box of old transfers and lace I found at a thrift shop in Utah during our road trip last year. According to sewingpalette.com, Royal Society sold thread, yarns, kits and needlework pattern books from 1915 through the 1920s. “In the early 1920s the company produced a series of hot iron…
For some strange reason, among the main 1930s fabric colors, yellow prints are hard to find. I’m always so happy to see any yellows in a group of purchased scraps or pieces.
This pattern is from a 1985 Lady’s Circle Patchwork Quilts magazine, which featured quilts and quilt patterns from New York state. If I were going to make this block, I think I would redraw the bluebird to make him just a little shorter and chubbier than the one in this pattern. After reading Tina’s comment,…
Originally I planned to do more detailed quilting in the border of this quilt, but in the end I thought it looked better just to repeat the design in the sashing. It’s kind of hard to do elaborate quilting on doll quilts because of the small scale and all the seams. The binding and backing…
Here are more illustrations from one of my favorite old coloring books (earlier group here). My favorite, the accordion, is for Gina. Click images to enlarge.
Here’s the last of these cute kitchen transfers (click here for the other images from this group). Unfortunately, my cat attacked the tissue paper, and damaged a bowl and a measuring cup. Maybe I can reconstruct them in Photoshop.
More Depression era salesman sample swatches, this time in shades of lavender.
Hopefully I have scanned these booklet pages at a high enough resolution to allow you to enlarge these small motifs and turn them into patterns. More hand quilting patterns can be found here.
Do you have any of those embarrassing projects that were almost done, but then somehow never made it to the finish line? My sampler should qualify, having been made for my (now 30 year old) son shortly after he was born. I finished the sampler in a reasonable amount of time, but it has languished…