Baby whole cloth quilt

It has been a busy week, cleaning out and clearing out my childhood home.  Wednesday my son and daughter-in-law will take up residence for a while.  It's temporary, but they need to make it their own home, so at least the main floor of the house needs to be cleaned out as if the house were being sold.  It's been a huge job, but I think we're almost there.  One book case to go!  Carpets were cleaned today and they look so much better!

Such adorable little kittens!

Among the treasures was the first quilt that I remember.  I had completely forgotten this darling little baby quilt.  Maybe because it's whole cloth, and not pieced, that I barely thought of it as a quilt.  But it has a front, a back and some type of batting between.  So, it's a quilt!

It's a whole cloth quilt, and probably made by my mother about 1956.  It measures 33 inches by 58 inches.

The quilt was sewn pillowcase style, with three edges sewn right sides together and then the whole thing turned right side out.  The bottom seam is turned in and top-stitched by machine.  One side is pink with darling little grey and white kittens.  Isn't this the sweetest fabric?

The machine quilting meanders around each of the kitten motifs, so it was quilted with this side up.  Blue thread on the bottom and pink on the top.

The other side is light blue with little baby ducks and daisies.  Too cute!

Close-up of the little ducks on the back.

Mother's Irish Chain

Five Rail Fence 1998

Not many posts lately.  Most of my time has been spent at my childhood home cleaning out closets, delighting in long lost treasures and forgotten memories.  Here's one I'd like to share with you.

Back around 1990 I purchased my first quilting books.  One was Marti Mitchell's "Quilting for People Who Don't Have Time to Quilt."  Sounded like me.  Two young children and a busy household didn't give me much quilting time!

I made Five Rail Fence in 1998 for our queen size bed, followed by Blue Nine Patch in 1990 for our son, and Sticks and Stones in 1992 for our daughter.

Blue Nine Patch 1990

Sticks and Stones 1992

My mother, who was an excellent seamstress, had never made a quilt.  She had made many other home decor items like drapes and bedspreads, but never a quilt.  So, I talked her into making Irish Chain quilts using Marti's book, and she made two matching twin size quilts.

Double Irish Chain about 1995 by Eileen

The colors she chose are so soft and sweet, just like her personality.  Creams, peaches and pinks in tiny florals.   I think I will have to guess that she made them around 1995.  She only made one more quilt.  In 1997 we made a four patch lap quilt for her brother when he had to move to a nursing home. She decided that quilting was not really for her and she stuck with knitting, which she much preferred.

Mother - in a sweater she knitted

Since I have boatloads of quilts, I think these will go to my sister's home.  First, I need to make labels for them!

Celtic Solctice progress

A very rainy weekend gave me some time to finish nearly all the Celtic Solstice blocks.  I have 23 of each block finished.  I just dug out the instructions and find I still need one more Block A and three more Block B.  But I'm getting there!

Here are the Block A's

54-40 or Fight! blocks

And the Block B's

Birthday Girl blocks

All together now....

Celtic Solstice 

How many ways to procrastinate?

I am the queen of procrastination.  There, I've said it.  And it could be true.  There are a couple hundred thank you  notes to be written and, well, here I am blogging after only finishing five.

I HAD to take a break and catch up on Pam Buda's Market Day Mystery Quilt.  It's a small quilt and so it was easy to catch up. Pam is posting clues every Friday, and I was behind a couple weeks.  Here are the four parts so far:

It's always fun play around with the clues, and after four clues there is something to work with.  This would be a nice arrangement.  What do you think?

I think I should stop procrastinating and get back to work!  We'll see how long that lasts. 

Rhapsody in Bloom: finished and gifted

Amid all the family events last week I actually did finish the wedding quilt for my niece.  And with three hours to spare! Yep, I was still quilting the morning of their wedding.  But, proud to say it was finished on time!

The pattern is Rhapsody in Bloom, designed by Doug Leko and published in Quiltermaker magazine March/April 2011.  I did add an additional row of blocks and a couple more borders to make it bigger.  The pieced star border blocks are made from bonus blocks which came from the corner trimmings.  I enjoyed making this quilt, and the individual blocks weren't difficult, but I had problems making the seams match when I joined the blocks.  Corners were ok, but there are seam lines along the sides that I couldn't quite get to go together well.  But, it was made with love, and that's the important part.

Over the past week we've had the full spectrum of family events.  A funeral for my dad, a college graduation for our DIL- Dr. Sarah!, a beautiful wedding for my niece, and a new grandson for my SIL.  Anything we missed???

I can't wait to get back to some relaxing piecing and quilting!  I've been saving up the instructions for Pam Buda's Market Day Quilt and hope to catch up by next week.

A graduation, a wedding and a funeral

Sounds like the title to a movie, but it's actually what's happening for our family this week.  Our DIL graduates with her Pharmacy degree.  Congratulations Dr. Sarah!  We're so proud of her!

Our Niece will be married this weekend, and their wedding quilt is nearly finished.  I might have time the morning of the wedding to finish up some additional quilting that needs to be done.  If not, my niece and her new hubby will be gone on their honeymoon for a week, so I'll have plenty of time then to finish up their quilt before they get home.

Finally, just before Easter my father's health suddenly declined and he passed away last Wednesday.  Even in his last days he would say, "Stay home this morning and work on that (wedding) quilt."  What a sweetheart!  He was 92 years old and lived a wonderful life of service to others.  He was active in Boy Scouts for 80 years.  Yes, your read that correctly,  Eighty Years!   And he lived out his faith and values daily.   We will all miss him terribly.

Mexican Cross

The  Hispanic community in our area celebrates Cinco de Mayo today.  The day commemorates a significant battle in Mexico over a century ago.  For me, it is a time to remember a wonderful vacation we took to Mexico a few years back.  I made a block on our Silver Anniversary Quilt for that trip and thought I'd share it with you today.  It's called Mexican Cross.

Here's a link for the free pattern for an 8 inch block is at Quilters Cache.  I adjusted the pattern to make a 12 inch block for the quilt.

Enjoy the day!  Ole'!