She sat quietly for many decades. She was tenderly put together, hexagon by hexagon - all by hand. They're 1" hexagons, btw. She was passed from family member to family member, made by an anonymous quilter, but I recognized her glory and rescued her from the Free Table at my local quilt meeting. Free? Really? Vintage quilt top: 65" x 76" The bottom was unfinished and I needed to square it up. I put Kona Snow under those wobbly edges and appliquéd the hanging hexagons onto it to straighten the edges. I straightened the hexagon side by slicing them - yes I did! I had plans and the quilt was SO excited to know it was going to be finished and loved. After quilting and before binding Go ahead - compare those two photos. They're upside down, but you get the point. Now let's look at the gorgeous quilting done by a master longarm quilter, Ada Gosser of 2 Tubs Quilting . She was so delighted to get to work with this quilt top. She knew what pattern to use, but also ga...

Yes, another "vintage" quilt from my quilting vault. This has been back and forth across the USA. I made the quilt in the early 1990s and then decided to give it to my step mother (who lived in California with my dad) in 1994. It's a Double Irish Chain. Double Irish Chain: 30" x 30" I hand quilted this one, too! I used a stencil for those cream blocks. I can't imagine how much time it took! Obviously, I just quilted diagonal lines along the squares. And notice that border - it's a beautiful piece of home dec fabric.  Close up of hand quilting I loved those pre-printed quilt labels with pretty flowers and unique shapes. I did NOT turn those curvy edges under; I simply interfaced it - stitched and turned and sewed it down. No handwork on the turning! Closeup of quilting and label For some reason, I ended up with this quilt when my dad passed away in 2004. I treasure it and it still amazes me that I did so much hand quilting! I need to put this out on displ...

Yes, there are quotations around that word vintage. That's because it is something very old in my quilting history. I bought a fabric panel that mimicked a double wedding ring quilt sometime in the early 1980s. That puts it very close to 40 years old! The panel measures 32" x 42". I wonder what the quilt inspiration was for this! Double Wedding Ring printed panel quilt: 40" x 52" I started hand quilting it because that's what you did back then! I never heard of machine quilting, but soon discovered it and that's how I finished it. And I did some serious quilter's gymnastics with the backing and borders that I can't even figure out! Here's a closeup of the quilting. I actually hand quilted around all the melon shapes and little pink squares and hearts. I used my sewing machine to fill in the centers. Yes, I probably paid $1.99 for that center panel. And another $2 for the borders and backing. It's faded from all the years I've had it i...

Here's another quilt inspired by a vintage design. Ruby McKim published hundreds of patterns in the Kansas City Star in the 1920s, 30s and 40s. One is called Noon Day Lily (1929). I created my own quilt in the mid 1990s and it was published in one of our Quilt Magazine issues. This is the best photo I have of it. I named it Ruby's Lilies. The blocks are 12" square and the entire quilt is just 38" x 38". I have no clue where this is, but I'm sure I gave it away to a friend or family member! Ruby's Lilies: 38" x 38" A quilting friend shared a vintage quilt made with these Noon Day Lilies and she gave me permission to share it here. What a gorgeous quilt with SO much piecing and appliqué! Another name for this block is Carolina Lily. Vintage Carolina Lily quilt owned by Pepper Cory Here's my art as it appeared in the magazine. It's easier to see the structure of the Lily blocks. Ruby's Lilies I love to see how vintage quilts inspire our...

I pulled a quilt from my closet that I stitched in 1996. It was made from several deconstructed swastika blocks a dear friend gave me. She knew I liked a challenge and we agreed that no one needs to be reminded of swastikas! Let's make something happy. I did just that. It was determined by quilt experts that the fabrics date to around 1890! I added some reproduction fabrics and actually hand quilted this. I think I'll hang it so I can truly enjoy it. It didn't like being cramped in my closet, anyway. 1890s Stars: 36" x 36". 8" blocks What I noticed on Sunday was that there are only 7 blocks, but the quilt is square! That means that I used spacer strips that equal four half-blocks in the top and bottom sides. Oh, I was so clever and I didn't realize it! Here's a recent quilt finish that I haven't shared before that, again, was able to create a square (3 blocks x 3 blocks) center using only 7 blocks. I had 7 panels that I surrounded with coordinatin...

A simple bedsheet was languishing on a table at an antique vending mall. I was drawn in to the beauty of the sophisticated hand embroidery. One dollar? That's all you want? She's mine! It sat in my closet for a few years. I would pull it out from time to time and then it hit me - this is NOT going to be a bedsheet for any one of my grandkids! This is NOT going to be subject to bed wetting and throwing up and go into the washer over and over. I was teaching free motion quilting classes and I decided to use what I taught to transform this. Here she is up close: Mary's Little Lamb I gave this to my sweet granddaughter Eva and her mom promptly hung it over her bed. Here is the full quilt/sheet. Quilted lamb bedsheet with wide binding And here it is hanging above Eva's bed (with another of my quilts on the bed). It is good to rescue these things. Whoever the maker was, I'm sure she would be thrilled to know that I elevated it from bed wetting to glorious wall art!

I came across this quilt I put together back in 1998. My editor at Quilt Magazine had a set of vintage appliqué blocks that she wanted me to set into a quilt. I was game! She sent the blocks to me and I arranged them on point, added borders and we had it quilted. What a beauty! Magnolia Blossom: 7" block; 48" x 58" quilt This is what was written in the 1998 issue of our magazine:  “Let Spring bloom in a quilt.” So said the Weekly Kansas City Star for its January 11, 1936 offering of a quilt block entitled “Flower of Spring.” This old-time block was contributed by Miss Margaret L. Bosworth, Agnos, Missouri and many home sewers quickly cut out their own versions of this beautiful pieced block, sewing up several during the cold winter months in eager anticipation of the coming spring. Barbara Brackman lists this as #799 with other names of “Floral Patchwork” and “A Tulip Pattern in High Colors.”  I transformed these 12 blocks into a larger quilt with simple setting triangle...

Someone from my local quilt guild did not want this gorgeous, vintage Double Wedding Ring (DWR) top. Maybe it was the pink. Maybe it was the thought that it needs to be quilted. Whatever the reason, I grabbed it. Did I know what I would do with it? Of course not! Vintage DWR quilt top: 72" x 80" This was all hand pieced. It's in lovely condition (not perfect, but not smelly or with more than a small tear or two. The pink is NOT faded (as it appears in the picture above). I laid it out on my clean kitchen floor to try to take a photo. Couldn't get the whole thing in. Isn't it lovely? Then, I had a thought: I wonder if I took it apart into circles (4 sets of pieced arcs) to see if I could design a class or even a pattern? WHAT? Yes, I took out my seam ripper and set to work. (If your stomach hurts by this time, it's ok if you close this window right now.) Here is one of the two sections I removed. The maker seemed to love the lavender and green for those block c...