Saturday, January 26, 2008

January 1-12, 1990

I closed my quilt shop in February of 1986. The larger prints were becoming popular and I liked them so much more than the little calicoes I had been using since 1957. By 1990 I had quite a collection of fabric but I hadn't been able to find time to use any of it. On January 1, 1990 I decided I would take a block I liked and each day I would go into my studio and collect 5 fabrics I liked together and I would make one block. This continued until about the14th when life took over again and I didn't even have time for one block a day. In the first part of February, 1990 I decided I would just take my favorite 12 of the blocks and make them into a quilt, thus the name Jan. 1-12, 1990. This one is 66" x 80". It took me a long time to find an outer border I liked and when I found it I looked for a middle border that was exactly half way in value between the first and third borders. I was into trying transparency which had to have the exact light medium dark values.
This is one of my favorite blocks with some of my favorite prints of the day.
Some of the blocks had fussy cut areas. This one also had a polished cotton, popular in that time period.
This block was the favorite of most viewers at a quilt show.
More fussy cut birds in the little squares.
I used Thermore batting in this one. It is the very thin polyester batting that was introduced in the 1980's as a batting for quilted clothing. Due to public demand they started packaging it in bed size pieces. It gives the feel of the old fashioned summer quilts that had flannel instead of batting.

7 comments:

Vicki W said...

I am overwhelmed by the number of quilts that you have and I love seeing every one of them!

Anonymous said...

This quilt is another treasured 'TIMELESS' piece.
I love this quilt... Each block is a mini quilt in itself, and your colors are wonderfully coordinated. I really like what you did with each square, center square fabric as the 'hub' of star and repeating the same fabric in the triangles. This quilt has been added to my list of favorites.
J~MT

Cathi said...

The quilt is stunning. I love your colour combinations. This is definitely a block I want to make!

meggie said...

How wonderful this looks. Perfect showcase for the fabrics of the time, & still wonderful. Each block shows your wonderful sense of colour, Wanda.

Sue said...

How exciting, I have all the fabrics in the first favorite block except the background! But then I have nothing from any of the other blocks. I didn't get excited about fabrics until some of those larger prints became available, but then I didn't know what to do with them! Your use of them is inspiring as always.

canquilt said...

Well done on the borders. It would have been a difficult task to find the border(s) that tied it all together, but you did.
Lorre

TB said...

You have an impressive background of quilting and such remarkable quilts you've made and your stash is enviable.