Saturday, October 13, 2007

Old Quilts, Maverick Methods....

Revisiting the Bow Tie quilt top of a few days ago, I wondered...did you happen to notice that some of the bowties are against a dark background? Unless you study the top a bit, it's not something that you notice right away. Or maybe, for you, it is....but not me. I seem to have this 'oblivious' side to my vision.
While taking pictures, I suddenly noticed that 'things' are reversed on this block...why did she use the dark for the background? Hmmmmm? So I began to look closer.
And there are quite a few blocks where the background is stronger than the bow tie itself...not what we normally do when piecing a bow tie. But it's not unattractive, is it?
I wonder if perhaps she was down to the last scraps in her scrapbag and needed a few more bow ties? Or maybe she was as maverick as we'd all like to be, as unihibited and spontaneous. The top is not technically well made, but I find it delighful in it's coloration and scrappiness. And no doubt it was a warm cover for someone. I felt this old beauty deserved another 'look - see', so we can all notice the strange blocks with the dark backgrounds *VBS*. I hope to baste it soon, but for now,I'm off to the garage(the weather is fairly mild..finally!) to tie a quilt.Someone had commented that they saw snowballs, not bow ties when they looked at it. There aren't as many lay-outs for the bow tie blocks as for some others. This particular one, where they form the snowball shape is called Love Rings. When you see a solid center in that octagon shape, and it has triangles sewn on the four corners, then it's a snowball *VBS*

9 comments:

Michele Bilyeu said...

One thing I learned quickly with all of my charity quilting projects, the old quilts and old quilts were either phenomenally traditional or maverick to the core. We've been given donated tops that had rows of squares ALL the same color in a row, then broken up, then a few more the same, then broken up. I think they used the Russian Roulette form of piecing..pick the next one in the pile up and use it...no matter what ;) It makes it so fun figuring out what they were thinking at the time. However, since the tops ended up being donated or quilts given away...well, sometimes they just need another home filled with love to truly appreciate them, anyway:)

Kim said...

It adds to the charm of the quilt. It's so pretty and I missed your Bday, hope it was a great one Finn.

julieQ said...

I love this quilt. It speaks of using what is on hand, not running to the quilt shop and buying 9.00/yard fabric (which is OK too). It speaks of my Mom and Grandma.

My mom would hand-cut pieces like this, this put them into a peck basket, pulling out pieces at random and piecing them together. It was fun!!
Have a great day, JulieQ

QuiltMom said...

Hi Finn,
I think it is such an interesting quilt because of the abstract patterns it creates. The changing colors add interest and sometimes the quilts that are less planned work out to be the most interesting. It looks really lovely on the bed.
Regards from a Western Canadian Quilter,
Anna

Tracey in CT said...

Happy Birthday! (okay a little late, but still...)

Love the scrappy bowties, this and broken dishes are among my favorites for scraps. The love rings setting is my favorite because I love the way the circles jump out at you, or not, depending on how you look at it.

Mary Johnson said...

This is my absolute favorite layout for Bow Tie blocks. My mom just finished a baby quilt in 30's using it.

meggie said...

That is certainly an interesting quilt. If only it could talk!

Cher said...

boy, one day I am gonna make a bow tie quilt...love the random-ness of this layout myself. hey, did you notice we were in the pink groove together?? wait until you see the next post I put up....it will really make you smile. hugs

atet said...

Ohh...I love this top -- and why not say maverick, it's what I'd do :0).