Car Quilts

Every car needs a quilt.  For a spur of the moment picnic.  To cushion that garage sale treasure you're bringing home.  To hide your quilt shop purchases from .... umm .... from someone.   Comforters are perfect for the job.  They're fun to make, too.  I made this comforter in 1985, and I can still identify a lot of the fabrics - maternity clothes I'd made, some of Hubby's shirts, PJs I'd made for our little ones, jeans, even fabric from my bridesmaids dresses.  Ahem .... that's some really old fabric!

Before our sons took their comforters, I snapped a few pics of what they look like now.  It's interesting that most of the fabrics are in shreds while the double knits still look like new.  That is crazy!  

Obviously our own cars are now in need of comforters.  I'm on the job, though.  I have one finished. It was a real stash buster .....

..... it even looks pretty on an Airbnb sofa.

So, one done and one to go.  I think I can say, with absolute certainty, that I have enough scraps to make another.

Linking up with Oh Scrap!

Old Quilts and Country Hoedowns

Last Saturday night our Newcomers Club of Greater Huntsville had a Country Hoedown.  That morning while we were decorating I noticed that the display in front of the building needed a little something.  I just happened to have an old quilt in the trunk of my car so I grabbed it and draped it over the step-ladder.  Now it was perfect!!

It's really just a tied comforter made out of all kinds of scraps left from garment sewing in the mid 70's and early 80's.  It is a well-worn quilt so it stays in my car, "just in case", and has come in handy many times. 

A lot of the fabrics are almost disintegrated.  A few of those I remember buying at the J.C.Penney for 25 cents a yard when I was a student's wife in 1974. 

This quilt has been used as a drop cloth for my boys' craft projects (notice the paint) and as a moving pad when hauling large purchases or pieces of furniture, so it has more than served its purpose.

Yes, some of the fabrics look brand new, don't they?  You might never guess, but they are polyesters.  That would explain it!  I see four pieces left from my maternity clothes, one from my boys' pajamas, and even one from my bridesmaids' dresses.  I am certain they will last forever.  

This got me thinking about old quilts so I thought I would share with you just a few I have which were made by my grandparents.  I love this blue and white Drunkard's Path.

This Drunkard's Path is not made in the traditional setting, but it's really pretty.

I think this is an interesting star block.  

My grandparents had each of us select an applique pattern from a sales catalog when we were probably about 10 or 12.  Then they made the quilts and put them back for our weddings.  By the time I was of "marrying age" I had forgotten what mine would look like so it was still a surprise.

I think this one is my favorite.  It's a whole cloth quilted with green embroidery floss, or maybe even crochet thread.

After they stopped quilting my grandfather gave me this pink and white Hearts and Gizzards baby quilt top.  When I was expecting my first baby I finished it for my newborn, and it became the first of many hand-quilted quilts I was to make.  Both our boys used the quilt (pre-ultra sound days!) and now it's tucked away in my cedar chest.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing some old quilts.  I can't sign off without showing you at least one picture from the Hoedown.  This is Hubby and me in our Hoedown garb.  I don't get a whole lot of opportunities to wear pig-tails.  None, actually.  But that might be a good thing.

"Halloween Basket" for Christmas

Sometimes when a niece or nephew gets married I make a simple scrap comforter tied with yarn and give it to them as part of their shower gift.  Everyone loves comforters.  They come in handy for all kinds of things and last just about forever.  

Laura got one in 2002.   








Catherine got one in 2005.

As soon as Travis laid eyes on Vanessa in 2007 while they were both in the Army he decided she was "the one" and there was no need to wait, so they were married within months.  I barely had time to say, "Congratulations" much less make any gifts.  Other projects became priorities, including quilts as their babies came along, and the comforter just never got made.  

I bought Paula Hughes' pattern Over and Under because I thought I would make it "someday" out of oriental prints, but when I found out what Travis and Vanessa's favorite holiday is, I wanted to use the pattern for their quilt and all those HALLOWEEN prints I'd been saving would be perfect for it.

And a matching pillowcase for every one in the family!  

I had just the right amount of spiderweb fabric in my stash to add to the backing and make it even more fun!

So Travis and Vanessa, and Phenyx and Kingston have a quilt I call "Halloween Basket" being delivered this evening by my sister and the rest of the family.  

        Merry Christmas to you, Travis and Vanessa!     


                  (And Happy Halloween, too!)






By the way, just so you know, sometimes they really look like this!