Vintage Reimagined.....Island Batik Ambassdor Assignment....

....Vintage Reimagined...."Take something from the past and give it a personal touch that is yours. Inspiration can come from anywhere!" A quote from our assignment the month of March.

My Mom gave me this scrapbook that was found in my paternal Grandmother's things after she passed away. Inside are Kansas City Star newspaper clippings that my paternal Great Grandmother cut out and pasted in the book. Every page has 2 clippings. The page edges are getting brittle, but the binding is still intact. The scrap book lives on a book shelf in my long arm studio. How cool is that--it now lives in a studio with a quilting machine that wasn't even invented when these clippings where so lovingly cut out and saved.

To my knowledge my Grandmother did not quilt---but she could do amazing mending on Grandpa's bib overalls!!! I also don't know of any surviving quilts from my Great Grandmother. I don't even know where my Great Grandmother lived---oh if I didn't have a quilting addiction I would so enjoy doing geneology!!

The clipping dated February 10, 1937 from the scrapbook caught my eye for this month's challenge. Here is what The Kansas City Star says about The Nosegays, "This is an excellent design to try when you desire to make use of odds and ends in your scrap bag. All diamonds and squares may be made of prints. The pattern was contributed by Mrs. Anna A. Threlkeld, Waynesville, Mo." Copywrite 1937.  There are no further instructions than what you see here. The templates do not include a seam allowance--I read that on another clipping. So I guess you just dive in and do it!!

I can say that this Nosegay block has always intriqued me. So much so, that when I designed 72 blocks for the AccuQuilt Angles Qubes in 2017 I had to include an easier but similar looking block. 

The block is called Splendor. 

Squares, half square triangles, kite shape and side triangles all cut with the 10" AccuQuilt Mix & Match Qube and Angles Qube.

Here is an Electric Quilt drawing of the two blocks side by side. The same, but different. Simplified.

A tip when pressing the kite shapes. I like to first set the seam by pressing the unit before opening the seam. Finger press the seam open. Then I lay the unit straight horizontally on the pressing mat so the iron can just simply set down on the seam to press open. 

Long wavy quilting lines seem to be my go-to lately!!

Aurifil Light Orchid #2515 was the perfect blend of pinky purple color!!

The snow has all melted!! Can't wait for the world to start greening up again!!!

“Give of your splendor to everyone.
Like the sun.” 
― Emmanuelle Soni-Dessaigne

Thank you to Island Batik for the fabrics, Aurifil for the piecing and quilting threads, and Hobbs for the batting in this project.

Resting Place...creative borders

 I had just the right project in mind for  the Creative Borders and Bindings Island Batik Ambassador assignment this month!!

This 20" block was designed this summer as a result of our motorcycle trip to Yellowstone National Park. You can read about that here.

But the actual feeling or inspiration has been in the making for many years. We were married over 30 years ago and started our life together on the place my husbands' family has farmed for over 60 years and are still farming it today. They do not own the actual farm, but have cared for it as their own for all these years.

Our children were raised with lots of love and laughter in this old farmhouse! So many memories were made here. But one frigid winter night the water in our toilet was frozen solid. It was the ONLY toilet in the house I might add--the bathroom window is in this picture. That was the last winter we would spend in this drafty old house on the farm. We contacted a builder, located a building site and by Thanksgiving were living in a new draft-free house!!

 Now, what does all this have to do with quilting you might ask?? Well, I am very much a homebody. Being a homemaker and specifically a farm wife and been my joy and privilege. I loved living ON the farm place and watching all the activities that go on during the day.

Seeing all the day to day activities came to a stop when we built the new house as the building site we choose was 1 1/2 miles away from the farm place. It is a beautiful place in the country on a hill. We can see for miles in every direction, the river to the east and often have wildlife cross our lawn. 

 But it has taken my heart a few years to feel at peace with not being able to see all the daily activities on the farm!!!

 This year will be our third Thanksgiving in the new house. Three years of finding the new normal daily activities. And my heart is finally at peace with it. My heart has found it's new resting place!!
The place where new memories can be made. The place that my grandchildren know as "Farm Grandma's House"!! What more could I need?

 So, come on inside. Find the place where your heart can rest and memories made!!