Last fall, my customer Linda, had contacted me to request my basting service for 3 quilts she planned to hand quilt.  Though I don't get these types of requests often, it is another service I offer.  Two of the quilts were smaller pieces and the third was an antique quilt she purchased at the Sisters Quilt show many years ago.  I was able to complete the basting fairly quickly and she picked them up when she dropped off her  Brown and Black Diamonds quilt. 

A couple of weeks later, when I called her to tell her that the Brown and Black Diamonds quilt was finished and ready to be picked up, she asked if I'd be able to quilt the antique quilt as she was struggling to hand quilt the smaller quilts and decided that she wouldn't be able to get the larger antique quilt done.  The arthritis in her hands was giving her trouble and she just wanted to get the antique quilt done so she could use it.  I advised her that all of the basting stitches would need to be removed so that I could reload everything separately on my frame so she worked on that in the evenings and it was brought back to me when she pick up the other quilt.

Here it is all finished.

She isn't sure how old this top is but she guessed that it would be almost 100 years old.

 

The original piecer used a huge variety of fabrics and I have to tell you that, for being entirely hand pieced, her workmanship was outstanding. Quilters Dream 80/20 batting was used, So Fine 504 Silver Screen was used on the top and So Fine 411 Black was in the bobbin.

 

I'm assuming that the majority of the fabrics used for the Nine Patches came from clothing.  The White and Black polka dot print and the Blue dot print were both of thinner weights but the White was a bit more of a lighter weave.  I know very little about dating fabrics in old quilts but these were definitely thinner than the fabrics in the antique quilt that I have.

There's even a signed block.  We're guessing that Aunt Harriet was the quilt maker but who knows for sure.  The blocks actually could have been constructed by a lot of different ladies.

Here you can see more of the variety of prints used in the construction.

Linda requested a basic simple meander to keep the stitching light and simple.

It suited the quilt nicely and Linda was very happy with the result.

When she picked this one up, Linda brought me another antique quilt top that she wants quilted.  It's all Bow Tie blocks and together we're contemplating possible stitching designs to find the best one to make the piecing shine.  I can't wait to stitch it and then to share it with you.  Stay tuned.

I'm grateful that one of the local quilt shops has been recommending me to their customers recently who are looking for someone to help them finish their project.  Gail is one of those new customers.  This quilt is for her granddaughter and her granddaughter helped with the piecing.

When I removed the borders, this is what I had to work with. 

The right side was more out of alignment than the left side, as you can see here.

I cut the borders to the proper sizes and reattached them, using some creative pinning to "straighten out" the sides as much as possible.  The result still had a little waviness but nothing that I couldn't handle on the frame through careful pinning and some spray starch.

This view was much better than the original.

Once the issues were worked out, it quilted up beautifully and the stitching added so much interest to the simple piecing.  Once it was done, you couldn't tell there were problems at all.

The panto design she chose was Calder.  Her granddaughter wasn't a flowers type of girl so this design definitely worked.  Glide Cool Gray 3 (my most requested color) was used for the top and Glide Mermaid was used in the bobbin.

The backing fabric was the same pretty Aqua and Green print used she used for the borders.

Gail was thrilled with the way it turned out and I'm sure her granddaughter was too.

I'm so glad that it only took a little of my time to correct the issues and be able to give my customer a beautiful finished quilt. 

 I don't think any blogger means to not post for almost 2 months.  Certainly I don't but sometimes life gets in the way of things we want to do.  What have I been up to lately?

Sunshine hasn't had any motivation to work on the new quilt for her bed so when I asked if she wanted help, she readily said Yes.  At the rate she was going, this quilt was never going to get done.  All of the blocks are sewn and I'm working on adding the faces before I add the sashing and border.  This quilt will get finished before long.

These are the culprit that has been robbing me of sewing time.  Yes it's Girl Scout cookie season here.  Not only do I help my daughter with her own sales but I'm the Cookie Mom for my troop and the Cookie Manager for my enter service unit (neighborhood area of troops).  Our service unit is the largest in our council of 15 counties and although we aren't allowed to booth sales this year, there's still inventory to manage, numbers to crunch and figures to reconcile with the baker's program used to manage the sale.

Without being able to sell at booths this year, our troop sales are down, which is to be expected.  We're saving for trips to NYC to see a Broadway show and Washington DC so we're happy with just being able to sell at all this year.  Hopefully next year, everything will be back to normal and we can work hard to earn funds to help pay for these future trips.

There has been a bunch of secret sewing also going on here but unfortunately I can't talk about any of it yet.  Just trust me....some of it is really exciting and I can wait to share the great news!