DWM: more stamps, a holiday banner, and the trimmings

October's end: golden oak leaves and roses (still!)

I had a pleasant and productive stay-at-home vacation last week. I made a list of things I wanted to get done (quilt-related and otherwise) and checked nearly everything off.  

My  P.E.O. chapter has an ornament exchange at the holiday party in December. I say that "ornaments don't have to hang on the tree" and make something quilty.  I went to Wal-Mart on Monday to get Hallowe'en candy and stopped at the magazine section. A pattern in the holiday special (Patrick Lose for Fons & Porter) caught my eye.  And here it is, appliqued, quilted, bound, and labeled.  It is 15 x 30.

The ornaments on the banner are "hung" with pieces of vintage rick-rack.

You can tell how old it is by the price (15 cents) and the fact that there is no zip code in the company address.  For years the Wrights labels offered "a generous package of clippings" for the child who sewed. I remember saving three labels but I never did send 10 cents (or 25 cents or more; over the years the offer was still on but the handing fee went up).  Did you ever send for the clippings?



 I have acquired a lot of unopened packages of trims at house sales. Sometimes I use them, but mostly I just own them.  These metallics are shown in the plastic cigar box in which I got them. Boiltex was located in Aurora, Illinois.  (Information about the successor company is here.)

I added a new list on the right sidebar -- "blocks in search of a setting." This is a reminder (or nag) that hanging onto groups of blocks doesn't get any quilts made.  Here is what I did with 20 of the Prairie Queen blocks I made two years ago.  (See this post for the first quilt made from them.)  The checkerboard sashes include the ones that didn't make it two weeks ago. I had to make many more three-patch units. I assure you that they are a lot more fun when they are leaders-and-enders than when umpteen are made at one sitting.  (This flimsy is approx. 78 x 64 and used 3-1/2 yards of fabric. (I had previously counted the fabric in the Prairie Queen blocks.))


And, finally: here are my initial fabric selections for Celtic Solstice, the upcoming Quiltville mystery.

 

See what other quiltmakers are working on at Judy's Patchwork Times.