Some very special quilts were brought to our workshops and to the guild presentations this week in Rhode Island!
Oh, how I have missed this part of my travel life. I’ve been busy and it isn’t that I haven’t been teaching, but when you are on a cruise, there isn’t a show & share event as everyone has weight limits, and who is going to pack 4 extra quilts for show & share?
I went to Colorado, and that was still quilt related, but it was just me in the studio with the quilts, I didn’t get to see what anyone else had made!
And these ladies brought it ALL to the lectures and to the workshops and it was a wonderful show!
I especially love when quilts come with stories, as does this one.
And before I go further into the story, you need to see a close up:
1940s Grandmother’s Flower Garden.
English Paper Pieced.
FUSSY CUTTING GALORE!
Now, if this were in your family, don’t you think you would cherish it, keep the history with it and be sure to pass it down?
It was found at a yard sale for $20.00 because no one wanted it.
When our quilter heard about it [if I am getting the story right here] there was also a family bible up for sale at this yard sale. By the time she had gotten a hold of the quilt, [$20.00!!] the family bible had been thrown away so all of that history was lost.
We all gasped in horror at how things change and what folks put value on these days. We nearly cried at the idea of the bible going in the trash.
My thought is this: The quilt top has found loving hands who will care for it and make sure it is passed down through HER family to folks who will care about it. It now has a new legacy, one the maker would be proud of. Because she is surely rolling in her grave over her current progency.
Louise’s Bricks & Stepping Stones!
This is a big shout out to Louise, shown on the left with the microphone – She doesn’t know I’m posting this, but she was the representative for the Narragansett Bay half of our combined workshops and she worked really hard along with Tina, the Ninigret half to make this week come together. And she is a quilting dynamo with the scraps!
Her quilts are full of amazing color and they just sing with everything that she put into them! So, Louise, whether this embarrasses you or not, this is your 15 minutes of fame! You brought quilts to each workshop that enhanced our show & share and inspired so many, I’m sharing them all here on the blog with a big thank you for everything that both guilds did to make this past week possible!
Another Bricks & Stepping Stones, in blues and yellows by Louise!
Pattern from the Free Patterns tab.
Louise’s Fair & Square from Scraps & Shirttails II!
Louise and Easy Street number one!
And Easy Street number two!
Pattern from M ORE Adventures with Leaders & Enders.
Lazy Sunday from More Adventures!
Scrappy Bargello from the Free Patterns tab!
And a Glorious Orca Bay from String Fling!
These quilts were just outstanding in every way and it was so fun to watch Louise put her scraps together in our Narragansett Blues and Pineapple Blossom workshops this week. There will be some more gorgeous quilts happening as she works these to completion.
And that’s not all. So many quilts came to be shown, and each one was SO inspirational! You’ll see them all in the slide show below.
On the way to the airport there was a little bit of:
New Sewing Jammies!
Target was across the street from where FedEx was, and we ran over to pick up our sleep shirts complete with vintage sewing machines! It’s what Quilters are wearing these days!
THIS came home with me!
I regretted not picking one up in Venice. Who would think there would be a Murano glass jewelry shop in the Providence airport?! And the price was comparable to what I would have paid in Venice. I didn’t think twice. It came home with me.
And fill-in corner number 4 is growing as I complete rows 1 & 2!
I have ONE WEEK before I leave for Delaware. On the heels of Delaware is our Quiltville CARRIBEAN CRUISE! I leave for Florida on the 30th of September. This mystery quilt has to be sewn as much as possible THIS WEEK.
So as soon as this posts, I’m filling book orders up until the post office closes at noon, and I’m headed to the cabin for some concentrated mystery sewing time.
Watch my dust!
Quiltville Quote of the Day!
Every morning is a reality check on how this day is going to go and much of the outcome depends upon taking control of my thoughts, my decisions, and my actions and reactions.
Vintage Grandmother's flower garden quilt top shared by a student and this week's Rhode Island workshops.
