Help! Name this Quilt Pattern!

In September I bought this quilt at an antique store in Cedarburg, WI. It is all hand stitched and in perfect condition.

Can anyone help me name the pattern? Era? I don't think it is older than the 1930s and probably made a lot later. In fact, it almost looks new, but it's not.

When I first saw it I was taken back by the bright colors. But, once I opened it and saw the beautiful pattern, I was hooked. I find the circles and squares amazing. Now I need the name of the pattern and any other info I can find on it. Thanks for Mary Sue and Pam (hidden behind the quilt) for holding it up while I took the picture!

Also, I have several antique quilts I need repairs. Some I have purchased and two that were made by my mother and grandmother. Any recommendations on where I could take them?

Office/Sewing Room

Please click on picture to really see how pretty this piece is.

I live in a house that is 121 years old. Over the years owners have remodeled and updated so that not much of the original character remains; however, the basic plan of the house is somewhat the same. It has relatively small rooms and hardly any closet space. It does have a cool built in china cabinet, wide woodwork, wood floors and cool stucco walls in 3 of the first floor rooms. I have a cool back hall pantry area and a great screened in porch. So, while it probably looks totally different from when it was built, it still has a funky character to it.

Off the dining room is a little 8' x 11' room with a cubby hole closet. Because of the little closet, it can be considered a 3rd bedroom. I have always used it as my "office." I have a beautiful antique piece that was suppose to be in my upstairs bedroom, but we could not maneuver it up the stairs on moving day 11 years ago. It is full of winter hats, gloves, mittens, purses, swimming suits, doggie coats and other miscellaneous junk.

Since I hope to retire next year and sell my house, I recently had my handyman come over and make a lot of repairs that needed to get done before I sell. I figure the repairs are now completed and it will be one less thing to worry about in spring when my house goes on the market.

He did some repair work on the ceiling in my office and changed the ceiling light fixture so that instead of being a pull chain it now can be turned on and off from a switch on the wall. What a concept!!!!

I also purchased a laptop so I would have more room on my desk. It is a huge desk and was my Dads. I decided to turn this room into a sewing room/office/storage place. Now-that is asking quite a lot of this little room, but it is working.

I removed all of my books from the bookcase and either gave them away packed them up. I kept only the bare essentials in my book land. I purchased decorative boxes to hold quilt patterns, blocks, kits and excess fabrics. I moved my sewing machine to the desk top and out of the kitchen. When I work on larger quilts, all I have to do is unplug the laptop and move it. I have just enough room to keep my ironing board up all of the time. No more ironing board in my kitchen! I still need my dining room table to lay out quilt blocks and for cutting, but that is only a couple of steps away. Now my kitchen will always be neat and tidy!

I tried to empty out or clean out the antique piece, but it is still full of stuff. I will make another attempt at emptying out 2 drawers and maybe 2 shelves inside.

My dining room is still full of fabric, cutting boards, rulers, a plastic storage drawer thingy full of fabric and other quilting related stuff, but I'm trying to keep it tidy. It really is an organized mess. No picture of that room!

I have some wall space available for quilted wall hangings in my new space. Once I get a rod, my little lady will be ready to hang on a wall and not tacked to the bookcase! I will soon start a large wall hanging for above the desk. (The room needs color.) The stained glass piece in the window, believe it or not, I just purchased on sale from Penney's. I love it as my Mom loved humming birds and there are books and a coffee mug incorporated into it - both things I love. So, I have a little of both my parents in the room.

Hopefully, when I retire I will have a bigger room for quilting and will not have to use other areas. Right now I am thrilled with this room!

Weekend at Sally's Part I

I drove to my dear friend, Sally's home in Watervliet, MI Wednesday afternoon for the long holiday weekend. I hit a lot of traffic from Dempsey through Jackson in Chicago. Caught the Skyway and breezed through the rest of the trip. Got to Sally's in time to celebrate her birthday with Amy and Jerry. We had a yummy dinner in Coloma and returned to Sally's where shortly afterwards Amy and Jerry went their separate ways back to Illinois. I'm glad I made it in time for dinner as it is always fun to see Amy and Jerry.



