Now and Then

I like to arrange my 1 1/2" scraps into nine patches which I lay out on flannel squares. I keep these beside my machine and I use the little squares as leaders and enders when I'm sewing.  It is a great way to use up small scraps. I've written about this several times, one of which was on June 18, 2013.

When a nine patch is stitched I press it an put it in a box. When I want to make a quilt quickly I dip into the box of nine patches. I did a demo of this at my Guild in January 2013 and I decided to use up some of my nine patches. Iwas going through my collection of pictures of quilts I found one that I had clipped from an old agenda from the early 1980s.  There was no information about the quilt but I loved the colours and thought it was a great way to use up some of my nine patch blocks. I called my quilt Baskets and Nine Patches. 

Yesterday evening I was doing some snooping around the interweb and I cam across a picture of the original quilt on Pinterest. How exciting is that? Very exciting! It is dated c 1820-1860 and is in the Grand Rapids Public Museum. I visited the Museum's site but was unable to find the quilt but at least I know a little more about this quilt.

If you like this quilt I published a free pattern which you can find under the tab Patterns by Karen H.

Hope you enjoy your Sunday! Until I post again, happy sewing!

Karen H