Piney's Needle: Mystery Quilt, Projects & Lots of Pictures

The thing about going through my grandmother's quilts is that some of them are so old that we don't know the history behind them. Like this quilt. I call it the puffy quilt. The back was falling apart when you touched it and my uncle was ready to toss it in the trash as being in too bad of shape to do anything with. Thankfully, my brother stopped him and gave it to me (yes...I take trash!). But it wasn't trash.

It is made of very fragile fabric and the back was literally disintegrating when I touched it. So, before it even got in the house, I ripped the back off. What I found was a treasure.

Each square, about 2 inches, is completely finished with backing, top, and batting. The batting is pure cotton stuffed in each square and then tied to hold in place. The finished squares are then sewn together, by hand and machine. The quilt is extremely heavy.

The backing is done in flour sacks for the most part. Some of the pieces have printing on them.

Only a few of the squares are falling apart and this is a picture of the cotton in one of them. My dad said it was uncorded cotton. My grandfather used to cord all the cotton for my grandmother's quilts. That was back in the 30's. The twisted cord goes around the entire quilt (about the size of a twin bed) and a couple of the tassels are still on it.

So.....can you name the quilt? I would love to know what it is called and any history someone might know about this kind of quilt.

Here are some pictures from my latest applique class. I took one of my grandmother's old patterns and used it for the class. Since the blocks that I had were made with scraps from my grandmother's and great-grandmother's dresses, I called it Daisy's Butterfly. The ladies are transferring their patterns using different techniques and materials...good old scrap cardboard, card-stock paper, and plastic template.

Cindy's mom gave her this neat little "button" that adds a 1/4 inch seam allowance to your patterns. You simply put your pencil in the center of the "button" and trace around your patterns. We all want one, but we aren't sure where to find them. It's called a Rolling Seamer.

Here's a couple of projects that I have going. This Dresden plate table runner, which I've called Spinning Plates, is ready to be quilted. The Nine-Patch below is from my first quilting class. I've done a variation of the Framed Nine-Patch, but with my own twist.

How do you like my Mother's Day gift (below) from my son? He is turning wood and doing a great job. His is the larger on (on top). My grandfather whittled the one on the bottom. My gift was a surprise and I've made pizza dough and and biscuits with it so far. Adam told me if was for using...not just for looking at.

Here's a couple of his other works.

A walking stick for my dad and a couple of bowls. I think they are great.

I found some early art of my grandmother's. I love the technique she used on this picture. I know it was just practice work, but I really like it and will be framing these as a set of about 3 or 4 pieces.

My brother thought this was some of Grannie's stockings. But it is a slip for a young girl. It has a gathered, dropped waistline and you can see where the pink ruffles used to be all over the skirt of the slip. It had to have been my grandmother's back in the 20's.