What I have been up to - quilt

After the quilt square exchange was over I realized how much I had enjoyed putting those together each month. I sort of mulled over what to do with them all. Should I combine them and make an arty quilt? Then I started the project clean up and I was going through some odds and ends I ran across a bunch of old quilt squares I had bought years ago. There were several bags full of different size squares. Some large enough to be pillows some smaller.

I laid out some of the smaller squares and decided that I would make a small quilt from them. The fabrics looked to be from the 1920's maybe early 1930's. I loved the bold designs of the fabric paired with some of the soft flowers. The pattern of the squares is the nine patch. Definitely a beginners square, and the squares themselves were poorly put together. The squares points not lining up properly. All things a novice would do.

All quilts tell a story. There is a story in the pattern, the fabric, the quilting. These squares were beginning to tell there story. As I examined them I could see some of the first squares. The improvement in her sewing skills. How she learned to use an iron and get the temperature just right. I picked nine of the nine patch squares - the beginning to the end. They would be the base for a small quilt.

Looking through my fabric stash I found some blue calico type fabric. It was way to bright and new looking. What to do... I decided to tea and coffee dye the fabric. After a few days soaked in a pot of tea and coffee the color was getting there. I then, took the fabric, wrung it out and sanded it in a couple places with a fine sanding block. Then, back to the pot for another day.

I washed the fabric and began to assemble my quilt top. Once pressed it all began to sort of fall into place. Hopefully, later this week I will get the top and bottom together and ready to quilt. I will be hand quilting it. I figure that will keep the quilt true to its original owners intent. I enjoy the quiet of each stitch.