Isn’t life serendipitous sometimes? I had a moment the other day…
A little background would help. I have a husband. He has a project car, (Definition: a car that sits with all its parts removed). We have a garage. His project car resides in our garage. (See? A quilting blog you can finally show your husband! boyfriend! etc!)
Now don’t get me wrong here. I don’t want anyone jumping to conclusions or anything other thing. The car is a boat. It is so big that when you sit in the driver’s seat, you can’t lean over and touch the passenger door. It has personality. I love that car!
My husband’s car and its various, multitudinous parts occupy most of the garage. I have a quilt room which occupies a bedroom plus a closet and floor-space in another bedroom. You see? He and I both have “hobbies” and understand the necessity of space for such hobbies.
And now back to the story…a while back my husband came in from the garage with a couple of old boxes. He thought they were mine. I didn’t recognize them. I opened the first box and looked in at the eggs of the Golden Goose, the coins at the end of the rainbow, the flower wreath of horse racing.
There were quilt blocks made by my Aunt Marie (of Marie’s Marvelous Makings). I had totally forgotten that I had her quilt blocks in the garage. The first box I opened were signature blocks. Over 300 of them!
The other box contained…a surprise for you lovely readers. I will writing a post about Box #2 in the future!
And now, I present a (very) few of those blocks!
I had to ponder for a few months of what I wanted to do with them. I don’t belong to a guild where friends would sign the blocks. I don’t have 300 friends, much less 30. I could make a mini-quilt of siggie blocks of my friends. I don’t have a huge family who could sign blocks. You can see my dilemma.
It must have been one of those glorious days where everything went right and birds were singing. I realized what I was going to do! I am going to write all of my favorite books, one for each block.
I am addicted to reading. I’ve read ever since I learned how to read in school! A group of middle-school friends of mine went on a vacation to a lovely resort one summer, with two moms along. We had fun with the activities at the resort. But the major part of our days were spent reading!
I was thrilled to start writing down the books. My all-time favorite: To Kill A Mockingbird. Books that I bought for 45 cents from Scholastic when I was in middle-school that I read over and over. My favorite: Jennifer. My beloved Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden of my elementary school years. High school books brought me The Chronicles of Narnia and The Von Trapp Family Singers. Jack Weyland was my favorite author in college. My favorite book of his: Charly. Biographies of ordinary people in extraordinary times: The Bielski Brothers.
I kept writing until I couldn’t think of anymore. I kept writing until I had listed 252 books! Using 252 blocks would give me a beautiful queen quilt for my full-size bed.
My only quandary now is how to write the names on the blocks. It would take a daunting amount of time to embroider each book’s name. I’m thinking of writing the names with Pigma Pens. I have very nice handwriting, by the way.
Do you have any ideas of how to “write” names on the blocks? I’m not adverse to anything you suggest and I would dearly love to hear suggestions!
I’m hooking up with these lovely linky parties that have many talented and amazing quilters sharing what they are working on. You can go to anyone you choose by clicking on the sidebars on the right!
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| 1964 Ford Galaxie |
Now don’t get me wrong here. I don’t want anyone jumping to conclusions or anything other thing. The car is a boat. It is so big that when you sit in the driver’s seat, you can’t lean over and touch the passenger door. It has personality. I love that car!
My husband’s car and its various, multitudinous parts occupy most of the garage. I have a quilt room which occupies a bedroom plus a closet and floor-space in another bedroom. You see? He and I both have “hobbies” and understand the necessity of space for such hobbies.And now back to the story…a while back my husband came in from the garage with a couple of old boxes. He thought they were mine. I didn’t recognize them. I opened the first box and looked in at the eggs of the Golden Goose, the coins at the end of the rainbow, the flower wreath of horse racing.
 |
| I wrote Siggie Blocks on the box. |
There were quilt blocks made by my Aunt Marie (of Marie’s Marvelous Makings). I had totally forgotten that I had her quilt blocks in the garage. The first box I opened were signature blocks. Over 300 of them!
The other box contained…a surprise for you lovely readers. I will writing a post about Box #2 in the future!
