Stepping Back in Time Quilts

Sunbonnet Sue mini quilt

In my 20 years drafting patterns for publication, I tend to stay in themes. One theme is the reproduction of historic, early American (ie, 20th century) quilts. One of these is the Sunbonnet Sue. Isn't she cute? Why is she here today? To introduce you to these quilts and that they are now being offered at Craftsy. I never knew that Craftsy could manage the sales of my patterns so easily. I have Madame Samm to thank for that (isn't she a gem?)

I'm going to show you several other quilts and then for a GIVEAWAY at the end of this post, I'm going to ask you to vote for your favorite one and the winner will receive a copy of whichever pattern set he/she desires (pdf format).

The Memory Bouquet Quilt is 20 applique flower patterns, all sitting in the same blue pot (not at one time!) Blocks are 9" x 12". The quilt is 63" x 63". I own this quilt and my dear Atlanta friends from my guild (when I lived there) helped me put this together. She eventually will be raffled to support a worthy cause.

The Memory Bouquet Quilt - 1931

How about the Garden Bouquet? This was introduced in the fictional Nancy Page Club in 1932. I redrafted each of the 20 blocks in digital format (not scans, btw) and include all the chatty conversations that occur each time the Club meets. Original text, updated. The two birds have names (Saucy Bird and Meek Bird) and the flowers all appear between the birds atop an urn.

The Garden Bouquet Quilt - 1932

Here's my own 5 Block Quilt (included with the historic pattern set above):

Five Block Garden Bouquet - 2005

Now, how about something for the children? I can't wait to give this to one of my grandchildren! This Toy Quilt has 9" blocks to which I added the blue triangles because there was too much white space. I  used raw edge applique and black buttonhole stitching.

The Toy Quilt (aka The Happy Childhood Quilt) - 1932

Here is what the original pattern looked like. I colored it. All full size patterns are included for applique and an entire, full size alphabet.

Original rendition of the Toy Quilt - I added the color

Now, what about a really involved applique pattern? The Laurel Wreath is magnificent and I really had plans to make all the blocks. But since the wreath in EACH block has 25 leaves, I pooped out after 4 bird blocks. This quilt features 25 blocks: 5 birds and 20 flowers. The original quilt measures 90" x 105" with another border added.

Laurel Wreath Quilt - 1931

Here is a picture of the Four Block quilt I made. All raw edge applique. This Four Block quilt is also included as a bonus pattern in the historic set above:

Four Block Laurel Wreath Quilt

One more pattern set: The Roly Poly Circus. Simple redwork patterns of circus animals. This will be available by the end of the week at my Craftsy pattern site. But for now, isn't this an awesome quilt?

So, are you interested in another giveaway? Just leave a comment and tell me your FAVORITE quilt from among these historic pattern sets. There are no wrong answers.

Just so you know: after every giveaway contest, I first notify the winner. Sometimes it takes 2, 3 and even 4 tries because a "no-reply comment" blogger is chosen and I have no way to let you know! Then I send out an email to EVERYONE who left a comment who had an email address.  So, if you haven't heard from me in months, it's because you have no email for me to see. If you want to be in the contest, I have to have your email!

I hope you've enjoyed the show. The contest is over Monday night, February 18 at midnight (EST in the USA).