Thursday we hit the road. Stopped at an antique store in Watervliet and several stores in Benton Harbor. One was a great dollar store and the other a health food store. I wanted Sally to candle my ears that night. However, before these stores we found 2 quilt stores.


Carol's Cozy Cottage is outside of Benton Harbor, really in the country. It is even down a dirt road. It is very cute on the outside. However, it is small and she doesn't have a large selection of fabric at all. Maybe 30-50 bolts? She seems to cater to her church group or other church groups. But, it was nice and Carol is very friendly. I bought something to hand stitch while at Sally's and Sally bought a cute tea place mat kit. More on this in my next post.







Next we found Loving Stitches in Stevensville (?), MI. And, we found Holly - the awesome owner. Not only is it a quilt store, but Holly has a perfectly charming English cottage garden that people are free to explore and enjoy. Sally and I were amazed at the wandering paths and all of the different flowers.

Holly in front of her shop





When Sally and I walked into Holly's store there was a very young girl there, maybe 14 or 15, who Holly said was her daughter, Heather. I was surprised as Holly has over a dozen kits she made up for sale and all have been sewn and most were machine quilted by Heather. Also, on several of these quilts there was some with beautiful applique work, also done by either Holly or Heather. Sally and I oohed and ahhed over these samples. Holly has a very nice variety of fabrics, too.
Sally and me in Holly's garden



We got to talking with Holly (who is a lovely person) and in the course of conversation she showed us pictures of Heather quilting at age 5. In the photo album was a picture of a young woman on her wedding day. Turns out the young woman is Heather! Holly, with a twinkle in her eye, asked us how old we thought she was . I said 35-37 and Sally quickly agreed. I looked a little closer at her and thought to myself, "Well, maybe 42 at the most." Ha! Holly is 62! Yes, SIXTY-TWO. Sal and I were flabbergasted. Truthfully, this woman doesn't look older than 42 max. She has beautiful long blonde hair - all natural. And, Heather? Not a young teenager, but 25 years old and married!



Of course Sal and I asked Holly her secret to looking to young and beautiful. Holly said she never smoked, never drinks anything but milk, water, and fruit juices, eats healthy, loves to be outside, loves to golf and she keeps herself busy. She also has a great outlook on life, which is very evident.



Sally and I asked her about guilds and classes for Sally and Holly told us about a quilting guild and a group that meets at a nearby library.





When we got home Sally made us a wonderful dinner (she is just a great cook). We worked on my little lady project and later cut out all of the pieces for Sally's tea place mat.



It was a great day.

Plaque in Holly's garden

Bluebirds on a quilt

Click on pic for a much better view.

I said I would not purchase any more fabric. However, I couldn't resist this.

I saw this bluebird fabric on a sample lap quilt kit at the Quilt Show last month. It is from Fern Hill Quilt and Antiques. I fell in love with it and while at the show, asked the designer if I could get the material and pattern, but for a queen size quilt.

The ladies at Fern Hill are very helpful and adjusted the pattern for me and sent me the material. I'm thrilled. The material is called Bluebird Dishes by Lily Mae for Fine Line fabrics. It is based on old bluebird dishes.

My grandma had several Homer Laughlin bluebird plates and I have them, along with others I have found over the years. So, this fabric called to me. I picture the quilt on a bed with the plates hanging over the bed and maybe a few other items of my grandma's in the room.

So, now a few projects might fall to the wayside while I make this quilt. But, it will have to wait until after the Friendship Star quilt is completed, as well as the Broken Dishes wall hanging and the lap quilt for my nephew.

So, many quilts and fabrics, so little time.

NO MORE FABRIC. I PROMISE. I promise. I promise. I promise! I promise!!!!

Antique Quilts

I have always been attracted to homemade quilts and quilting. This attraction is for many reasons, some of which are that I love antiques, I love the thought of making quilts to keep a family warm at night and that I have a couple that were made by my mother and grandmother. The image of pioneer women making quilts from scraps or even my grandmother piecing quilts is a strong image for me and calls to me.