And now, I present a (very) few of those blocks!
 |
| I love the blue on the end with its nubbies! |
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| Such a nice variety of browns! |
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| Notice the third is a real 30s print |
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| I love everyone of these red ones. |
I had to ponder for a few months of what I wanted to do with them. I don’t belong to a guild where friends would sign the blocks. I don’t have 300 friends, much less 30. I could make a mini-quilt of siggie blocks of my friends. I don’t have a huge family who could sign blocks. You can see my dilemma.
It must have been one of those glorious days where everything went right and birds were singing. I realized what I was going to do! I am going to write all of my favorite books, one for each block.
I am addicted to reading. I’ve read ever since I learned how to read in school! A group of middle-school friends of mine went on a vacation to a lovely resort one summer, with two moms along. We had fun with the activities at the resort. But the major part of our days were spent reading!
I was thrilled to start writing down the books. My all-time favorite: To Kill A Mockingbird. Books that I bought for 45 cents from Scholastic when I was in middle-school that I read over and over. My favorite: Jennifer. My beloved Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden of my elementary school years. High school books brought me The Chronicles of Narnia and The Von Trapp Family Singers. Jack Weyland was my favorite author in college. My favorite book of his: Charly. Biographies of ordinary people in extraordinary times: The Bielski Brothers.
I kept writing until I couldn’t think of anymore. I kept writing until I had listed 252 books! Using 252 blocks would give me a beautiful queen quilt for my full-size bed.
My only quandary now is how to write the names on the blocks. It would take a daunting amount of time to embroider each book’s name. I’m thinking of writing the names with Pigma Pens. I have very nice handwriting, by the way.
Do you have any ideas of how to “write” names on the blocks? I’m not adverse to anything you suggest and I would dearly love to hear suggestions!
I’m hooking up with these lovely linky parties that have many talented and amazing quilters sharing what they are working on. You can go to anyone you choose by clicking on the sidebars on the right!
Nice! you can combine two passions in one project
ReplyDeleteI have signed several quilt labels using Micron pens with very good result. I used freezer paper on the back to keep the fabric a bit more stable. You can even draw lines to help keep your lines straight.
ReplyDeleteLovely blocks and fabrics.
Thank you for the idea of Micron pens. I definitely like the idea of drawing lines to help!
DeleteSorry, no suggestions but I love your idea of writing book titles.
ReplyDeleteYou, my dear, must be a reader! It's pretty exciting. I also think it might be a nice for my grandchildren someday. I don't (can't) make heirloom quality quilts. But I love them dearly and so do my grands.
DeleteYup, freezer paper works best, just draw lines on the paper, it will show through. I like ve the idea of book titles.
ReplyDeleteLove the idea using your favorite books. What a great way to enjoy your aunt's blocks.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind comments. I have had so much fun working on her unfinished quilts!
DeleteI would do a fabric pen, but only because of the time involved with the embroidery...unless you have a machine to embroider with.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you. I embroider, but 252 blocks is a bit (a lot) daunting! I took a gander at your website and really like it! It's still on my browser so I can go back and really look at the interesting things I saw. I'm going to join in on your Frugal Fridays.
DeleteWow! 252 *favorite* books?? That's a lot of books! Can't wait to see what it will look like! What a lovely idea.
ReplyDeleteYes, 252! And I listed some as sets. Dick Francis mysteries equals @ 30 books. Sue Grafton series equals 24 books. Chronicles of Narnia equals 7 books. You can tell I am a prolific reader!
DeleteDo you like to read? What books would you recommend?
Oh that is such a fun idea!!! I would have included Anne of Green Gables and East of Eden and then just written Alexander McCall Smith because every book of his is my favorite;). I have no idea about the pens...sorry!
ReplyDeleteAmazing! The car, the blocks, the books! I love To Kill A Mockingbird too!
ReplyDeleteI used to use freezer paper until I took a class from Pat Speth of Nickel Quilts fame. She suggested blue painters tape on the back of the written area. It works better for me. (I draw lines with Sewline pencil.)
ReplyDeleteThe perma pigma pen tips catch on fabric. My favorite permanent marker is no longer available (Marvy Mark-it II pens by Uchida.) So I am still on the hunt for its replacement. Buy a couple brands and see which one you like best.
And congrats on finding those fabulous blocks! You must be a favorite niece. ;-)
ReplyDelete