I got all 20 blocks sewn yesterday. They don't excite me as much as red, orange, pink and yellow does. It will be an 'OK' quilt though.
I was cleaning off a shelf in the basement and I found this 1975 booklet. It has you cut 6" squares, sew them right sides together with a half inch seam, turn and insert a double layer of batting cut 7" with the extra fullness in the center. Then hand sew the opening closed. Then they are all whip stitched together by hand to make the quilt. We have come a long way since then!!
Here is another quilt from the booklet with corduroy used where it is red. There is another one in the booklet that is made of all velveteen, and still hand whip stitching all of those squares together.
This is a piece of fabric from the 1970s and I have a yard and five eighths of it. It is by Thompson of California which I think was a swimsuit company back then.
I laid my 45 mm rotary cutter on it so you can see the scale of the print.
This is the weave of the fabric. There was a name for this fabric but I don't remember what it was. The threads lay across the surface kind of like a sateen but a little more space between them. Maybe someone who reads will remember the name of the type of fabric. Added later: this is not bark cloth which has a slub and is bumpy. This weave is smooth and a little silky.
34 comments:
It is 3:15 in California and I can't sleep so I am in my sewing room checking out Wanda's blog to see if she did get those blocks together-why am I not surprised:) Since blues, greens and purples are my favorite colorway-I love the blocks. I would rather jump into ice water than whipstitch little pillows together. Wonder how many of those quilts survived?
Could the fabric be Bark weave ?. Gosh I remember those kinda fabrics , we used them in England because P/W stuff wasn't available then .
I also am not a fan of blue but saying that I am just sewing the binding down on a blue quilt . The top had been hanging around for ages . It has a star in the centre that I taught at a class and decided to make use of it .
It will be on my blog later today .
P/S , we used to make those stuffed quilts , we called them bisquit puffs
Love the blue quilt, very calming. My aunt, now long gone, made those puff or bisquit quilts for charity and stuffed them with used nylon hose. What a lot of work! p.s. I think I have my email enabled. If not, help!
I agree wih cottonreel it is bark cloth. It was used a lot in drapery fabrics. In fact they are using it again more and more. Chris
Let's see...a quilt made with corduroy and two layers of batting...maybe not my first choice for Central Texas. I am so glad we've moved on to different techniques.
Love your groovy fabric find!~! And your blocks in cool are very soothing.
Boy, does this take me back. I remember those huge prints.
Love the top you are working on....sometimes I need calm.
I remember seeing that book in my Grandmother's collection after she died. I kept a few of her books but not that one.....for obvious reasons. :-)
Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
JUdy
That large print is pretty cool. LOL....I think the voice in my head switched to the 60's/early 70's when I typed that. I do like it though.
Say, I have some bark cloth - the bumpy stuff...what can I do with it? It is in pieces about 8" by 20"
Those Thompson fabric flowers are huge! I was in Home Ec Club in high school in the mid-70s and we made that puffy quilt in about the same colors.
I have the very same pamphlet!!! I always liked the colors in that puffy quilt...saving everything, you know:)
Is it a crepe fabric?
I always liked the way those puffy quilts look, maybe theres an easier way to do that? I love the blue and green squares, so peaceful.
you could slice those blue squares on the diagonal, rearrange the triangles, and make a "magic squares" quilt out of it. that might add some movement -- though it still wouldn't excite you as much as a red/orange/yellow quilt would!
I remember that fabric. Had at least one dress made of it in a large floral print. And I agree - not bark cloth. But I don't remember what it was called. Maybe it will come to me in the middle of the night!
I do like your cool colors; very restful!
I remember the large print fabrics and the feel of that one but not the mane of it.
I love your weekend posts they are always so full of photo's and information.
You know how to design no matter what the color way. And your blues, greens and lavender are lovely. I like the simplicity of the blocks also.
The booklets from the 70's just made me smile. And I SHOULD know that fabric for sure. And I remember it well, but I do not know the name either. Now I am anxious to know the name.
J~MT
I don't know what that fabric was called either, but I sewed all of my own clothes in high school, and I know I used that for dresses or shorts outfits (I was stylin', no?) - but didn't have that groovy print! and guess what, a friend of mine has a puff quilt - but her blocks weren't whipstitched together.
I love those blocks1 They make me think of the shadow cast on a river by a willow tree. Absolutely beautiful!
I can date a publication not just by *what* is pictured in it but also by *how* it is picture. The full-color printing technology of the 60's and 70's has an inherently faded look.
Is that fabric chiffon? Seems like that's what I remember it being called. My mom had a couple of dressed made with it, and she would get confused and call them crepe.
I made one of those puff ball quilts with my mother in law and then she gave it to my daughter who was 3 years old then. It was so heavy once you covered her up she could not move!
Even though this quilt is not your usual colors it has a really nice feel to it.
Wanda you make me laugh. Only you would say that the beauty at the top of this post will be an okay quilt. I like it and I'm a red lover, too.
My grandmother used to make quilts like the puff ones. She had everyone save their old stockings and stuffed the puffs with those, then sewed them together. She used leftover fabrics from clothing she had made, so they were virtually "free" quilts. And they were heavy! As someone who had lived through the Great Depression, she was always trying to find ways to save money and to use up every little bit of what she had.
My mother made a biscuit top out of seersucker prints, except the filling was coiled nylon stockings! not lovely, but it survives to this day. she doesn't like to admit this was her first quilt, but since she went on to make many many beautiful quilts since, she's forgiven. everyone has to start somewhere!
I think I had a dress made out of that stuff! I was so cool...
Lovely blocks, Wanda and fun to see the quilt book from the 70's. I have a couple of older quilt books that are from the early 80's.
Just look at all the fabric choices we have now- Your textured fabric is very fun and would be considered quite retro - maybe even very trendy right now.
Every now and then when I am in a second hand shop, I have seen a fortrel quilt- Those quilts were so heavy and will never wear out. I wish I could say the same about my first cotton quilt- it was the victim of our pets unfortunately. Most of my early quilts are still around and in reasonable shape 15+ years later. I learned about the value of buying better quality fabrics now- I figure if I am going to put all that work into a big quilt it better last for awhile.
Loved your post,
Regards,
Anna
Like the quilt but I too prefer bright colors. As far as your fabric, I think it is crepe also. Wow, haven't seen that in years but I also am not sewing clothing anymore. When the cordoroy quilt was done it must have been very heavy. Victorian quilts had velvet in them and a variety of fabric choices in them. I used to save all my pattern books and some magazines but with moving as much as I have I finally had to give some of them up. Now I weed out as much as possible to make it easier on my kids after I am gone which naturally won't be for a long, long time. Just saying!!!
Does that fabric have some rayon in it? I remember it...soft hand and flowy. Can't remeber what I made out of it. Bark cloth is sturdier than that was. Oh, those enormous prints! Had to watch where some of the roses were placed!!!! hahaha!
Possibility, is the fabric Duck Cloth or Monk Cloth?
I did a lot of clothes sewing in the 70's. It sure looks like a crepe weave to me.
Hey Wanda, What is the middle block and outside strip sizes?? otterpc@aol.com
I remember this cloth -- cotton pique (pe'kay)
Bee in Toronto
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