Vintage Challenge

Sue's monthly art bee issued a challenge last fall to use some vintage items in a 24" square wall quilt. One member, Barbara, had some vintage hexagon blocks that she offered to be used.  Sue shared embroidery transfers that she found in her mother's things that were likely from the late 1930s/early 1940s.  The challenge was to use these items in the quilt.

This is the hexagon block that Sue chose.  There were a variety of fabrics and each member chose the one that appealed to them. 

Here is an example of one of the embroidery transfers.  There is a stack of these folded up sheets that contained images for, as in this case, luncheon cloths; also napkins, dish towels, quilts, children's clothes, basically any household textile.  Sue chose to use the flower motif in the corner in her piece. The hexagon flower was the starting point, and after looking at the colors, she remembered an unfinished embroidered dresser scarf in her mother's things.  

This design was embroidered at both ends of the unfinished piece.  The colors seemed to blend perfectly with those of the hexagon, so Sue decided to cut off one end to use in a whole cloth quilt. 

The concept as you can see was to use the hexagon as a flower.  The stem was cut and fused to the fabric and then the hexagon was fused on as well.  Both were hand stitched with a blanket stitch around the edges.  The other element to be added was the transfer image, which Sue placed in the two top corners and hand embroidered.

Next, a border was needed. Again, a vintage textile was put to use.  Among the things Sue kept from her mother's belongings was a tablecloth; even though stained and with a few holes, it held memories of baking cookies, as it was used for cooling cookies after they came out of the oven.  The blue was a perfect match for the blue embroidered ribbon in the center.  The border here was cut from the border of the tablecloth.

The center portion was quilted with an all-over meander. The border quilting followed the pattern divisions of the flowers. In this photo you can see a close-up of the corner embroidery.

Above is the finished piece, which serves not only to meet the challenge, but also as a memory quilt honoring Sue's mother.  

Several other bee members met the challenge and gave permission to have their pieces included in this post. Holly Cole very cleverly used her hexagon block as a background by creating a digital image that was used to create a repeat pattern that she had printed on yardage.  On the right in this photo you can see the original block she chose.

Her central image of the 2 women and a dog is from a vintage photo, and is heavily embroidered.  The transfer image she chose is used as a frame for the portrait; in the close up below you can get a better look.

Anne Smyers used her hexagon amongst a cascade of floral motifs on her quilt.  The outside and center edges are satin stitched.  The grapevine embroidery (done by hand) is the transfer image she chose to use.

Below is a close up of the embroidery.

All elements are very effective against the pieced neutral background.  You can see more of Anne's work at annesmyers.com.

Terry Peckarsky had fun with her hexagon block, using it as the central motif of a 9-patch style quilt. For the remaining blocks, she made hexagon shaped crazy-patch blocks that complement her center block.  Vintage colors add to the theme.

The transfer pattern was used as the quilting design on the eight blocks surrounding the center.  You can see more of Terry's work on her Instagram page @tpeckarsky. 

Didn't everyone do a great job?  It's so interesting to see how each interpreted the challenge. These pieces would be lovely exhibited together.  Perhaps you'll see them in next year's QU show!