Oh Baby...

I am very partial to sewing baby quilts.  Words aren't even going to do my feelings justice so let me just say, I find great pleasure in evey minute I am at my machine. 

Combine my love of baby quilts with the task of making the quilt for my first grandchild!  Estatic.  Over the top.  Pure fun.  You get the idea. 

EXCEPT, oh and it is minor, but my daughter lives out of state.  So, all the nursery sewing had to be done over the computer.

My daughter had chosen the Animal Tower Print from Petit Collage for the nursery.    This is the image on my computer monitor.  This was the focal point for the baby's room. The playful graphics of the stacked animals are bold and fun.

The fabric stacked next to the computer was designed by Annette Tatum for Little House.  The collection is "soliel".  Also added are some Kona cotton solids.

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 I'm drafting the pattern for the applique on the office library table.  I worked from the image on the computer monitor with my very favorite sewing aid.....freezer paper.            

The animals are coming to life in fabric.  Nothing like some vintage rick rack to add some texture.

And then quilting makes it POP!

You know how quickly these little ones grow.  Any thoughts on a graduation quilt?

Patalier on Etsy

You can find Petit Collage on Etsy and Facebook.

Getting sidetracked....

It's just that I have all these things I'm thinking about "twirling around in my head" this time of year.  It is so easy to start out hoping to get one thing done and the next thing I know I'm taking pictures and running to the computer.

Remember those grand delusions about getting some Christmas decorations out and getting the house cleaned for the holidays.  I in all earnest started out with this goal.  The bedroom with estate boxes that weren't separated were going to get cleared out.  In order to clear out, I needed to sort.  In order to sort, I needed to go through them and start the keep, donate, pitch piles.

This is when I discovered this sweet little embroidery for "Dolly" done on a piece of linen.  I am sure a young girl did this as an experienced embroiderer would not have left such a looping thread on the back when transferring her needle to another design area.  Some would say an assumption because I really don't have facts to prove a young girl embroidering, but I believe it to be quite accurate.

Now if there was this sweet piece of embroidery, I wonder if there were any traces of little hands sewing quilt blocks together or another kind of sewing project?

Remember I said I had the "twirling going on in my head"?  It was because I started thinking about young girls today and how many actually sew their doll's wardrobes?  Do they ever make a little skirt or bonnet or is it true American Girl Dolls taught an entire generation to catalog shop?

At my Etsy shop, I love doing custom quilting.  Last month, I got a letter from a customer asking if she sent me her daughter's baby clothes, if I could make two doll quilts as holiday presents.  Two sets of clothes, two quilts.  Of course I would, could and "By the way, do your daughters have American Girl dolls?"  Of course they did.

So, the box of baby clothes and bed sheets were sent and ......

And these were the two doll quilts that I came up with.  I took pockets from the little clothes and added them to the back so there would be a place for secret messages.

There was still quite a bit of fabric left.  I was able to make two American Doll dresses to match each quilt.  Each dress had it's own little pinafore (a Kirsten style from the original doll).

Okay, that is Samantha I have the dress on, but it was a Kirsten style.

So I'm beginning to see the pattern of getting sidetracked, not only with cleaning, but when sewing.  One project leads to another.

As I said in the beginning - this time of year being busy and the "twirling around in my head" - its going on all the time and not just during the holiday season.

Sleep Sound Machines...

 You're probably looking at this and wondering if I'm coming a little unraveled if I show a picture of a buttonholer and I'm making references to a sleep sound machine.

A family member has asked for a sleep sound machine this year for Christmas.  It was a flashback moment for me because when I was growing up, my mother kept the sewing machine in my bedroom. 

I need to preface this even more by saying my bedroom was originally suppose to be a porch when my father was building the house and it became a bedroom when unexpected news arrived in the household.  So while it ended up be a fine room, it was small, yet concise.

Also of interest is the fact my room was over the family fruit cellar in the basement.  A fruit cellar isn't heated.  A cold wood floor combined with the last room of the house to get heat from the oil heater left this room a bit brisk in comparison to the rest of the house.  Which all worked out because I slept under a feather tick.

But, back to the sound machine.  Growing up, my mother gravitated to the sewing machine when it was my bedtime.  I was able to sleep not only with the hum of the sewing machine, but also with the overhead light on and an occasional outcry of frustration when the seam ripper came out.  I never minded the sound of the sewing machine.  In fact, I found the background noise quite soothing.

A buttonholer makes this wonderful clicking sound as the gears move around the template.  It sounds like it is working hard making your job easier and faster. This particular buttonhole attachment doesn't have a single pin scratch on it.  ???   I have the feeling it never had the chance to make all those wonderful sounds and beautiful buttonholes which I found fascinating when I was little.

So yes, having a sleep sound machine makes sense to me.

Isn't this the greatest piece of cotton fabric from the 50's!!  To make it even more interesting the original home seamstress who purchased it in the 1950's kept  the original sales slip tucked between the fabric folds.  

Contemporary fabric designers....stand aside, or even nod your head in admiration of these bold graphics. 

I was trying to find the perfect label for it for my Etsy shop and I could only think Art Deco.  Yet, the leaves have a bit of a folk art feel to them.   I guess this isn't your grandma's usual floral fabric!

When you're least expecting to find a treasure....

Anyone who knows me is aware of my love of sewing; especially quilts.  But lets just make it simple and say anything having to do with creating with a needle and thread brings me joy.  I have been known to leave the house with bits of clipped fabrics and threads attached to the back of my sleeves or dangling from my pants where I am the least aware of their presence.  It doesn't bother me, just as a gardener is not alarmed having a bit of dirt on their hands and nails; often their badge of caressing the earth and flaunting it.  At times, for me at least, those threads were conversation icebreakers with those next to me waiting in line at the post office or grocery store. 

So you are warned....stare at the threads, you're getting a story about what is underneath the needle of my machine!

I have always found writing difficult.  For this I apologize.  But, hopefully, I can share enough beautiful quilts, vintage fabric and funny stories to coerce you into returning to my blog.  So, I will begin...

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This past summer, I reluctantly decided to go to an estate sale.  Reluctant and garage sale are seldom in the same sentence for me, I even feel akward writing them together.  However, for some reason, this day I had prematurely decided from the estate sale advertising that it really didn't fit my needs.  Maybe it was the location of the sale, or the goods listed, or just that it was one too many rainy days in a row, but I went late in the day, and I was wrong.

I was warned the house had been "picked over" by the crowds who came early, but there were still plenty of counters filled with china sets or holiday decorations and odd pieces of vacation memories.

But, how many had passed over this early piece of quilting history?

Personally, I know the style to be a Medallion Quilt.  The fabrics are early 19th century.  I inquired with the woman whose household good were on sale as to how she had acquired it.  She said her mother had gotten it from the Humes Family from Watertown, New York. 

The quilt design, style, fabrics, quilting, backing, binding, appliqued shapes - everything was consistent with dating the quilt to the 1840's.

At the sale, the quilt had been draped on a rack with a late 18th century chintz quilt with family provenance from Ireland pinned on the back.  The hefty price tag of the chintz quilt was still pinned next to the quilt's paper history.  The price was a deterrant to attracting a new owner.  I understand how the medallion quilt may have been deemed the ugly duckling next to the more pristine quilt whose fabrics did not have the daily use.  Its colors were not faded from the sunlight, washings and everyday use.  The chintz quilt had well established fold marks which indicated its value and seldom use.  I wondered how many times it had ever been brought out in the sunlight for others to admire in the past two centuries.

This quilt speaks.  It says it served its purpose with its worn bits of fabric.  I believe it says it has loved and been loved.