My Great Aunt ( or thirtieth cousin 15 times removed) was a Quilter. And she had a house in Birmingham, Michigan, which we fear has been torn down.... but Smart her - she donated all her quilts ( except the ones I have) to the Michigan State Quilt Museum.
I have reproduced one "The Betty Quilt" Click HERE it will take you to my reproduction.
The other one I wanted to reproduce is this one:
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| Mary Elizabeth Beardslee Durkee Franklin, Oakland County, Michigan c.1860 82" x 84" Cotton with cotton filling |
Of course - I wanted to make it when I was a new quilter - and I had no idea how to find the pattern. And then one day there was one in a book - but everything called for 2 3/8 or 1 3/8 in strips.
If there is one thing you all have learned about me - I am not quite a perfectionist ( all the time) - and I was pretty sure I would screw up those measurements -
One day I was reading Kevin's blog and he had a blue and pink antique Album quilt - and I thought - Oh I will buy it - and that will almost be reproducing it.
Full Disclosure - he told me me and sent me photos of some of the damaged spots. AND I LOVE IT - but it's not my Aunts. By the way - none of these blocks are strip pieced - they are ALL squares - Hand stitched together. Those people in the olden days were NUTS!!!
When this box of strips came to me - I thought - you know - you ought to try to figure this out with 2 1/2 inch strips - I bet you have been quilting long enough that you will only screw it up 14 times - and so - I dug in with abandon and made up numbers - and I am proud to say - I like what I made.
Now! A lot of you asked if I would write it up - and so I will. Mine made 12 1/2 inch blocks. I made 5 of them and they all turned out the same size - so either I did the math right - OR!! I kept making the same mistake - Ha ha - I guess I will never know - until you tell me!!
These are some of mine
I cut up enough to make 12 total blocks for a quilt
And I used almost every inch of the greens I had sorted!!
Well - since this is rather long and lengthy, I will write the tutorial in another post for Saturday
and then it will be easy to print - with out all my mumbo jumbo, unless I decide to be wordy!
Linking to:
Fabric Frenzy Friday
Finished Friday at Confessions
TGI Friday at Celtic Thistles
Busy Hands
Show off Saturday
12 comments:
I won a box of 2.5" strips playing "strip poker" at a recent retreat. This looks like a perfect block for my strips also. Thank you in advance for writing up your instructions!
I am so glad that you are going to share the "how to" with us -- and how wonderful that the original quilts are at MSU.
Looks great!
Have I got a story for you! By husband and I went to a yard sale and saw a great vintage quilt (it wasn't for sale) covering up the workbench so we couldn't see the mess underneath. After extolling it's virtues and how we should preserve antique quilts and asking the owner about it's maker, the owner picked it up, folded it, and laid it on a shelf. My husband whispered, "Now you have no chance to get it for $5.00."
I think it is awesome that you have such a history to your quilting - great work with your replications!
lol! I'm going with you did the math right! I always liked this block but it looked difficult, and thought you had to make it with squares and just couldn't figure how to not set it on point or make them square. Thanks so much for figuring it out for us!
Beautiful quilts! I love antique quilts so much!!
beautiful fabrics!
Maybe they used squares because they couldn't do the math either???
Beautifully done. How cool that you are trying to reproduce a family pattern. You've got a great start on it.
Hahaha - you're too funny Alycia. Well your math must be right because these blocks look perfect!
I love this pattern. Last weekend, I was visiting my brother in Vermont and we went to the Calvin Coolidge homestead (perfectly preserved town), Plymouth Notch. A Chimney Sweep quilt was on the bed where President Coolidge was born. The guide thought that the quilt was there in 1872 and MAY HAVE been made by his mother, Victoria. Still there and in great shape. I was delighted to find out the name of the pattern. It makes a beautiful quilt!
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