Two Antique Quilts

Summer in France

Hi everyone! Back to Greece... and to my blog after a long summer in France. I am still busy there restoring my 19th century summer house bought five years ago. I love doing this job and especially  decorating, with the drawback that it keeps me temporarily away from quilting. 

I have sent most of my quilts, the antique ones and those done by me, from Greece to France, with the aim of a future exhibition, but not only : my house is going to be filled with quilts on beds, on couches, hanged on walls...

The above picture shows two antique quilts displayed on the sofa in the living room, bought by one of my sons on ebay in 2014. You can see several pictures of those quilts, with details HERE and HERE.

Four Patch Quilt Finally Hanged!

After my sister hanged her Double Four patch quilt in Paris, I thought it's time for me to hang as well one of my quilts instead of leaving them in a closet or as a sofa's throw. This Four Patch quilt was perfect for the size of a wall in my lounge. I sewed a hanging sleeve at the back, as shown in My tutorial and asked my husband to fix a rod on the wall. I am happy with the result and the good thing is that if ever I get tired of it I can change it easily. It gives a warm and cheerful touch to the room.

Folklore Scrappy Quilt

Under the fig tree

I finished this quilt last year and gave it this name of Folklore because many of my scraps were coming from a line of fabrics called Folklore. I selected those rather strong colors to make a dramatic effect, which is quite unusual for me, as in general I prefer soft tunes. I was influenced by a picture found in an old magazine : Country Quilts of Fall 2005 and I used their pattern.

The pattern names of the blocks are Puss In The Corner and Stepping Stars.

The quilt size is 63" x 75". (1m60 x 1m90).

As I said before, I was not used to work with such strong tunes and the consequence was that, once finished, I folded my Folklore quilt and put it straight in a cupboard. I did not look at it for a whole year! But when I "re-discovered" it this autumn, I fell in love with it!!! I find those cheerfull and warm colors so attractive and I think it makes a perfect decoration for fall. Everybody can now admire it in my lounge!

Have a beautiful Sunday!

Bon dimanche a toutes!

Christine

Scrappy Spools Quilt Finished

Blue backing

On yellow table

With basket

On rattan armchair

This quilt is the second one I did using Kaffe Fassett fabrics. The first one was the Fan pattern which I offered to my niece in Paris. For this second one, I chose the Spools pattern and thought of using more neutral tunes from Kaffe Fassett range in order to give it a warm kind of autumn harmony. I also hoped I would have enough fabrics and leftovers in my stash, and I would not need to buy more, but unfortunately when I displayed the blocks on the design wall, I realized that I did not obtain the wished result and that I would need to get some more fabrics to "break" the too warm harmony. Therefore I ordered some more neutral fabrics and enough yardage of the blue one to use it for the backing. I am quite pleased with the final result, I think this blue fabric cools the whole thing.

Miniature Scrappy Log Cabin Quilt

Mini Log Cabin quilt

In the summer time I enjoy doing miniature quilts, using my scraps.

They are quickly done, and it's a pleasure to hand quilt them early in the morning, before the heat arrives!

 I tried to give this mini scrappy Log Cabin an antique country style. It measures 12 1/4" x 8 1/2".

Log Cabin detail

Log Cabin detail

Backing

Happy summer stitches!
Christine

Kaleidoscope Quilt Top

This is a top I finished many years ago. At that time in Greece it was difficult to find fabrics for quilting. Travelling was expensive, we did not know how to import and we had to wait for somebody of the group to travel abroad and bring us some pieces of fabrics that we were considering as treasures! Very often I asked my sons, students at that time, to bring me fabrics from Paris or London! We would not throw any inch of this precious fabric! So I was collecting whatever scraps nice friends were giving me, and that's how I did this kaleidoscope quilt, without any selection of fabric colors or style. However, since then it remained in a closet with some other tops. I think that one of the reasons is that I was hand quilting all my works, and therefore advancing very slowly. Now I thought of giving it to be machine quilted, so I added a sashing, choosing red color as "in the doubt add red". I like the result and it is now ready to be quilted.

Happy quilting to everyone!

Christine

Antique Scrappy Star Quilt

When I saw this quilt on auction, I thought this one is for me! I could not resist to such colors! Especially to the yellow of the sashings and the violet of the blocks. The person who did this quilt must have had an idea about complementary colors! I as well love the scrappy stars. This is an end 19th century quilt in a very good state, nicely hand quilted. I did some trials in the lounge to find the appropriate place to display it and finally decided that it will be fine on the dinning-room table. It enlightens the room! One of the things I love is to decorate the house with quilts and flowers. Here is a bunch of ranunculus freshly brought from the market. Such lovely and joyful colors!

Have a joyful day!

Christine

Tutorial for a String Quilt Block

So much fun and so easy to do!

Finished block

First of all I iron all my selected fabrics.

Ironed fabrics

Then I look for scraps suitable for my project.

Scraps

I cut strips of variegated width (between 3 and 5cm).

Stripes

I cut a sheet of paper (for ex. printing paper) 21/21cm.

Instead of glue, I had the idea to use a double face, very thin,

 sticking tape, that I stuck from one angle to the opposite angle.

Then I lay the first strip on it.

I sew the second strip right side against right side.

Sewing with small stitches enables you to take off

easily the back paper at the end.

I go on sewing strips one after the other, on one side of the central

stripe. Each time I sew a strip, I IRON IT CAREFULLY, 

then I turn my work and go on the same way with the rest 

of the strips, on the other side of the central strip. 

Finally it gives this :

I turn my block and cut each side along the paper.

Last step : throwing away the paper. 

This is very easily done!

I hope you will have as much fun as I had doing such a block,

and you will go on for a whole String Quilt!

If ever you have a question to ask me, please don't hesitate!

In my next post I will show you the progress of my string quilt. Greetings to everybody!

Christine