Ohio Quilt Barn

I stumbled across this wonderful old weathered quilt barn 

on my way to my niece's wedding. 

I haven't been able to locate this barn on the Quilt Trail map

but it was near Hillsboro, Ohio. (Brown or Highland Co?)

 This starry block is sometimes called "Milky Way".  

If you are from the southwest corner of Ohio and have more info, 

please let me know.

Little Christmas Tree Quilt

I finished one of the Christmas projects I was working on:

A little tree quilt that I will use to display my collection of Christmas tree brooches.

I cut out a muslin triangle and attached strips of green fabric.

Next I added ric-rac and lace trims 

and sewed on the angled side pieces and trunk. 

I cut out a bunch of squares to create the rest of the quilt top,

made my quilt "sandwich", 

top stitched to hold it all in place

and sewed on a binding. 

Beads, sequins and rhinestone buttons added sparkle and shine.

I searched through the Christmas decorations in the basement 

and found my tree brooches.  

There are plenty of empty squares, so my collection has room to grow.

(Santa always puts one in my stocking.)

I can't wait to hang this in the hallway come December! 

Star Spangled Barn Quilt

Back with another Barn Quilt.

This family picked a Star Spangled block in red white and blue

to honor 4 generations who have served in the military.

And you have a pretty good clue where their ancestors came from.

One of the things I love about this search for barn quilts

is the awareness of how much open space we have here in Kansas.

I love the miles and miles of green fields and big blue sky.

Lewis and Clark Barn Quilt

A brightly colored "Lewis And Clark" quilt block hangs

on a wonderful 90 year old barn.

Doesn't this barn look amazing against our blue, Kansas skies?

The current owners of this property 

raise cattle (beef)  and grow corn, soybeans and wheat.

I am enjoying this opportunity to connect with the land around me.



***
Go here to find the quilt barns in your state.

Sunflower Quilt Barn

I have completely fallen in love with quilt barns!!

Lucky for me, several of them are just a hop skip and a jump from where I live. 

It may take a while, but I hope to visit all of the ones in my area.

Yes, you have to get off the blacktop and onto some gravel roads.

But it's worth it!

This little blue hay barn with the bright yellow sunflower block was especially appealing to me.

(See the sunflower-metal-art along the fence, too.)

This farmer grows mostly corn, soybeans, wheat and hay.  

Up until the late 90's it was a Holstein dairy.

Barn Quilts- Missouri Star

I've always liked barns.

And I've always liked quilts.

Well... someone got smart and put the two together.

Painted quilt squares mounted on the side of a barn!

This is the Missouri Star, 

a barn quilt on the Boonslick Trail. 

I loved this glimpse of the barn through the fence and wildflowers

You can learn more about the amazing barn quilts all across this country
at Suzi Paron's blog, Barn Quilts And The American Quilt Trail.

Or click here for a map of Barn Quilts in your state.

Joining Barn Charm.

Come on over and see all the other barns featured this week.

Fabric Stash

My quilt fabric stash:

Yes, I am one of those quilters with a drawer for every color.

Pinks

Purples

Reds

Yellows/Oranges

Blacks/Browns

Light Greens

Medium/Dark Greens

Aqua Blue-Greens

Light Blues

Dark Blues

One other drawer (not pictured) for Whites/Creams.

I have two small bins of scraps. (top right)

And a pile of current projects. (top left)

And a drawer full of UFO's. (I did a post a while back on that.)

No,  I am not the type of quilter who hides her fabric in every nook 

and cranny, under the bed, and between the sofa cushions, 

and in the trunk of the car, so her husband will not know how much she has.

And I am not competing in the "she who has the most fabric when she 

dies, wins" contest.  I have enough stored for now and only 

buy more when a project calls for it.

What's your fabric stash like?

C,mon!  I showed you mine, now I hope you'll show me yours! 

(If you do a post about your stash, be sure to let me know and I'll add a link here.)

Lil Red Hen

Village Green

Village Green

My own little global village.

This is one of my unfinished quilts.  (I know, I need to get these things finished up.) Please pardon the wrinkles.  I  just pulled it out of a drawer.  Three of the four main blocks in this quilt were from a block exchange.

Each of the little buildings/houses is unique.

I pieced the Kansas pioneer sod house.  Each block of sod is a little rectangle of fabric.  And the door opens.

My sister made the church.   She was inspired by a beautiful Colonial church in Brazil, where she lived at the time.  I love the palm tree and the leafy vegetation.  It looks so real.

My Australian friend made the farmhouse with the front porch and flower garden.  It is the house she grew up in. (This one was not part of that block swap, but was given to me at a different time.)

And the pink house with the yellow roof was made by another American participant in the swap.

I thought all the little houses should be gathered together, peacefully, in one village.  And this is the result. 

 *   *   *   *   *   *  

Don't forget - I'm having a  TEA COZY GIVEAWAY  for my followers (old or new).  There will be four winners.  All you have to do is follow my blog and Leave a comment here, telling me which one(s) you would like to win.   Good luck! 

I'll Huff And I'll Puff

I think all of us know the tale of the Three Little Pigs 

who went out into the world to seek their fortune,

built homes from straw, twigs and brick, 

and did their best to keep away from the big bad wolf.

That was my favorite story when I was a wee girl

and I remember my Grandpa reading it to me, over and over again.

