Sewing

03 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by in appliqué, old fabrics, old sewing books, vintage quilts

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Beautiful Illustration

Beautiful Illustration

This beautiful illustration is from a book published in 1973 by Octopus Books called Sewing by Honor Gillot. Old sewing books are a great source of information. They also provide a nostalgic look back on the styles and techniques of the era they were published in.

The Big Book of Needlecraft

The Big Book of Needlecraft

This wonderful book which unfortunately doesn’t include the date it was published, but does state that it was printed in London. It contains a wealth of information including simple dressmaking, embroidery, rug making, weaving, quilting and appliqué. The chapter on darning and patching is extremely informative with simple illustrations. I will be trying out the recommended method of patching on an old quilt that I have in my collection that requires a little bit of TLC.

Pre-loved appliqué quilt

Pre-loved appliqué quilt

The workmanship on this quilt is exquisite and with a patch here and there and a new binding I think it will come up a treat. I will let you know of my progress. Happy Sewing, Janette

More Butterflies

16 Saturday Aug 2014

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Pre-loved butterfly quilt

Pre-loved butterfly quilt

This Butterfly Quilt, circa 1930s-40s. is in a fragile condition, so was certainly much loved, used and enjoyed. The appliquéd butterfly is a simple stylised design.

Butterfly detail

Butterfly detail

The quilt is a medallion style and has narrow borders around the grouped butterflies. The hand quilting design consists of more butterflies, scattered throughout the plain areas. It is finished with a pretty scalloped edged, which was a popular binding from this era. Some of the fabrics used, which may have been feed sacks, are completely faded away, others have frayed and some have remained in quite good condition with only some loss of their bright colours. This would be a lovely quilt to reproduce, but I think I will just enjoy it for a few more years to come.  It looks very pretty folded on an old cane armchair.   Enjoy the butterflies, Janette 

Butterfly Quilts

11 Monday Aug 2014

Posted by in appliqué

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IMG_1727IMG_1729Butterfly quilts are among some of the prettiest quilts made. They seem to have been a particular favourite of the quilt makers of the depression. These blocks appear to have been stitched during this time. When I purchased them they were stitched together in three sets of four. The squares were hemmed, so perhaps the needlewoman intended to use them for d’oyleys. They are in very good condition, nicely appliquéd and finished with a black straight stitch to emphasise the design.

I took the blocks apart and cut them to a standard 11 inch block. I loved the colours in the butterflies, which are so typical of the era. I decided to brighten them up a little with some pretty french floral fabric and a blue and white polka dot.

The butterfly blocks combined with nine patch blocks.

The butterfly blocks combined with nine patch blocks.

The butterfly and nine patch blocks worked up to quite a nice size so I decided to add a nice wide cream border to allow for lots of hand quilting. I can finish the quilt with a scallop edged binding in the blue polka dot. I found a lovely bright pink vintage fabric which I was lucky enough to have good yardage of for the backing.

Lovely soft cotton for backing

Lovely soft cotton for backing

With Spring just around the corner here in Melbourne, Australia I will be looking out for lots more butterflies.

Happy needle working today!
Janette –

Bonnie’s Four Little Birds Quilt

09 Saturday Aug 2014

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Bonnie's Four Little Birds

I Bonnie’s Four Little Birds


I made this quilt in memory of Bonnie Leman, the founder of Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine. The original quilt was in Bonnie’s private collection and the pattern was published in Quiltmaker Magazine.

I hand pieced the quilt using mostly reproduction fabrics. It is hand quilted in one of my favourite quilting designs – Baptist Fans. I mark the design freehand as I go and work around the outside of the quilt into the centre.
The quilting works up fairly quickly. Once the quilting is finished it’s into the wash. The cotton batting used turns nice and scrunchy, giving the timeless look of old quilts.

In the Hoop

In the Hoop

There are many appliqué designs featuring birds in quilts but not so many pieced birds. However, there are lots of pieced blocks with bird or birds names- Doves at the Window, Bluebirds, and Swallow’s Nest, Swallows Flight and many more. All of these would make beautiful quilts.

Thank you for visiting from Janette – A Plain Needlewoman