The way-back machine

I've finished appliquéing the last of my rose wreath blocks so I've been thinking now about what I'll do for borders.  I have several quilt tops at this stage but since I really would like this quilt to hang at Christmas, I'd like to design and prepare the border sections as my pick-up work between other projects.  Remembering that I had once worked on such a self-designed border, I dug deep into the UFO container to see if it could provide a starting point.

This is what I had finished of it, almost one section, before abandoning the project.  It definitely gives me some ideas!  I still love this project, but I had put it aside because the mauve plaid that I had used proved to be a definite early fader on friends' quilts.  I couldn't see investing so much more time once that was apparent.  (Is the word 'mauve' even used anymore?)

These blocks are a bit more refined that my usual preference, but they really came alive when I sewed the four together.  They were a summer project, mostly stitched while sitting outside at the Cleveland Art Museum cafe, sipping iced tea on hot, lazy afternoons while Molly & K were taking art lessons there.  Funny how just looking at an old project can bring you immediately back to where and when you made it.

It was my first foray into red & green applique, using what fabrics were available from the paltry selection at the time.  Examining the blocks, I can see my younger self experimenting with techniques.  One of the blocks' background fabrics is whole, intact, while three have been cut away underneath the plaid, before the center applique, to reduce the layers through which I'd have to quilt.



Look, I even left a threaded needle in my in-progress work, ready to pick up and go when I got back to it.  Little did I suspect that I would be pulling it out like this more than 25 years later!


Molly's favorite CMA art project ever ~ a personalized chair,
assembled from cartons & embellished with paint and cutouts

I found the original paper draft of the design and it's reminded me of how I approached this so that will be helpful. I'm thinking about these pieces, so long buried in the back of the closet.  Although I won't ever use that center section, I've always wanted to make an 'orphan block' quilt and I think the border would be perfect for that.  Add another project to the list!

Comments

[One Minnesota Quilter]

How sweet is that chair and her smile? Oh, the things the children learn during those art classes and that we learn as we progress in our quilting. Lessons that help us all along the way.

Great post.

Judy

[jenny]

your way back machine really goes back!! I started a hand stitching quilt this year to do while my daughter was at ballet...and in the school line for pick etc etc...I love how you mentioned how a project will take you back to where you were...I know this quilt will set me squarely back to this school year!

[Tonya Ricucci]

yay for the orphan block project!!! could always turn that beautiful applique into a baby quilt, made to be loved and washed and not an heirloom. better to be used than not.

[kathie]

loved this post, just made me smile seeing her in the chair with that smile just must have brought back a flood of memories for you.
I took my kids to classes at a museum too for classes from actual art classes to learning about art in a museum and the artists to science experiment classes to learning about the dinosaur classes, they loved it. They still talk about those classes from time to time.
I look forward to your orphan block quilt...
I like Toyna's idea of making those blocks into a baby quilt for your first granddaughter to use and love.
Kathie

[Maria]

Once I heard the term 'menopausal mauve' I never used the word again.
I just love the appliqué and the colours.

[LeeAnn]

Beautiful, beautiful!

[Thimbleanna]

Oh, how sad not to use those blocks -- all that work! No way to just remove the mauve and replace it with something else? (Very gingerly, I suspect on those blocks where the back was cut away?) The border is gorgeous. I think I even have that leaf print in my stash -- thank you for dating it for me LOL.

And what a little cutie Molly is -- all proud of that chair!

[Pam Cope]

I love those blocks, I would not call it mauve, maybe cranberry pink? My quilt group has done a project before where we traded unfinished projects and then added to them. The results were really amazing! I can see those as the center of a Gwen Marston medallion quilt.... and, if you are really worried about the fading, what about painting over that fabric? I am not a fan of the whole cloth quilts painted with ink, but this might be a practical application of that product. I love to think of how our projects can be re-purposed. Your little girl is so sweet! what a great smile.

[Sew Create It - Jane]

I love the four blocks together...very fresh and a great fabric combo!

[molly]

My chair!! Truly my proudest work, ever!

[amelia peck]

i hope you turn your 4 block applique into a crib quilt. it'll become an heirloom for sure. it's stunning.