Monday I had a day off work. Since my husband had to work I had hours of extra sewing time. I checked the calendar and according to my goal of 2 blocks I week I should have 44 blocks finished this week. I decided to make some extra blocks to try and catch up.
Up first I finished the bouquet block I started last week. (I fudged the numbers last week and counted this one even though it wasn't completely finished.)
#8 Bouquet
Most of the blocks this week were fairly easy so they piled up quickly. I used templates for a lot of these blocks. I've often wondered how quilting survived until the invention of the rotary cutter.
#23 Country Farm
As I was working on these blocks I realized that most of the quilt blocks we have date to the mid-1800s at the earliest (most much later than that.) In the mid-1800s the industrial revolution made it much cheaper to purchase items. Similar to myself, if the quilter in the 1800s just needed a blanket she could have bought one. It might have meant less extra money to spend else where, but it was an option.
#50 Honey's Choice
I'm sure that my vision of a country wife using up old scraps of clothing to make a quilt is true, but there is more to it than that. She didn't just cut up left over fabric to get the biggest pieces possible and sew them together. The quilters of yesterday took time to make something beautiful.
#61 Northern Lights
I love the idea of the Farmer's Wife working hard during the day and staying up late at night working on making a quilt for her home. She may not have had the access to the large art galleries in the cities, but she made her own art.
#80 Single Wedding Star
#83 Spider Web
#98 Waterwheel
42/111
47:00
Wow! You've been busy!
ReplyDeletehopping over from Finished Friday from Richard and Tanya's quilts. lovely work, stop by my blog for giveaway
ReplyDeleteThe grayscale really accentuates your piecing nicely. That Spider Web block is really neat.
ReplyDeleteThis is going to be spectacular. The colors make it so eye-popping! Thank you, too, for the thoughts on quilting history. I know my grandmother used scraps to create blocks without much thought to what went with what, but I have no clue what my great grandmother did. I know she quilted, but that's all. I've never seen her work. You've helped me imagine what it might have been like.
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