Cspoonquilt

We've been tramping around the Cotswolds for the past couple of days.  Here are some highlights. Rolling Right Stones  These stones pre-date Stonehenge (about 3000BC)! Country side in the Cotswolds. Thatched cottage in Chipping Campden. Hidcote Gardens. the 'swimming pool' at Hidcote. It's very pretty but I don't think it was really used as a swimming pool, it's pretty mucky. The 'red' garden at Hidcote 'Heart of England Way' foot path near Mickleton. The countryside here is really beautiful and the people are really friendly and helpful where ever we go!  I feel really fortunate to have this opportunity to visit this part of the world. Happy Tues! cheers, CW

Blenheim Palace is a most Formidable estate!  Built on a scale that rivals Buckingham Palace and makes Downton Abbey look like a country cousin (no disrespect,  it is a beautiful building but it was not built on the same scale as Blenheim.) Viewed from the South towards the main entrance. The grounds and building were a gift from Queen Anne to the 1st Duke of Marlborough for being the Brains behind the battle of Blenheim (Germany) which kicked the butt of Louie XIV back to France and prevented him from trying to annex most of Europe!  (about 1705) A big gift for a big Hero!                 Off in the distance (looking south from the gates of the front entrance) you can see the                 commemorative column to the Battle of Blenheim and the great expanse of the woodland park that takes up most of the land of the Estate. Here you can see my husband trudging up the hill past th...

My husband and I are vacationing in England right now and being from California where building designs are mostly pretty spare and anything over 100 years old is really OLD  the architecture around London is really a feast for the eyes.  Everywhere I look there is inspiration for designing!  Here's a sampling from today's walk. Tile floor in the entrance of the Royal College of Music.  Wouldn't that make a nice center for a medallion quilt! A Gable of the Geographical Society headquarters.  That could be a wonderful applique pattern?! I did not get the name of this building but those swags and windows suggest some pretty patterns and those gargoyle thingies with their knotted tails are interesting.  The ceiling of the inside of the Prince Albert's Memorial.  Oooooh that blue field with gold stars, and the fine curve of red, Wow! One of the fountains in the sunken garden in Kensington Gardens.  A block design (with some simplifi...

I bought this quilt top many years ago when I was a new bee to the collecting world.  At the time I thought since it was all machine pieced that I would machine quilt it and it would be a (relatively) quick finish!  Well now some 15 years later it is still a top! HA!  Best layed plans.... Lots of large scraps organized into long bars top to bottom, all machine sewn, very practical!  It's got lots of  great '40's - '50's printed fabs and some bark cloth, ginghams and even a few flannels. I've always wondered about these two machine appliquéd circles in the center?!  His and hers,  mom and dad,  newly weds?  or just to random patches?! Here's a peek at the back, nice tidy seams! A very cheerful quirky old quilt top! Happy Sunday! Cheers, CW

I was feeling really antsy 'cause I've been spinning my wheels a lot this summer and not getting anything really finished- finished.  So over the weekend in a burst of guilt and energy I got a bunch of things done.  Nothing fancy just basic quilts, but they will all make good donation quilts. 36" x 48" I started this top last week when Randy came over to sew.  It's small so the top did not take long and since I was on a roll with this 'Finsh 'um up' thing;  I did!  I know it seems kind of small for a donation quilt but this one will be donated to the Lap Quilts for Wheel Chair Bound Vets project.  This is the size they suggest. I quilted this very simply by quilting X's in each patch,  but since some of them were rectangles and some squares it made this interesting pattern on the back.  I kinda like it!   I quilted this free hand on my long arm thus the squiggly lines.  Straight lines take a ruler or fence and a lot of t...

I bought this quilt about 6 years ago from my favorite Antique Vendor at the Sister's show. Their label dated this quilt at about 1920.  I think that would be the youngst this quilt might be.  To me it has a feel of more like 1900 +/-.  It was collected by them in Missouri. It is an unusual set.  Kind of Baby blocks gone zig-zag?! There're a wealth of indigos and mourning fabrics.  I think the baby block effect might have been partly muted because I'm pretty sure the background color of the spoted fabric that makes up the tops of the blocks was a fugitive color.  Maybe orange, yellow or green?! Alot of the piecing is machine top stitched, very practical! You can see the top of the blocks are crosshatch quilted and the sides are straight line quilted.  All the lines are about an inch or so apart.  Which is one reason why it is in such good shape! Here you can see the cross hatching on the top of the blocks, you can even se...

I made a quick trip to Denver over Labor Day weekend to attend a wedding and as an added bonus I got to see this exhibit! It was a very inspiring exhibit.  I would show you some picutes but I'm afraid it would violate a lot of copy right laws.  But what I can show you and I think you will find interesting is the textile lab at the museum. It's a big room with special tables where they can layout full sized quilts and evaluate, study, photograph and restore all kinds of textiles! You can read more about the denver Art Museum and order the exhibit catalog here  http://www.denverartmuseum.org/exhibitions And here's the happy couple clowning around after the ceremony.  Very cute! You can see it was a beautiful place to get married and it managed not to rain until after the wedding! I hope you had a great labor day weekend! Cheers, CW