Hence, I am thrilled that I am learning the art of quilting. While "artistic" quilts are beautiful, I am strongly attracted to "old fashioned" quilts with traditional patterns. Even if made with more contemporary fabrics and patterns, I still love the old patterns. I am also attracted to the 1930s reproduction fabrics, which are so popular now.

While at the International Quilt Show I found a lady who was selling antique quilts, quilt tops, blocks and individual blocks. I spent more time in her booth than all the others put together.

While looking at the quilts, she had them tagged and labeled very well. If she knew anything about the quilter, she had that listed along with the location where it was made, the era and the overall condition of the quilt.

I felt a little sad looking at these quilts. They were beautiful. Someone had put love and effort into these quilts and now they were for sale to the highest bidder. What happened? Where there no family members to lovingly pass these quilts on to? Maybe family members didn't want them, just didn't appreciate them. Were they sold because some where over the years they needed the money (even now with the economy as it is)? Where they just lost and/or forgotten?

This bothers me. These quilts, whatever condition they are in were made from the heart. For the most part they were all hand stitched or machine sewn and then hand quilted. So much work and effort. Yes, some had tears and stains. Some were in sad condition. Still, to me, they are works of art for all of their original, practical beginnings.

I bought 2 packages of individual quilt blocks. Makes me wonder even more. Why weren't they finished? Were they ripped out of completed quilts because the rest of the quilt was in too bad of shape to save? What was the quilter's overall vision?

Well, now I am their keeper. The double wedding ring quilt top I purchased was made in the 1930s. It is my all time favorite quilt pattern. The Dresden Plate blocks, while very incomplete is my second favorite. The tulips are just sweet and pretty. Hopefully, with the blocks I will someday have the skills (or find someone who does) to piece them into a complete blocks and tops. The double wedding ring I would like to have quilted soon, but that might wait until I have the time and skill to hand quilt it since it is all hand pieced.

If you look closely at the tulip blocks you can see that even some of the blocks were pieced together. Probably out of old sheets or pillow cases, maybe old shirts. This just makes them even more special to me.

I think I see a new collection starting here. Old quilts, blocks, patterns accumulating. I will love and care for them and try to bring them back to the best of my ability or just leave them to be loved (again) as they are.

Ahhhh, vacation

March 20th, I left for a nice long vacation. I had rented a timeshare in Hilton Head, this time in the Sea Pines area- right by Harbor Town - and my gal pal, Shelley and I enjoyed a week long stay there.


Hilton Head is OK. It is pretty, but I would not want to live there. If you don't golf, I imagine there isn't a whole lot to do there, either. But, retirees seem to love it. I really tried to get a timeshare unit in Charleston, where Shelley and I wanted to spend a week, but it didn't happen.


We did explore Hilton Head and the outlet stores! One day was spent in Savannah and the highlight of the trip, I believe for both of us, was an over night adventure in Charleston.


Shelley booked us a double room in a 240 year old B&B in the historic area. It was lovely. And, we were able to walk all over town. As in Savannah, in Charleston we took a carriage ride to learn about the area and decide which areas we wanted to explore. We toured a beautiful old mansion, explored a cemetery dating back to the early 1700s, shopped in the "ritzy" area, and walked (as well as drove) along side streets to explore the beautiful architecture of Charleston.

This picture of a typical old house in Charleston if off the web as my battery died in my camera and I can't find the charger so I can upload pictures.

We had some great meals in Charleston, too. (We ate our way through the whole vacation!). I had fabulous grits and shrimp. And, we had a great, fun meal at Jestine's. I even got to a small quilt store a few blocks from our B&B.

One day we also drove into historic Buford, SC and explored the harbor and old historic houses.


It was a fun week with Shelley. We have known each other since we were 8 years old. Although our lives took different paths the friendship still exists and I am very thankful for that.

During this time Sue had her 65th birthday. Marty surprised her with a party consisting off all of the kids (and their parents) she does child care for. Some additional neighbors came as well. Their house as packed and it was so much fun for all of us.


