Sea Green Quilt
Not a very inventive name but...
For some unknown reason the colors are gone from this shot but you can see the design. I've been trying to figure out what to do from here. Wish I had just made four of the big blocks. I drew it out on graph paper and thought I had it but now looking at this pic, I'm not so sure.

Chicago Visit
I took a trip with my local senior center to visit Chicago. We packed a lot into two days. We left at 6:30 a.m. Monday and didn't get home until midnight on Tuesday. Monday afternoon we visited the Field Museum to see the King Tut exhibit. No pictures were allowed. It was crowed but they limited and attempted to space out the visitors. The items were nicely displayed and I rented ear phone to listen to the information. This made it much easier than trying to get into position to read it. My favorites were King Tut's childhood chair and a crown. Lots of gold here but no quilts. :)


At the Navy Pier the Illinois Sate Museum was having a special display of Amish quilts from their state. They were nicely displayed and documented. Next door was a store where they sold items made by people in Illinois. They also sold the book Illinois Amish Quilts and it contains many of the quilts in the display. I bought the paper back version. I didn't realize the Amish ever made crazy quilts. But I do know each Amish community is different and follows the rules of its Bishop. The quilt on the cover was made by Elizabeth Kauffman Hershberger in 1901 in Arthur, Illinois and she actually put her initials and the date on it. This was rarely done. The quilt includes golds, red, purples and blacks. Some of the fabric is silk and some is valour. Of course the Amish did not use these fabrics in their clothing so it is assumed that their "English" (anyone who is not Amish) neighbors gave them these scraps. It is foundation pieced but also highly quilted. The border is the heart and cable design.

Stained Glass Collection
At the Navy Pier was the world's largest collection of stained glass. Absolutely amazing. I think it is a permanent display. Of course it was all behind glass and hard to get pictures without glare. Many of the works had a religious theme but I chose to show you some that I saw as inspirations for quilting.

Chicago River Cruise
On Tuesday morning we took a tour of the city via rivers. The weather broke clear and it was very nice. This was called the architectural tour and Chicago sure has lots of styles. I took tons of pictures but I'll limit myself to these.

I don't remember the names of most of the buildings but the one in the middle with the two spikes on top is the Sears Tower.

Bits of Old Fabric
I found some bits of old fabric I took from a pile of things a friend of mine was throwing out a few years ago. Someone had given then to her years before. I wonder if some of it, especially the middle blue piece, is from the 1940's.

Saturday I stopped by a local antique store. I like to just wander though and look. I hadn't been there for a while. It is amazing the things that are there from the 1970's and 1980's that are now considered "old". I guess we should have kept everything, huh?


Today I worked on my sea green quit but am not happy with how it pattern is developing. More on that later.

For the next couple days I'm going with my local senior center on a bus trip to Chicago to see the King Tut exibit.

Back to Sorting
Saturday I spent some more time sorting in my sewing room. I made some progress but not done yet.

Catching Up
Thanks Finn for the suggestion. I already have documented several of my old quilts with the State of Michigan. They are way way behind in getting this info into the system but I'm really glad they are doing it.
Several of you have made mention of Gwen Marson. Do you know or remember Mary Schafer? I have seen Mary and her quilts here in Michigan and am so glad that Michigan State University has purchased most of her collection of quilts. It is so good to know that they are well preserved and used for historical and cultural study. I remember seeing Mary on television in the1970's.

Today was a beautiful day here. Not to hot and dry but cloudy. I just had to spend time in my garden pulling weeds. It was perfect conditions after the soaking rains we had recently. I should do a repeat tomorrow but also want to quilt.

Too Hot?
This is how a polar bear at Detroit Zoo handles the heat. This artic tunnel is the neatest thing. You walk through it or you can sit along the edges and watch the bear. He seems to enjoy the tunnel too as he looks at the people in it, sits on it, and pushes off it. A hot day is the best time to see the bear in the water. After he cools off he gets out of the water and you have to go outside to see him.

June 21
This is not a date I like to see come around. It means the amount of daylight is going to start getting less and less. I hate to think about that happening as I like the "long" days.

Today I sorted and picked up my sewing room. This is a job I hate but was really needed. It's still not done but some progress made. I did put up a second one of those wooden things with pegs made for spools of thread. I hang a lot of things besides thread on them. I like to have everything out where I can see it. I'm wondering if I shouldn't just get rid of some of my plastic shoe boxes of beads, lace and various other things.

I have been fighting some kind of itchy rash. I got it last summer too. It must be something I'm allergic to from my garden but I don't know what. It keeps breaking out in different places all over my body. Anyway, I got a shot and some stronger cream for it so hope it goes away VERY soon. :(

My son's family is moving from Michigan to Alabama. Sometimes I wonder if all of Michigan isn't moving out. This GM and Delphi mess is bad. Anyway my son got a very good job but now all the hassle of finding a house, selling a house and finding a school for the kids begins.

My nine-year-old DGD was very upset about the move. It reminded me of the six times I moved during my school years. I'm sure it toughened me up but had disadvantages too. All my kids went K-12 in the same school system. Anyway I will be going back to stay with my grandkids in a bit.

Nice soaking rain today so I didn't have to water the garden. And nice and cool for sleeping.

More Old Quilts
These are pictures of two old crazy quilts that were among my mother's things. They were not valued and were in very poor condition when I got them.



I have no idea how old they are or who made them but I believe they were made by a member of my family.

There are close up pictures in the next postings and more quilts too.

Getting out these old quilts to take pictures to show you has been good. I enjoyed seeing them again and it was good to get them refolded and all put away in the good acid-free boxes I bought. Thank you for enjoying them with me. 

Back of the First Crazy Quilt
The first picture is the front of the quilt. The middle patch is worn but shows the stitching so well.

Below shows the fabric the patches were attached to. In some places, light colored thread was used and is harder to see but when the dark thread was used, the beautiful stitches stand out.

The bottom picture shows a machine seam.
 

Appliqued Hearts
These are on one of the old crazy quilts.

Old Crazy Patch
Among the things my mother left were two old crazy patch quilts. They were considered large rags and used as such. When I got them they were molded and very tattered. I thought I should just throw them away but decided to
try washing them. It really helped them and I kept them. Now they are carefully stored. This is the first one. there are more picture in the next postings.

More pictures of old quilt.

Beautiful Stitching
Although the quilt is in very poor condition, some of stitching is still precious.