QuiltingAndPatchwork.com   
Have you discovered old quilts and/or patches in your attic or a closet?  Are there quilting patterns there?   
When cleaning out a closet in the old farmhouse where I grew up, after my mom developed Alzheimer’s, I discovered some old quilting patches.  Some were simply pre-cut pieces and others consisted individual blocks with the pieces stitched together.
I’d never seen these before and knew my mom hadn’t made them.  Although she encouraged me in my quiltmaking, she hadn’t done any since she was a young girl.  When I discovered them, Mother no longer had any memories about the blocks and …read more

QuiltingAndPatchwork.com 
 If your quilt could tell a story, what would it say? I think of the quilt I call, The Wedding Quilt.  I recall it always lying on the bed in the guest room of our farmhouse.  I can visualize one day, as Mother, Sister and I cleaned the room and made the bed for a visit from my aunt and uncle. 
Mother had aired the quilt on the clothes line on the south side of the house and now was folding it to place at the foot of the bed.  I don’t know if Sister or I asked a question or Mother …read more

 QuiltingAndPatchwork.com
 Do you believe that escaping slaves, during the Civil War [in the United States], often used quilts and their symbols as guides to freedom? 
Are you on side of the story that maintains there isn’t enough evidence, only folklore, to justify this theory? 
Or are you trying to figure out just where you stand?
Much discussion has evolved and a number of books written about this topic, from various viewpoints.  Justifiably, the slaves made quilts during the early to mid-1800s for their owners and themselves.  Did they incorporate secret codes or symbols into the quilts and their patterns to guide fellow escaping slaves a path to freedom?
Although the …read more

Ah!  The joys of introducing youngsters to quilting!  I’ve had a deligtful week exploring the world of patchwork and quilts with fourth graders.   We’re not doing actual “hands-on” quilting, but we’re discussing this art and participating in some “show and tell.” 
 Instead, this exploration has evolved from reading The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills.  (The illustrations are so beautiful that I simply had to post a large version of the cover.)
  In The Rag Coat, Minna doesn’t have a coat to wear to school when the weather is cold.  Therefore, the ladies in her mother’s quilting group create one of the …read more

Redwork, a popular type of quilting in the mid to late 1800s, consisted of creating designs by embroidering with red floss on muslin background.  Since pre-printed squares, as well as a skein of  floss often could be purchased for one cent each, redwork also was referred to as “penny squares.” 
This type of quiltmaking is gaining in popularity again.  Quilters can do the embroidery work by hand or by machine these days.
At QuiltedParadise.com, you’ll discover a great deal of information about Redwork…its history along with instructions on how to do it by hand and by machine.
Also, there are a number of books available with …read more

Ruby McKim’s quilt patterns, instructions, and history now appear in the e-book, Two Hundred and One Vintage Quilt Patterns.  These include the patterns and information in her famed book, 101 Patchwork Patterns, that quilters have enjoyed for years.

        Ruby McKim wrote the classic quilt pattern book, 101 Patchwork Patterns, many years ago.  She became well-known in the quilting world before she died.
Now her granddaughter, Merrily McKim Tuohey,  with the encouragment of Ruby’s family, has set up a web site,  McKim Studios , with stories of her life, quilts, patterns, and other treasures.
At WomenFolk.com, you’ll also find more information about Ruby McKim and her life.  It was through this site that I was led to the McKim Studios.
If you have Ruby’s famous book in your collection, have used any of her patterns, or looked to her work for reference, …read more

To climax National Quilt Month (March), Judy Howard, of Buckboard Quilts, is designating March 29 as Charity Quilt Day.
“This is a campaign to raise awareness and funding for the sacrificial volunteer work of hundreds of thousands of quilters who provide quilts for sick babies, orphans, homeless people, nursing homes, cancer and Alzheimer’s patients, soldiers and victims of disaster – those most in need of the touch of God’s love and comfort that quilts represent.”
This event will climax a month of quilting events, including those surrounding Centennial Stitches – Oklahoma History in Quilts.

Writers say they have “muses” that inspire them with their work.  Once at a writers’ workshop I attended, the teacher instructed us to describe our muse, either in words or a sketch. 
 Until then I didn’t even know I had a muse or was supposed to!  However, as I put pencil to paper, a whimsical lady appeared, who seemed to be floating in air above a desk with my work.  Now when I’m asked if I have a muse she comes to mind. 
         Does this apply to my quilting, too.? Could you say that someone or something inspires you…one person or …read more

With our modern computerized sewing machines, some so automated they’ll sew without you touching them, many quilters may not realize that there once existed “people-powered” or non-electric sewing machines.  I learned to sew on a treadle machine, so called because there was a flat plate, about 12x 9-inches square under this machine on legs that turned the needle and enabled us to stitch items.
When these sewing machines were invented in the mid-1800s, they were the height of modernization.  Seamstresses were delighted they no longer needed to stitch clothing and quilts and do mending by hand. 
Finally my 4-H teacher bought a …read more