My grandma made this crib size piggy quilt when my Dad was little.

She embroidered and appliqued each square.

The quilt was passed down to me, 

because I was the granddaughter who loved piggies.

And I used it when I had children of my own.

It says (in rebus form):

"Open the door  and let me in.

No! By th' hair of my chiny chin chin.

Then I'll huff and I'll puff,

I'll blow your house in!"

Ruby Short McKim was the designer and illustrator of this quilt.  Her quilt patterns were published in newspapers across the country in the 1920's and 30's. This piggy quilt was designed as a series. Years later I discovered the piggy pattern republished in this book of McKim designs.  Naturally I had to buy the book!  

* * * * *

UPDATE:   Please visit this link to Karen's post,  Ruby McKim's Big Bad Wolf

to see another fun version of the piggy quilt.

Join us for  Vintage Thingie Thursday at The Colorado Lady.

Courthouse Steps Quilt

This is another scrap quilt that my great-grandmother made.  As age and arthritis set in, she was no longer able to quilt by hand, so she tied the quilts.  (See other quilts from my great-grandma here.)

Although it has a couple threadbare spots and tears, I still use it on my bed every year when the weather starts to turn cold.

I know you are starting to think that Katarina (my cat) must follow me from room to room and just plop down right in the middle of whatever I am trying to take a picture of.   And you would be correct.  I had to shoo her off the bed to open the quilt up for a better photo. (She jumped right back up on the quilt when I was done.)

The quilt block is a log cabin variation, called Courthouse Steps.

With a name like that I think this quilt should be passed down to my son.   He was recently chosen as the Chief Magistrate for the residence hall governing board,  and has dreams of law school, post graduation.

I am linking to:

Vintage Thingie Thursday at The Colorado Lady
Alphabe-Thursday  (letter C) At Jenny Matlock's

Quilts From Great-Grandma

My great-grandma was an amazing quilter.  My best memory of her is sitting in a chair, surrounded by bags of colorful fabric, scissors, and paper templates.   She had lots of kids, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  And she made beautiful quilts for all of us.

This darker green nine patch quilt was the first quilt I received from her.  I don't ever remember it not being on my bed, so that means I've had it since before I was 4 years old.  I remember laying on my bed, looking at all the different fabrics and colors.  ( I still do that now.)   Sometimes I played with dolls on the quilt, and each 9-patch block became a different "room", and the sashing became the "hallways" of the "doll house".  

This lighter green quilt came along a few years later.   Do any of you quilters recognize this block and know it's name?   I think my great-grandma found some of her quilt template patterns in the newspaper.   I should go to the Kansas City Star Quilts web site  and see if I can locate it.  They published quilt patterns in newspapers all around the country. 

Because of her, I grew up loving quilts.   Her specialty was scrap quilts and to this day that is my favorite type of quilt.    

*   *   *   *   *

I decided to make today's post quilt related in memory of CC.   I was just getting to know her  through the Sunbonnet Sue patterns she posted on her blog.   Rest in peace friend.  My deepest sympathy and prayers go out to her family.

The Colorado Lady is having a giveaway in memory of CC. 

Dont forget to sign up for my giveaway!!  Click here. 

I'm linking to:

Vintage Thingie Thursday  at The Colorado Lady

Alphabe-Thursday Color Summer School at Jenny's

More Quilts

The little wall quilt is all done!   The hand sewing on the binding is done.   The label has been attached.   It's been washed and I have shipped it off for the auction (for Orphans Africa) at the end of the month. 

And here are pictures of a few baby quilts I have made for friends in the past.

(I made this quilt, but the photo was taken by my friend R.)

Quilt for baby E.S.

Quilt for baby M.H.

Quilt for baby J.G.

(I made this quilt, but the photo was taken by my friend R.)

Quilt for  baby M. S.

A Quilt For Orphans Africa Auction

I have a dear old friend who works with an organization that builds schools in Tanzania, Africa.   They are really doing some wonderful things to help educate orphaned children and teach skills to widowed women. You can read more about it at Orphans Africa.

(these photos are all from the Orphans Africa website.)

She called a couple of weeks ago and said they were having an auction in February to raise money for a secondary school classroom.  And she asked if I would make a quilt to put in the auction.  Of course I said yes.

So that is what I have been working on this weekend.  I gathered up everything I would need.  I learned an easy way to make these triangle blocks in a class based on Martha Thompson's book, "Start With Squares".   And I thought they would be perfect to use in the auction quilt.  Block rows were layed out and then sewn together to make the main part of the quilt.  Two simple borders were  cut and sewn on.  Everything was layered together in a quilt sandwich so that I could pin-baste and machine quilt.

I still have to sew on binding and make a label for the back.  This quilt is fairly small, about the size for a  nice wallhanging or table topper.   I am pleased with how it is coming along.   Will post a picture of the final product when I'm all  through.    (update--- see completed quilt here.)

Linking to Mosaic Monday at Little Red House.

Unfinished Quilts

Someday I will complete all these unfinished quilts. 

 What inspires you to complete old projects?

Kansas Troubles quilt.

These are still individual blocks that need to be joined together. 

 I love playing with pattern possibilities.

Watercolor quilt.

Hearts.

Row By Row (One row for each month of the year.)