Colourful antique quilts.

Not much quilting has occurred in the last few days so no progress reports at the moment. This week is the last week of school here in England so I am busy with last minute stuff, not least help with GCSE Art coursework which I should be able to show soon.
Anyway I still have loads of stuff to blog from our recent trip to the US.
When we were in Paducah we went to a smaller show in a church hall which had a small display of antique quilts mostly from the 19th century. I was particularly taken with the brightly coloured, pieced ones as these are my favourite type of quilts.

This is a traditional Double Wedding Ring done in the 1940s but it is so modern! I love the rainbow placement of colours in the curved piecing.

This one is Goose Tracks from the 1880s, I love the use of the yellow and the hand quilting in the plain squares.

A lovely example of Trip Around the World. A bit more pastel than some of the Typical Amish ones but the colour placement is superb and gives it real 'movement'.

This one is an unusual colour combination but so refreshingly different. Again I love the yellow!

Feed Sack Blocks

I found these feedsack blocks in an antique mall in Indiana - it was the day before we flew home. They are handpieced but not very expertly and the centre crosses are made from plain cotton of various weights and qualities. As usual they were also quite grubby. At first I rejected them but as I walked around the mall my brain began to work. So I decided to buy them, take them apart and make my own feedsack quilt using some of the plain white feedsack fabric I had bought earlier on my trip.

Here are some of the blocks I have taken apart ready for washing - each square is approx 5 inches. I will have around 60 squares, although some have little holes, stains etc. These blocks cost me $7.50 which I think is a pretty good price.

The photos give you a pretty good idea of the fabric patterns I have and together they will make a lovely pastel quilt. I have not decided what blocks I will make yet but it will be something simple perhaps making the squares into HSTs to make the patterned fabric go further.
I don't know what the original maker was thinking of when she used this red fabric - but it does hold with the philosophy that fabric was too precious to waste so you used what you had available!

This morning I found this package of cat food which I had forgot to put away in the cupboard. Patches has a habit of helping herself to food even though there was plenty in the dish!
Today is wonderfully sunny here in England - we are having a dry sunny spell which has been good because the schools are all on holiday this week. This afternoon is the FA Cup Final (soccer) which I don't watch but at least they have a good day for it. I will be watching the French Open tennis and waiting for a deluge of teenagers to arrive. Today is my youngest son's 15th birthday and he has decided to have a BBQ in the garden!

Antique Mall Quilts

Not too much to report on my own quilting recently as I am still working hard to finish my City & Guilds pieces. I will report on them soon.
I am very aware that I still have loads to show on a quilting theme from our USA trip. This post is dedicated to quilts that I viewed in several antique malls while travelling through the state of Missouri.
I absolutely LOVE the antique malls in the USA because they contain so many quilts, feedsacks etc. All the photos are taken of quilts I did not buy either because they were too expensive, damaged or both. Also I always have to be mindful of my baggage allowance!
The photos were taken to remind me of the blocks because I am very interested in making reproductions of antique quilts.

This is just one block of a large quilt - I loved the piecing.

I love diamond piecing and I liked this layout. Also the green background fabric which makes me think it is 1920s or 30s?

A close up of the same quilt.

I also really like these scrap quilts with the fans. Not sure of the pattern name but I suppose they are quarter dresden plates!

I think this pattern is called Ocean Waves and I love the piecing of the tiny triangles. Although this quilt was in quite bad repair - the colours were so striking with that bright orange background. I kept going back to look at it as did another lady in the mall but the $100 price tag was too much due to its condition.

Another fan quilt - so fresh looking and I presume again from the 1930s.

I was lucky enough to buy some of these fan blocks later in the holiday which I would be able to put together in this pattern.

This double wedding ring looked stunning in pink and white - all hand quilted.

The blocks on this quilt were quite worn as you can see but I loved the block.

Hope you have enjoyed this small antique quilt show - I hope to bring you more soon!

Saturday in Nashville

Our last 'proper' day was spent in Nashville Tn - otherwise knoown as 'Music City'. Now I am not a big fan of country music but the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum was well worth a visit. This patchwork sign was in the foyer.

Nashville was in the high 80s on Saturday.

This is one of the tributes in the Hall of Fame - most people I had never heard of - but I do admire this little lady, even though the likeness is not very good!

In the evening we went to the Grand Ole Opry which was a great nostalgic show - a great evening of country music.

