The Marcroft Quilt

Years ago, my grandparents hired a sign maker to paint them a sign. The intent was to have something small that included their name and a handsaw. They were a family that camped often, with friends coming by in the evening to sit around the fire. The thought was that they would hang a sign out at the entrance of their campsite so friends could find them easily.



Here is a photo of the sign. It came out a bit bigger than they thought it would but they liked it and went with it. For years, it hung at their campsite and we would see it as we ran over to visit them from the next site over.

Fast forward a bunch of years. Everyone is grown up and my grandparents don't camp anymore. My uncle Dean's family has the sign and they hang it on the side of their house. I have always loved the sign and recently got them to loan it to me for a quick photo and some measurements. From there, I made a quilt!

The quilt is for my father, as a belated birthday gift. It is a copy of the sign with the addition of a bunch of free motion quilting on and around the letters and saw. I love it and may make one for myself. Happy Birthday Dad!

Almost Done!

The pink and white lace quilt is nearing completion. Last night, I stitched feathers all around the edge of the quilt. I then put the whole thing through the washing machine (and dried it) to remove all of the starch and blue marking lines. Sometimes it is hard for me to see how the quilt is, as a whole, with all of the marks all over it.

I am very happy with how she is coming along and am thinking about adding some beading. I also used a new technique with the thread ends, pulling them back into the quilt and then clipping them further down. This is how you are "supposed" to handle the threads - and is way more work. I thought I would give it a try though and see what I thought. Overall, it does give the quilt a much neater appearance, especially on the quilt back. No more thread nests to clip away!

An Antique French Whitework and Tenerife Lace Tablecloth

Last week, I purchased a vintage french white work roses and tenerife lace tablecloth from the nicest vendor. She wrapped up the linen so carefully and even included a little extra gift. I love it when people do that! (Vintageblessings on ebay if you want to see her store).



I went to one of my local quilting stores, Stitched in Stone, and picked out some pink fabric that had a white lace pattern printed on it. The tablecloth was laid on top of the pink, batting went behind and then a cute tulip print went on the back. Following the patterns of the lace, I did a center motif of vines and flowers with a little bird. The outer panels have flowers and circles, mimicking the lace cut-outs.

Here is where I am so far. The blue lines you can see mark out the pattern (original work) and are water soluable. They will disappear when I wash the quilt at the end.