Vintage Rose for Mothers Day and a Memory Quilt for Mom

I am just finishing up a quilt I called Vintage Rose. It incorporates a vintage embroidered doily (which was a giveaway from my weekly quilters group; read about it here) appliquéd on a vintage linen napkin, vintage cutter quilt rose blocks bought on eBay, a vintage glove, and vintage tatting, buttons, and other linens.

 Worn rose-shaped buttons frame "Rose" in her heart-shaped doily.

The rose appliqués were in bad shape. I covered them with sheer tulle, machine sewed it along the appliqué, then trimmed it. The tatted roses are trimmed from doilies I bought a while back.

A few months ago when I bought out a dealers linen stash there were a dozen gloves included (read about it here). This one is satin with a pretty crystal button.

On my bed I put the second quilt I ever made, made in 1991. I used Mom's painting shirts, all red plaids. I found the block pattern in a magazine, just the block, no instructions. I pretty much made up my own instructions. I had no idea what I was doing at the time. In the middle of appliquéing the hearts I met Holly Perry who taught me the appliqué and quilt stitches. We joined the quilt group at the church, which is still going on 24 years later with many of the same ladies.

Mom was an oil painter. She took her first classes in adult education back when I was a tyke. Later in life she took private lessons.

One of Mom's paintings

Mom died of cancer in 1990. She was 57 years old.

Mom about 38 years old at the time of my graduation from high school

Mom in 'the project' in her Jitterbug Queen days

Read About Songs My Mother Sang Me found at
http://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2014/04/songs-my-mother-sang-me-1940s-novelty.html

"Recycling" Vintage Hexie Quilts

Recycled Hexie Quilts: Using Vintage Hexagon Quilts in Today's Quilts  ins't the most gripping title but once you see Mary W. Kerr's quilts you will be hooked. I was prowling eBay looking for Hexie quilts within the hour. I have a sudden need to accumulate cutter quilts, particularly those based on hexagons!

Kerr first presents vintage quilts using Hexagon patterns, including Grandmother's Flower Garden variations, Seven Sisters Hexagon, flower baskets, floral wreathes, stars, lozenge, and mosaic diamonds. Scrappy and planned patterns are included.

Then we see 52 new quilts made with 'recycled' Hexie quilts. I already love using vintage textiles in quilts. I have, after all, 800 handkerchiefs, four drawers of old laces and trims and ribbons, a big drawer of embroidered linens, and who knows what else squirreled away.

Kerr demonstrates how to use Hexies as sashing, blocks, or borders combined with vintage embroidered linens, embroidered quilt blocks, and applique blocks. They are just wonderful!

I loved her use of cutter hexie tops as wide sashing and borders around vintage embroidered linens. A modern looking quilt can be made by floating hexie 'blocks' on a solid background fabric. She also has examples of some non-hexie recycled tops. Her examples range from pillows to bed sized quilts.

A chapter on how to work with vintage Hexie textiles can be applied to other pieced tops. Labels, quilting, and using fusibles also merit chapters. A nice step-by-step tutorial on applying crocheted doilies to a quilt is given.

The book has 148 full color photographs of inspirational quilts and is beautifully laid out.

This is not a pattern book, but you will get tips and inspiration to create your own recycled Hexie quilt project. This is a great book for the quilt guild library, too.

Mary W. Kerr is a quilt appraiser with the American Quilt Society and has published several books, teaches about vintage textiles, and restores quilts.

I received a free ebook for a fair and unbiased review.

Recycled Hexie Quilts
Mary W. Kerr
Schiffer Publishing
ISBN13: 9780764348204
$19.95 soft cover
Publication Date: April 28, 2015