• About
  • Guest Speaking and Trunk Show Information

The Plain Needlewoman

~ Quilt Study, Sewing, Vintage Textiles, Collecting quilts and other old odds and ends.

The  Plain Needlewoman

Tag Archives: A Piece Of Cloth

Sailboats and Sunbonnets

07 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by mcinnesjanette in Uncategorized

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

A Piece Of Cloth, applique, Fabric Study, feed sacks, hand quilting, old quilt tops, quilt collections, reproduction fabrics, vintage fabrics

Vintage Toy Sailboats

Vintage Toy Sailboats

Beautiful old French monogrammed bonnet

Beautiful old French monogrammed bonnet

Here in Melbourne, where I live Summer is well underway. January arrived in a blaze of heat. Hot, dry and windy conditions prevailed and we are once again faced with the prospects of bush fires. With temperatures in the high thirties, dare I say it is almost too hot for hand quilting. As I always have a few projects on the go, I turn to my hand piecing when the temperature soars.

My ‘Sail into Dreamtime’ quilt brings to mind a Summer’s day spent out sailing on our bay with cool breezes blowing off the water. The pretty fabrics in this quilt which are either reproduction thirties or vintage fabrics from this era, transform me to another place and time.

Sail Into Dreamtime - a quilt for Summer

Sail Into Dreamtime – a quilt for Summer

I was inspired to make this quilt after being shown some old quilt blocks from 1939, that were signed and dated. I drafted my pattern from the original blocks and made 36 sailboat blocks using fabrics from my collection. The quilt is machine pieced and hand quilted.

Detail of fabrics used.

Detail of fabrics used.

Sailboat block

Sailboat block

Sunbonnet Sue quilts were very popular in times past. This quaint design evokes little girls in pretty dresses and bonnets playing happily in shady gardens. Studying these quilts transports me back to another time, when girls wore floral dresses, bonnets and cute little boots. It must certainly have been Summer.

Sunbonnet Sue quilt

Sunbonnet Sue quilt

This quilt is once again inspired by the wonderful quilts made during the Great Depression. This little girl is my own design and it is hand appliquéd, embroidered and hand quilted. Choosing the dress fabrics and co-ordinating them with just the right shades of solid pastels for the bonnets and boots was a wonderful opportunity to look over lots of pretty fabrics.

Another little Summery Sue.

Another little Summery Sue.

IMG_2286

Another gorgeous Sunbonnet Sue quilt

Another gorgeous Sunbonnet Sue quilt

I purchased ten Vintage Sunbonnet Sue blocks from ‘A Piece of Cloth’ and made one more from the original design to construct this quilt. By setting it in a zig-zag setting I was able to create a good size quilt and preserve the beautiful work started by another quilter many years ago. These girls are appliquéd and finished with a black running stitch around the appliqué pieces. The reproduction and vintage fabrics worked well together. It is amazing how similar the reproduction fabrics are to the original.

Vintage Sunbonnet Girl

Vintage Sunbonnet Girl

the eleventh block reproduced from the originals

the eleventh block reproduced from the originals

I hope these quilts have carried you to another place and time. Either to escape the heat of Summer or to send you Sailing Into Dreamtime, perhaps looking forward to warmer days to arrive.

Happy Quilting, Janette, The Plain Needlewoman

Recent Posts

  • (no title)
  • Cathedral Window Quilt circa 1930s
  • Marjie”s Star Quilt
  • Australian Crazy Quilt
  • Clarence Valley Coverlet No. 2

Recent Comments

mcinnesjanette on Marjie”s Star Quilt
Lowana Radel on Marjie”s Star Quilt
Jill on My Wagga Quilt
mcinnesjanette on My Wagga Quilt
Sherry on My Wagga Quilt

Archives

  • January 2021
  • February 2019
  • November 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • September 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014

Categories

  • 19th century Madder Fabrics
  • antique fabric
  • antique quilts
  • appliqué
  • Australian Quilts
  • Cathedral Window Quilts
  • Christmas
  • Crazy Quilts
  • Cumbria
  • d'oyleys
  • Doll Quilts
  • Double Pinks
  • English Quilts
  • Feed Sack
  • hand piecing
  • hand quilting
  • handquilting
  • hexagons
  • Mary Brooks Picken
  • Mending
  • North Country quilts
  • old fabrics
  • old quilt tops
  • Old Quilts
  • old sewing books
  • Paper Piecing
  • Postage Stamp Quilts
  • Quilt Collections
  • Quilt Restoration
  • Quilt Stories
  • quilting projects
  • red and green quilts
  • Red and White quilts
  • Redwork
  • Repairing old quilts
  • Scrap quilts
  • Sewing machines
  • Signature Quilts
  • Singer Sewing Manuals
  • Spider Webs
  • stitching
  • Stripe Quilts
  • Strippy Quilts
  • Trip Around the World
  • Turkey Red
  • Uncategorized
  • vintage quilts
  • Waggas
  • Welsh quilts
  • Yo-Yo quilts

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Recent Posts

  • (no title)
  • Cathedral Window Quilt circa 1930s
  • Marjie”s Star Quilt
  • Australian Crazy Quilt
  • Clarence Valley Coverlet No. 2

Recent Comments

mcinnesjanette on Marjie”s Star Quilt
Lowana Radel on Marjie”s Star Quilt
Jill on My Wagga Quilt
mcinnesjanette on My Wagga Quilt
Sherry on My Wagga Quilt

Archives

  • January 2021
  • February 2019
  • November 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • September 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014

Categories

  • 19th century Madder Fabrics
  • antique fabric
  • antique quilts
  • appliqué
  • Australian Quilts
  • Cathedral Window Quilts
  • Christmas
  • Crazy Quilts
  • Cumbria
  • d'oyleys
  • Doll Quilts
  • Double Pinks
  • English Quilts
  • Feed Sack
  • hand piecing
  • hand quilting
  • handquilting
  • hexagons
  • Mary Brooks Picken
  • Mending
  • North Country quilts
  • old fabrics
  • old quilt tops
  • Old Quilts
  • old sewing books
  • Paper Piecing
  • Postage Stamp Quilts
  • Quilt Collections
  • Quilt Restoration
  • Quilt Stories
  • quilting projects
  • red and green quilts
  • Red and White quilts
  • Redwork
  • Repairing old quilts
  • Scrap quilts
  • Sewing machines
  • Signature Quilts
  • Singer Sewing Manuals
  • Spider Webs
  • stitching
  • Stripe Quilts
  • Strippy Quilts
  • Trip Around the World
  • Turkey Red
  • Uncategorized
  • vintage quilts
  • Waggas
  • Welsh quilts
  • Yo-Yo quilts

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • The Plain Needlewoman
    • Join 100 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • The Plain Needlewoman
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...