RSC16 week 37

EVER-POPULAR PINK

During the history of American quilt making, pink was a difficult color to produce.  Red was very popular, as in the Baltimore Album quilts of the 1850's.  After the Civil War a process of printing red and white tiny figures produced what was called ""double pink".  

Here is a small quilt top from my collection, 8 X 8 inches, 

The binding is a stable red dye from the late 1800's. It is printed with tiny black leafy twigs.  The dark blue printed with white dots has not faded at all.  That's what is good about an old flimsie which shows the unfaded colors on the back.

The reddish pink is a fine fabric and, when magnified, shows that the pink is actually woven with white and reddish warp and weft to produce the pink.  The two HSTs in the corner are faded tan with tiny rosy flowers and green leaves overprinted on white.  This block is hand pieced and dates to the second half of the 1800's.

Aren't we fortunate today to have thousands of fabrics in every color imaginable?

My little boat for September is taking off to join the fleet

I also finished my Twinker star last night after only one stint of ripping.  It took me quite a while to decide on which fabrics to use to represent colorful roses.  One of my very favorites is "Joseph's Coat", a tall climber with many shades or red, orange and gold.  That was my inspiration.

It's so nice to be working with these cheerful colors.  I hope all of you friends will enjoy this month.  After this past summer it is looking great already.  

I'm linking up with

Rainbow Scrap Challenge at soscrappy

Sew Cute Tuesday at

Young Texan Mama

RSC15 week 51

TIME FLIES

So much to do, so much to look forward to.  I was so happy this week when my five yards of Kona aqua arrived from Craftsy.  It's going to make a fun backing for my 30 balloon blocks.

I've been busy piecing the rows with lime green sashing.  In fact, I got so excited adding side strips that I miscounted, attached too many and had to do a lot of ripping (they did not need a strip on both sides, only one.)  I've also made some progress on my secret gift, which takes priority for now. 

 I did not put up my little Christmas tree and entire Bethlehem village, just to keep things simple for me and my family without Chris. But one of my favorite antique quilts just speaks Christmas to me, so it comes out to enjoy.  It's a log cabin Courthouse Steps done in some kind of heavy twill fabrics, probably from around 1900.  It is done in red, tan, navy, dark green and a black, peach and white print.

From my home to yours a blessed Christmas, memorable family times and a Happy New Year!

I link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com and Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com.   Come by and enjoy.

RSC15 week 24

I am very happy with my June balloon blocks, not only mixing light blue and aqua, but also finding a couple of "cloud" prints to include.  Now those balloons are definitely flying high!

I also finished all the green and the aqua blocks for my Zigzag rainbow quilt and am now working on blues, from light all the way to dark, with some starry skies thrown in.

Speaking of blue, I have also been finding more resources for info on antique quilts, on blogs like Barbara Brackman's Civil War Quilts, and also on Pinterest.  I have pretty definitly dated my scrappy medallion quilt as 1840-1865.  What a thrill. Here is a closeup of some of the borders containing Prussian blue, typical of the period.

I especially like the Prussian blue flower on white near the top center.  The quilt has been well used and laundered, but that is part of its charm for me.  I like it to give old quilts a good home.

I link up with RSC15 at so scrappy and Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com.