Those suh-weet 1930's!

What is it about the 1930's? Why am I so drawn to this time period? I think I would have liked living in the 1930's. There were enough modern conveniences like cars, electricity, radios, even blenders to make life more than a primitive existence, but still a simple time. For fun, all you needed was a few instruments, a lot of friends and a big flat open space and you had a dance! It was a simple time and despite some of the hardships, families worked hard together and made the best of things.

For absolutely sure, I am in love with the quilts of the 1930's. One of the quilts I have been working on for quite some time now, is a reproduction of a 1930's Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. I really love the look and decided to undertake a Queen size version. It has been slow going. Sometimes I don't work on it for quite a while, and then I pull it out again. I usually take it when I go out of town for a non-working trip. It's fun to sit around lazily and work on it. Many of the fabrics used in the blocks, I have picked up on shopping trips all over the country. It's fun to remember where the fabric came from when looking at the blocks.

This is what the final version will look like. I have been working on it for about 4 years, and only have about a third of the blocks done. I'm going to have to step it up if I'm going to enjoy this quilt anytime soon. But no matter what, I just enjoy the process. I am using the English Paper Piecing method. It is all hand sewn, basting each piece of fabric to a little card stock hexagon and then sewing each of those individual pieces together.

There seems to be a huge interest in English Paper Piecing suddenly at the store. We can hardly keep the pieces in stock. We have been flying through the 2" hexagons. There are so many neat projects you can make with the papers which come in all different sizes. I seem to have caught the bug along with everyone else and am dreaming of TONS of new paper pieced quilts. The best part is that these projects can be taken anywhere to work on because they store so compactly. My friend Molly tried this for the first time on Saturday and I looked over an hour later and she had a whole stack of pieces! She sews fast. All this renewed interest has me pulling out my quilt to work on more often. I love seeing it progress.

I find myself asking why this sudden interest? Paper piecing has been around forever. Trends in quilting come and go, but why now? There is just something cool about looking at a beautiful item and saying, "I made that with my very own hands. I didn't use any electricity, I powered that needle with my own fingers." Now don't get me wrong, I would never give up my machine. Love the machine. Especially since my favorite machine is a 1937 featherweight! But I also love the idea that we can still make quilts as they did in simpler times. And apparently others feel the same way. It's nice to be reminded that modern conveniences are convenient, but we can still do it the old fashioned way too.

Day off project

The little girl is off to school, the dishes are done, and it's my day off. That means I can spend some time on a ME project!

When I first met my husband's Grandma the conversation turned to quilting. (Doesn't every conversation naturally turn to quilting?) She told me she tried to quilt once when she was 16 and wasn't very good at it. I did the math and realized that she was talking about the year 1935. Hmmmm........ A 1930's quilt. Chances were good that I would love this quilt, being that I'm just a tad bit obsessed with reproduction fabrics. So I hinted a bit here and there that I would love to see her quilt and perhaps finish it. This past Christmas Grandma gave me the most wonderful gift! A beautiful old box filled with her quilt pieces. I was ecstatic!

My husband said, "Grandma, this is her favorite kind of quilt!" Just when I'm thinking motorcycles are the only thing on his mind, I realize he does pay attention. So, box in tow, we made the trip home and all I could think of was, I can't wait to put this quilt together.

Well, it sat for a couple of months while trying to decide the best plan of attack. This was Grandma's first and only quilt, and there is always a learning curve. Needless to say, this would be a little slower going since the blocks were all very different sizes. But I am always up for a challenge, and the idea of Sydney using a quilt that her Great Grandmother made was enough to make me want to roll up my sleeves and get to work!

So a couple of weeks ago, I got out this box and started sewing. I am totally in love with this quilt! So in love with it in fact, that I ordered the english paper pieces this morning for the store! Grandma would be shocked at how easy it is to make this quilt if she had learned this method. As it is, I think she will be shocked when she sees the finished quilt. I think she gave up on this quilt about 75 years ago. I can't wait to see her face when it's all done!

Here is one of the original templates. You can barely make out her signature, Juanita S. For awhile I couldn't figure out why It didn't say B, since her last name is Buell. But alas, this is from 1935, when her last name was Squire! This quilt makes me smile!