TRAVEL THEMED RAG QUILT

I just listed a new rag quilt with a travel theme. It's a vintage print with echoes of romantic travel of yesteryear. The print features old cars, vintage trains and planes and a great big ocean liner. It all reminds me of the days when travel was leisurely and romantic and, sometimes a great adventure. Now it's rush, rush, hurry, hurry and then wait on the tarmac. I love the blue and red accents and played up the red with red flannel. It's a nice 45" x 45"; great for a lap quilt. You can find it on ebay, etsy and bonanzle.

GETTING OLD

Most of the time I don't feel "old",whatever that is. However, on March 3, my lovely granddaughter will be 14 years old. It seems impossible that she's that old and that I'm old enough to have a grandchild that old. She's turning into a remarkable young woman. I just wish I knew her better.

You are probably wondering about that last statement. You see, I had my son when I was in college back in the day when those things were kept secret. I gave him up for adoption and I found him nearly 11 years ago. He and his kids live in another state so I don't get to see them as often as I would like.

I remember the first time I saw my granddaughter. She was three years old and had just gotten up from her nap. She was so beautiful. It was love at first sight for me. She was a remarkable person even at that young age. Such imagination and such a big vocabulary! After she got used to me she talked my ear off! Now she's a young woman with a boyfriend and is dealing with all the hassles that come with growing up.

I tell you, I'm glad I'm not growing up now. Things are so different compared to when I was a teenager (back in the "olden days" of the 60's). It's so hard for them to know the right thing to do. Kids these days are bombarded with so much information and misinformation. Though there have been some minor missteps, I think my granddaughter has a good head on her shoulders and will be able to travel through the land mines of teenagerhood with minimal damage. She has a good relationship with her dad and that's so important.

I made her something for her birthday, but I won't tell you what it is or post any pictures until after her birthday on the small chance that, maybe, she reads Grandma Barbara's blog.

Her brother's 10th birthday is coming up soon and I'll tell you all about him when it gets a little closer. He's an amazing kid, too.

CRAZY QUILTS

An online buddy recently put on a "Mystery Box" wish list that she wanted crazy quilt embellishments. That piqued my interest - what kind of quilt has embellishments? So I did a little research and found a great article on QuiltHistory.com by Betty Pillsbury. You can go to http://www.caron-net.com/featurefiles/featmay.html to read the entire article, but I thought I'd just mention a few interesting facts about crazy quilts here.

Crazy quilting was really big back in those crazy Victorian days and is coming back into favor. You know how those Victorians liked to embellish everything in sight and these quilts are just like that. Crazy quilts aren't actually quilts - no batting or quilting in sight. They would baste bits of fabric on a base, usually a square, to make each block.

The process of piecing together ramdom bits of fabric goes back much farther than the Victorian era, but the embellishment was all theirs. Victorian gentlewomen used bits of silk, velvet and satin to make coverlets and embroidered over the seams. On some there was so much elaborate embroidery one could hardly see the fabrics! Some of the most interesting were those made from bits of fabric collected from family members and embroidered with names, dates of birth (and maybe death) and appropriate sentiments from the donor. Sometimes items such as a man's hatband, a leather tie or a bit of lace-covered corset were incorporated into the quilt.

It sounds like making a crazy quilt would be a great way to record a family history and certainly more interesting than a dusty old book of names and dates. I may just have to try one, even if it's just to see if I can remember how to do all of those embroidery stitches my mom taught me back in the day.

So go check out the article and see the beautiful pictures. The history of quilting is truly a history of America.

SHORT HISTORY OF CHARM QUILTS

When I first started doing rag quilts and found out about charm squares, I wondered why they were called "charm" squares. Yes, the assortment was kind of charming, but I knew there had to be another reason. That's when I found out about charm quilts.

People started making them back in the 19th century. I don't think anyone knows exactly how it got started, but women were making quilts that had no two squares/patches cut from the same fabric. It sounds like a great challenge to me since some of these quilts have a hundred or more pieces. Sometimes they were called "beggar quilts", presumably because women would beg fabric from their friends and family to make these quilts. If you ever have the privilege of seeing one of these quilts, take time to look and see if the maker included a surprise - a duplicate of one of the fabrics. Kind of like an old timey "Where's Waldo?"

Charm quilts were first made around 1870 and continued until around the turn of the century. They were made again in the 1930's and 1940's.

Today, charm squares/packs come from a fabric manufacturer and include a square of fabric from each material in a fabric line or collection. Usually these are 5" squares. The packs normally range from 25 to 50 squares. Recently fabric companies have been making "layer cakes" which are like charm packs, but the squares are 10" instead of 5".

If you need strips of fabric for your quilting, you can also find "jelly rolls" - 2.5" strips - and the newer "honey buns" - 1.5" strips - both in the same fabric assortments as the charm packs. The biggest manufacturer of these handy items is MODA, but you can also find them put together by individuals in online stores like Ebay and Etsy. Some quilt fabric stores do their own, too.

For those of you who like to quilt, either the traditional or the raggy, these packages of precut fabric can be a great timesaver.

For a more detailed and well-written history of charm quilts check out the article by quilt maker, collector and historian, Laurette Carroll, at http://www.fabrics.net/charmQuilts.asp

NEW CHARM SQUARE QUILT

I finally got some good pictures of my latest rag quilt. It's made from charm squares from MODA's "Peace on Earth" collection. I think this is some of the most beautiful fabric I've seen from MODA in a long time. The earthy tones are just beautiful. There are all sorts of prints - florals, paisleys, dots, etc - but my favorites are the antique maps. I backed the quilt with a pale blue flannel and it turned out very pretty. I have listed it on Ebay, Etsy and Bonanzle so it should get lots of exposure.

HERE SHE IS

Here's a pic of my new washer. Isn't she pretty? I've done 4 loads of regular laundry and a rag quilt today and she performed like a champ. My old washer was purchased when I moved into this house in October of 1989 so I guess it was time for a new one. My old one was a Kenmore and so it my new one. I certainly don't expect quite the longevity this time around, but I know that this is a good brand. The best thing is how much more laundry it holds. My goodness, I could get in there!! And now I don't have to use needle-nosed pliers to work the knob!! Funny how little it takes to make one happy, isn't it?

MY NEW WASHER

My new washer is here and installed and ready to go. They were supposed to deliver between 12:15 and 2:15. They arrived at 12:22 and were gone by 12:35. Talk about service!!! Of course there's not much to installing a washer. And I had already unhooked everything on the old one so I could move it and mop underneath. I'm getting ready to gather up laundry and start in. I'm sooo excited!!! I took some pictures and will post them later.