Sunday was the last day of our holiday - we spent it driving the 500 miles back to Chicago. We drove through Indiana, hunting through a few antique malls on the way - yes I did find some more stuff! I will report on my vintage quilting finds soon, Monday we were back in Chicago for our flight, The car had covered over 3500 miles when we returned (there were approximately the same number of dead bugs on the front of it!)- the girl at the rental place could not believe that we had driven as far as Texas!
We arrived home just before 9am yesterday morning - the house was not in too bad a state although very grubby (teenage cleaning efforts!). All the food has been eaten but the fridge was full of beer (even the salad drawer!) and every bath towel in the house had been used and left in a soggy heap - but cats and chickens were fine! So now it is back to washing, cooking and claeaning - but what a great trip we have had!

Paducah - Quilt City USA!

We have spent a lovely warm sunny day in Paducah today. It really is Quilt City USA. There are quilters everywhere and the atmosphere is great. There are loads of nice restaurants, quilt shops and antique shops. I even bought some vintage fabric items today including a dress made out of printed feedsack fabric.

This giant cow was outside one of the shops!

This is the inside of Hancocks of Paducah - it is more of a warehouse than a quilt shop!

This is Eleanor Burns' shop.

We also visited the National Quilt Museum which has loads of previous Best of Show winners including Flower Power by Philippa Naylor and two quilts by Sharon Schamber which were stunning.

After dinner we went to see Ricky Tims with 3000 other quilters - which was quite an experience , especially for Geoff, probably the only non-quilter in the audience!

Paducah 2009

Today was the day I have been looking forward to for months - the Paducah Quilt Show! I will not be showing any photos of quilts apart from a background shot of Best in Show but hope these few photos will give you a flavour of it.
The first photo shows people coming into the venue - the large building in the background. All the white canopies you can see are outdoor food stalls!

Philippa Naylor won one of the four main awards with her quilt 'Flower Power'. I thought it was great that the winners had a chair so they could sit with their quilt. I never saw Philippa there though as she was teaching all day.

I was lucky enough to catch the 'Best of Show' winner posing for photos. She is pictured on the right - her name is Mariya Waters from Australia and the quilt is called 'Renaissance Revival'

It was a great day - tiring but very enjoyable. Very busy - Paducah is full of quilters and there is a great atmosphere in the whole town. There were not as many quilts as I was expecting - I would say a similar number to the NEC. There were lots of technically excellent quilts especially from Japan,
However the number of trade stands was staggering! I did spend lots of money although I had been saving up so I could have a spending spree. I have triedto buy things that are not easy to get in the UK.
It was interesting to look at what is trendy in the quilting world - needle punching is very popular - I have bought a needle to have a go - also chenille, and jacket making.
What I found most interesting is that traditional quilting seems much more popular than art quilting - both in quilts exhibited and merchandise.

Here I am after 9 hours at the show! Tomorrow we are going to investigate Paducah itself as there is lots to see - not least Hancocks of Paducah, then tomorrow evening we are going to see Ricky Tims!

Walking In Memphis

After the long drive through Arkansas on Tuesday today was spent in Memphis. The weather has been hot and sunny - ideal for seeing the sights.
We started with Graceland, the ultimate Memphis attraction. Even though it was a bit of a tourist trap we really enjoyed it. Graceland itself was much smaller than you would imagine but very well preserved and presented.


Here is the front of the house and below a photo of the famous Jungle Room.

Then it was off to Sun Studios - where Elvis made his first record. Other famous acts who recorded there include Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis.

This photo was taken inside the recording studio.

Now we are preparing for the highlight of the visit - the Paducah Quilt Show - which we will be visiting tomorrow!

Goodbye to Route 66.

From Texas we crossed back into Oklahoma to continue our long drive right across Oklahoma, Arkansas and on to Memphis Tennessee. This is a drive of over 700 miles which we are doing over 2 days.
On the way we stopped off in Erick Oklahoma at this very quirky museum of sorts.

Well, what better way to say farewell to Route 66 than with some photos of us!!

We have now stopped just short of the Arkansas State Line, moving onto Memphis tomorrow.

Other Texas sights.

Just a few miles from Amarillo is a Cadillac Ranch spoof, the Bug Ranch, which consists of VW Beetles instead of Cadillacs. As we are VW fans it was a must-see!

This Art Deco restored gas station is in Shamrock Texas and is famous for being featured in the Disney 'Cars' movie.

And so it was time to say goodbye to Texas!

Cadillac Ranch Amarillo Texas

The Cadillac Ranch is one of the most iconic sights of Route 66. These photos were taken at around 9am this morning (Monday) and as you can see the weather was glorious today in Texas.

10 Cadillacs have been buried in a field and they are continually spray painted by visitors.