It’s hard to judge which took longer — hand cutting the 5,110 triangles, or sewing them together. Originally I had planned to put these triangles on a design wall, but that never happened because I soon realized it was a crazy idea. Other than including one light-ish and one-darkish piece in the two-triangle units, I…
Since many of you are probably experiencing snow and freezing temperatures, here is a fun indoor activity for your children or grandchildren. My younger sister and I loved these activity books when we were little and, because this book was published about a decade earlier, it is even cooler than the books I remember (the…
This is a great old Art Deco catalog, advertising needlework patterns and transfers for sale in 1927. Because the illustrations are so small, I have scanned portions of the pages at a higher resolution than usual. Clicking twice on any of the images will allow you to view them full size (and read the text…
It’s shocking to me that it was almost exactly 3 years ago that Lori (Humble Quilts) sponsored this doll quilt-a-long. It took me 3 months to finish the top, and then the poor thing sat in the queue for the longest time. Of course, mine isn’t a doll quilt, but still . . . I…
I’m pretty surprised I’ve never made a stocking out of a vintage quilt before, because it seems like something that would be right up my alley. When I was thinking about what kind of stocking I wanted to make for Cirilia, who is my son’s girlfriend, I initially thought I might try knitting, since she…
Best & Co. was a New York company founded in 1879 by Albert Best, and was initially named the “Liliputian Bazaar.” This 1953 catalog still references the original name with a funny illustration of a hand holding some very tiny children. I had never heard of Best & Co., probably because all of the stores…
Clicking on the pattern image below will open a full-sized pdf file. Scroll to the bottom of the image, and click on the download button. Open the downloaded file in Acrobat Reader, and select “poster” in the print dialog box. This will allow you to tile print the original pattern size on multiple sheets of letter…
This is one of those unusual patterns where the main pattern (the sunburst) appears only when you sew the blocks together. Click a couple of times on the image below to enlarge it to the original size (28″ x 17″). I love this pattern, and I think the construction is interesting, but it’s pretty tricky…
A couple of months ago I saw this adorable quilt, which sold on ebay for $550. I had never seen this pattern before, and was unable to find it in any of my reference books. It’s probably a published pattern, but I think it would be pretty cool if the quilter designed this herself. Although…
George Carlson, Illustrator Hazel Frazee, Illustrator Fern Bisel Peat, Illustrator
Lots to Color Western Publishing, 1953 Eileen Vaughan, Illustrator
First of all, I want to thank everyone who made a comment on my Flower Garden Quilt Quandary. After reading all the comments (most of which politely suggested that I am crazy to take this quilt apart), and looking over the quilt again, I have decided to keep the set the way the quilter intended….
Here is my most recent purchase on ebay — a big quilt top made up of single flower garden blocks sewn together without a path. When I purchased it, I was planning on taking the blocks apart and resetting them, but now that I’ve seen it in person, I’m having doubts. The top is a…
This pattern was published by Florence LaGanke in the 1930s, and was part of the Nancy Page Quilt Club series. The instructions call for each bird to be framed by appliqued fabric pieces meant to resemble strips of wood. Thumbnails of the bird patterns are shown below (click to enlarge), and the complete pattern with…
Ladies Home Journal October, 1920 John G. Scott, Illustrator