Back to the grindstone!

The Locket

While traveling in Scotland, Anne and I stopped at an antique store in a little village. It was here that I purchased a Victorian locket. Although I know nothing about its previous owner, the locket called to me since I first saw it.

I have always enjoyed antiques and have collected them since I was a teenager. Many of my antiques have family history behind them. I have a spinning wheel that has been passed down on my grandma's side of the family for generations, a clock that was in my uncle's family, dishes from my grandmother, quilts made by my mother and her mother. Recently my aunt sent me two antiques plates - one hand painted and signed and dated. It turns out it was painted the same year my home was built. I love it! My 1930s kitchen set was refinished by my mom.

I remember my first antique purchase. My mom and I went to the home of my grandmother's "egg man" - a farmer who sold her fresh eggs on a weekly basis. He was selling his farm and invited us over to purchase any items we liked. I bought a rocking chair that now sits in my guest bedroom. I was 14 and I paid $10 for it.

I treasure these items. They are like old friends to me. I am a sentimental person and I like the history that surrounds them, even if I don't know all of it. I often wonder why people let antiques be sold out of families. I have a difficult time understanding how family history could be sold.

However, now my house is filled to the brim. So, I have started looking at antique jewelry. I have some antique jewelry that has been passed on to me. I have my grandma's wedding band, my mother's engagement ring. I have a few great pieces of my grandma's old costume jewelry. My mom had a beautiful locket with my dad's picture in it. My sister now has it and I have seen her wear it with pride. And, I have a very small little locket that was my mom's. However, she never put pictures in it, probably due to its size.

When I first saw this locket in Scotland I asked the price. Quickly converting English pounds to dollars, I didn't think I could afford it. Anne and I walked out of the store and wandered around the village a bit and sat by the sea. Finally I said I wanted to go back to the store and look at the locket again. While examining it I asked again what the price was. The lady quoted me a price of 20 pounds less then she originally stated. I felt it was an omen (although obviously a mistake on her part). I bought the locket.

The locket is heart shaped. The area when the chain would go is shaped like a ribbon tied into a bow. Both the front and back are finely etched with vines and flowers. In the middle of the front are the initials "EL." Inside are two pictures. From what I can tell the pictures were probably taken in the 1930s or 1940s. The are both of men, one in a military uniform. I have determined (with the help of several other people) that they are not the same man, but quite possibly related, maybe brothers.

Who was "EL"? Who are the men? Was EL their mother, their sister, aunt? Where they her brothers, her lovers, father or uncles? How did this locket end up in an antique store in a little village in Scotland? Was EL Scottish? Was she German and the locket spoils of WWII? When did she live and die? When did the men live and die?

While driving, Anne and I decided to give her a name. Anne suggested Ellen, which I immediately agreed to (I have a cousin named Ellen). We tossed around a few last names beginning with L. I looked up to see a sign post pointing towards the village of Logie. Hence, Ellen Logie was born. But, still, so many questions remain that will never be answered.

I think of the jewelry I have. The first year we were together, Gotti gave me a beautiful dragonfly necklace for my birthday. I was speechless when I saw it, it is so lovely. I commented that it was the most beautiful dragonfly I had ever seen. He looked at me and said, "Honey, that's a butterfly, not a dragonfly!" I looked at it again. Most definately a dragonfly! I pointed out the differences to him. We laughed about it and still do. And, every single time I wear the necklace I smile at the thought of "Gotti's butterfly." And I wear it with the love with which it was given to me.

Yet, in 50 or 60 years will this dragonfly treasure of mine end up in an antique store? Will some woman ponder over it? Will she wonder where it came from? Gotti, upon hearing these questions, sweetly suggested that it would be passed on to our grandchildren. I hope so. I also hope the tender story that is part of it, is also passed along.

In the meantime, I intend to take good care of EL's locket. I plan to find the appropriate antique chain for it. I will wear it in her honor and also for the men whose pictures are kept tucked away inside. And as I do with all of my "old" things, I will preserve it and keep it safe.