I wiped away the weeds & foam. / I fetched my sea-born treasures home... Ralph Waldo Emerson







Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Pink Quilt for Spring




Hi! Oh, brrr, the wind is howling outside my window here! March gales being lion-like. Bright sunshine though.  Despite making my bed this week with fluffy flannel sheets and fleece blankets, down comforter, I felt suddenly in the mood for a lighter brighter quilt on my bed. Often I use my Tiny Baskets quilts for spring but today I dug out my newly completed pink rescue quilt and used it instead.



I finished this quilt during the winter holidays and sort of hung it in the closet right away. It deserves better! You'll recall I found it one windy April day, maybe three or four years ago. It was a sad and neglected, and very soiled! top when discovered in a bin of rags under a dealer's table at the flea. I gingerly took it out and fell in love with the fabrics. Someone's scrap bag perhaps--a collection of tiny late 19th century bits and pieces. Mostly darks, maybe mourning prints, or simply scraps from the dresses and shirts of a practical family. Dark cloth doesn't show the dirt as much. And a nice variety of reds, indigo blues, and light ground shirtings make up the rest of 1 1/2" patches. The wide sashing is an adorable teeny tiny pink polka dot.
Each block is different, I can pore over the tiny squares for hours, loving the antique prints.






















I think I paid 30.oo for it, a couple of doll quilts[placemats?], and a set of white pillow cases with handmade lace.

I took it home. The quilt top was so dirty I had to gently hand wash it before I did anything else. Normally quilt tops are better left unwashed until they are quilted. But sometimes rules must be bent. Even if I'd been willing to handle this top, my quilter understandably would, I'm pretty sure, have refused. Plus I knew I needed to rework the top, and couldn't press it when soiled.

It washed well. I hung it up for a long time, thinking how to redo it. I finally found a sweet pink and white tiny print for additional sashing and borders. I picked the top apart and resewed the sashings, but I left the hand pieced Chimney Sweep blocks as is, in all their crooked imperfection: points cropped, biases wavy--fine.


My quilter did an excellent job with cotton batting and Baptist Fan allover quilts.



I bound the now finished quilt and gave it its real in-depth wash with a soak in Retayne, then a gentle ''exra rinse'' wash in All and Clorox 2. Dried in the dryer, it came out so beautiful and pink and pretty! Definitely the perfect quilt for Spring at the beach.


The doll quilt I made with the scraps is now listed on etsy and EBay. It was hard to give it up, but in the spirit of Lori's new doll quilt swap, I will let it go on to a new home, maybe.


As for the doll quilt swap [Humble Quilts], so far I've made three! 3! doll quilts to send to my person. It's fun but hard to know what might be ''just right''...



love

lizzy

gone to the beach.....












Easter pix: devilled eggs:


Mo's revenge...



12 comments:

  1. If I was your Swap partner I'd love the antique one. Your quilt has turned out wonderfully.

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  2. That is a beautiful quilt. I love the appreciation you have for your quilts. Definitely perfect for Spring. It's been quite windy and a little chilly here too.

    I do enjoy deviled eggs, wish I had some left right about now. Yours looked really good.

    Mo the monster, haha. Little minx.

    Kel

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    1. It was a fun and rewarding rescue project. I hate eeing beautiful things just tossed aside and unloved.

      I suppose I m glad Mo didnt really ruin the Bunny. But the quail eggs made him sick. I ve been washing slipcover all week, bummer.

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  3. Love this post! You did a fine thing rescuing that top. And what could be prettier than old scrappy + pink. I also love the glimpse of what looks to be a beautiful indigo/kasuri boro inspired table runner!

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  4. Really pretty. I remember when you found it and talked about how dirty it was. Glad you were able to restore it and are now proudly displaying it. We had days of wind and dust and clouds. Eve a little rain. Partly cloudy day but much better weather for finally getting out to walk again. Happy Spring!

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  5. Lovely quilt! Any one of the three doll quilts will be perfect. The one I got from you during a past swap is still one of my very favorite doll quilts and I have it so I can see it everyday.

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  6. Oh I love the wonderful quilt you restored. It's just beautiful ... you did a really good job.

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  7. The pink quilt is so pretty! That quilting design is the one my mom used for hand quilting - I never heard the name before though. Except my mom's went in from both sides and met somehow in the middle...lol, I'll have to look sometime.

    I like ALL your doll quilts, but I think I like the blue one best.

    LOL, the cloud bank in your photo looks like someone on their back, snoring (mouth open)...!

    Your deviled eggs make me hungry! I saw some on the internet where the lady dyed the egg whites with pastel food coloring before filling them for Easter, they were surprisingly cute. I don't think I'd have ever thought to do that.

    Hope you get some nicer weather soon. We just got put under a severe thunderstorm watch....yay, spring is here... :-P

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  8. I love your chimney sweep quilt and all its imperfections! You did a great job finishing it, and I love the fans!!

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  9. I love how you are able to find things that others have overlooked (and sometimes thing that have been overloved) and breathe new life into them.

    It is also amazing that you are willing to share the process.

    Gorgeous quilt in the right home for the new season!

    Perfect!

    Lisa
    PS Mo's revenge? He's a busy, busy boy. Will he slow down when he's 5 or 10?

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  10. Your blog is very impressive….
    _______
    Fashion

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