Summer of '69

What great memories! The colors and prints of this fabric take me back to 1969...bright orange, lime and avocado, psychedelic purple and aquamarine. These colors dominated my closet in wild and crazy peasant dresses, and tops to wear with white shorts or bellbottom jeans.

I was only fifteen, so my cool mama was driving me and my friends all over town, radio turned up, windows down, in her red Pontiac Catalina. Shopping centers, bowling alleys, movie theaters, skating rinks, and swimming pools were our hangouts. What carefree fun we all had!

Summer of '69 finished out at 45” x 51” size. It would have been perfect for laying out at the pool. I used several square and rectangular dies to cut these pieces. I quilted using aqua thread in straight stitch inside the rectangles, then changed to a curvy stitch on the aqua sashing.

This one was fun to sew, singing along with late 60's music like I did back then. I can't believe it's been over 50 years.

Accuquilt dies used:
55159 Rectangles 2½” x 4½”
55160 Rectangles 4½” x 8½”
55059 Squares 2½” multi
55017 Strip 2½”

Those were the days, my friend

Tangerine Splash

I've done an about face from last week's traditional fabric. Bright crisp colors of tangerine and blue make this week's quilt sparkle. The block, though, is a another vintage design called Patience Corners.

Here's the clipping that gave me inspiration, found in Granny Rose's collection. I love her notes in the margins! She had it pinned to pattern templates cut out of a paper sack.

I didn't cut mine with scissors, thank goodness. Accuquilt's parallelogram and flying geese dies made quick work of cutting out and sewing the 12” blocks. It's interesting to experiment with different shapes to see how they go together. High school geometry came in handy after all.

Tangerine Splash - KatieScarlett Designs

Tangerine Splash is a great summer quilt, finishing out at 49” square. I quilted with medium blue thread in straight stitch, spacing the lines 1 1/2” apart.

Accuquilt dies used:
55004 Parallelogram
55456 Flying Geese 3 ½” x 6 ½”
55017 Strip 2½”

Spend more time watching sunsets

and less time on your phone

 

Granny's Flower Baskets

This is one of my favorite versions of flower basket block. It's a reproduction of a quilt made by Granny Rose back in the 1960's. I drew it up in EQ8, experimenting with different sizes and color versions.

I used several dies to cut out the pieces, including Lemoyne Star. The rectangle and large triangle were slightly larger than I needed, so I trimmed off the excess when I squared up the blocks.

Two floral prints in blue and yellow coordinate with gold watercolor fabric that I used for baskets, backing and binding. The medium solid green color in the blocks and sashing adds to the vintage look. I added an outer border of the blue floral print. All the material was from my yard sale finds.

Granny's Flower Baskets

I used a ruler template to stitch with gold thread in wide rows across the quilt. Granny's Flower Baskets finished out at 52” square. If you'd like to see more posts about quilts inspired by Lydia Fort Rose, click on the Granny Rose label below. 

Have a great week!

Accuquilt dies used:
55453 Lemoyne Star
55107 Rectangle 2½” x 4½”
55018 Small Value (HST)
55031 Half Square Triangle 4” finished
55054 Strips 4½” 
55017 Strips 2½”
55059 Square 2½” multiples

It's up to you

to see beauty

in everyday things

Bella

Here's a quick, easy table runner in my favorite color, purple. I sewed the center block from scraps back in May as a sample of the Jackaroo Star die from Blue Wren.

One afternoon I decided to stitch two more blocks with similar fabric, and finished it off with two inch borders. I quilted in white thread using a spiral ruler template. Bella is 16½” x 40” finished size. It's nice to have projects like this in mind when I want to get something done quickly.

Last week, my resident handyman refinished the top of my sewing desk. While it was out of the way, I deep cleaned the sewing room, including windows, shelves, and dusty baseboards. I love a clean room! 

Naturally I got sidetracked while putting away quilting magazines. I flipped through a few older ones to rediscover some amazing ideas for the rest of the summer and into the fall.  So many possibilities!

Blue Wren dies used:
6369 Jackaroo Star 12” block
6720 Magic Strips

When you focus on

possibilities,

you'll have more

opportunities.