Happy Saturday, Everyone!
16 comments:
Thanks for sharing all the wonderful quilts and your adventures of the past week. It's so much fun following along with you.
This morning finds me with my copy of your new book Addicted To Scraps. It arrived in my mailbox Thursday, so this morning is my time to kick back and enjoy reading it while dreaming about which quilt to begin first. Yep, the title of this one says it all ~ Addicted.
Looking forward to this year's mystery (and more black & white photos).
Love your BGB! I'm making one and loving it! Good bag for hexies.
What beautiful quilts. Thank you Bonnie for sharing and keeping us all inspired.
I can't wait for the mystery either.
Now, if this were in your family, don’t you think you would cherish it, keep the history with it and be sure to pass it down? It was found at a yard sale for $20.00 because no one wanted it.
I'm so happy that someone saved the Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt with so much work and love in it. Now it will have a good home with a loving caretaker who sees its value!
I felt the same way when I found the Singer 401A, and some of my other vintage ladies at the auction, headed for the dump, because no one wanted it, respected it, or realized its history and worth. We live in such a "toss it/buy another" world.
When all the glitzy, plastic, off-shore gizmos are broken, obsolete, and discarded, the all metal gear machines, and handmade, hand-pieced quilts, and we who love them so much will have the last laugh! For now, we will rescue these items worth having, love them, care for them and respect them and hopefully find a kindred soul to pass them along when it is time.
Thanks for a wonderful week Bonnie!
Wonderful quilt, Ladies!! The bible and quilt make me beyond sad.
Love seeing quilts made from your scrappy patterns!
Absolutely beautiful Grandmothers Garden quilt, I am making one, and wonder if it will become an heirloom!
Still so so sad you are not coming to Australia next month.......we would have shown you more Show & Tell 😄.
Enjoy your next cruise.
WOW Bonnie!
There were some beautiful quilts at the Rhode Island work shops.
I can relate to the story about the family Bible. In my younger, married days, my husband and I had a used book business. We used to buy books at auctions and estate sales. I would not let him sell the Bibles, but would let him give them away to people. I do not believe in selling them. My one son said as he got ready to college- "Mom, don't you think it kind of funny that we have 27 Bibles in the house, when only two of us are Christians?" He took two Bibles with him to college, a Big concordance and of course his personal one. Probably at least one more than most college students. SO, I can see where you would almost cry over that gal's story of the quilt and Family Bible.
Donna
Kasilof, AK
Thanks for showing us all the pretties and giving us good words to live by. You inspire us in so many ways and make us much gentler with one another.
I got my gown and robe from target also and it is feels so soft.
Paula in La.
I found a 30's Grandmother's Flower Garden top in an antique store in the early 1980s for $5.00! I had it hand quilted (i wasn't confident with my quilting then) and it resides on our guest bed. Wish I could posta photo here.
Wow, what a feast for the eyes! The Flower Garden is one of the prettiest I have ever seen! Glad it has a new loving home. The other quilts were wonderful too! Praise the Lord for quilters, they bring joy to the heart.
I agree about the wonderful quilts you find in places. My paternal grandmother made so many quilts. We all wanted one, but to our dismay she took them all to the goodwill because she didn't think anyone would want one. She had 13 grandchildren who would have each treasure one of these. But I don't think she even labeled any of them with her name. She passed away in 1976, and every time I see one in a thrift shop like what I remember being on a bed, I wonder, could Grandma have made this one?
Loved seeing you and your quilts at the Ninigret Guild meeting. Can't wait to get started on a project from your new book that I bought that night. Thanks so much for coming to RI.
Wow I feel like I just visited a wonderful quilt show! I love all these beautiful quilts. What a quilt guild meeting. I've added these pictures to my quilting wish lists to do. Thanks so much Bonnie and all the talented ladies that shared their quilts.
I'm making one and loving it! Good bag. Thank you Bonnie for sharing and keeping us all inspired.
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