I am now working at finishing a quilt for our guest room.  The piecing is finished – and now I am adding the borders.  I decided that I wanted to add pieced borders along with the straight borders in the pattern.  The patchwork in pieced borders can be very simple (blocks) to more  intricate (Seminole Patchwork) designs.  I’m using both for this quilt.

The first border is spaced squares from the EQ5 library

and the third border will be Seminole Patchwork.

I am constructing this border from strips left over from the strip-pieced blocks in the quilt – a true Seminole Border construction technique.  If you’ve been following my posts, you know that Seminole women developed this patchwork technique to use up fabric left over after clothes construction.  Nothing was wasted.  The patchwork embellished the clothing they made.

Of course I used my Shape Cut ruler to quickly cut the pieced strips into 1-1/2 inch units.  A demonstration video for using the ruler can be found on  June Taylor’s website.

To make sure  that the borders lie flat, I always cut the borders with the straight of grain for wall hangings.  When making a bed quilt, I find that using the crosswise grain works well as long as I measure the quilt in the middle and not on the sides. (Adding Borders at Quilt Qua).

There’s always time to quilt!

Well the truth can now be told.  The Celtic quilt that I started in March is a wedding gift for our daughter Marianne and our new son Dan.  I was having such a good time making the quilt  that I didn’t want to wait until the wedding to put it on the blog.

They were married  this past Saturday, July 25 at their home in Amsterdam, NY. What a perfect day – and no rain.  We haven’t had many days this summer that have been completely rain-free.

I decided to give them their wedding gift early because I wanted to see them open it. Wanting to keep the quilt a secret until the last possible moment, I put it in a space bag and removed all the air with my vacuum. The the hard, bumpy package was as far from a soft quilt as you could get. And to take it one step further, I had my son Tom give her the package as though it was a present from him.

We had started the evening with a barbecue of Hoffman Hots and Snappys (I always have to bring her some of these Central New York favorites whenever we visit) and ended with dessert waffles from her new waffle maker, a gift from my son. (She just had to try it out!)

Their crew just couldn’t wait until the waffles were finished.

I don’t think they could have been more surprised when they finally realized that their gift was actually a quilt.   Marianne liked the Celtic medallion.  She has always told me that she is more Irish than Italian.  Dan was very impressed by the Seminole Patchwork and my story of how the Seminole Indians made sure that they used every available scrap of fabric in their clothing.  They turned plain, utilitarian clothing into works of art.

There’s always time to quilt!

Since I first saw Seminole Patchwork at the A-Tha-Thi-Ki Museum at Okalee, FL this past winter, I have been looking for a book of patterns.     I finally found The Seminole Patchwork Book by Cheryl Greider Bradkin.  Not only does it have more than  50 patterns, but it also shows the patterns used in clothing and home accessories.  The book is out of print (it was originally published in 1980).  I was able, however, to find a used copy on Amazon.com.

I read through the instructions on recommended tools and materials, and construction techniques.  How quilting has changed over the past 30 years.  This book was written before the advent of the rotary cutter.  Acrylic rulers with 1/8-inch markings were described as “the most versatile” type of ruler that could be used for trimming the patchwork strips.   It suggests that the best scissors to use is Gingher.  This is not surprising to anyone who has ever used a pair of Gingher shears.

I own 4 different types:   from the 8-inch dressmakers shears to the classic embroidery scissors.   Today the technique of trimming the patchwork pieces is made easy  with the June Taylor Shape Cut ruler.  Initially the pieces needed to be marked with sharpened soft or chalk pencils, almost used up soap cakes, etc. and then trimmed with the scissors.

Now my dilemma – Which of the 60 patterns should I use on my next quilt?

There’s Always Time to Quilt!

On a recent trip to the Seminole Museum, Ah-Tha-Ti-Ki (A Place to Remember), I saw examples of Seminole patchwork on display. Wanting to learn more about it’s origins, I accessed the museum’s website. The Seminole Quilting Style is very unique.  In the early 1900′s the  Seminole began making clothing from cotton fabric rather than traditional animal hides and skins.  Going once a year to a trading post such as Ted Smallwood’s Store and Trading Post in Chokoloskee Florida,  they would trade alligator hides, egret plumes, etc.  for supplies including bolts of cotton cloth. This trip took several days.

Needing to be frugal, women would sew the small strips of leftover fabric into larger pieces to be used as decoration (strip clothing).  In the early 1900′s hand-cranked sewing machines were used to make clothing. (left).  The craft was also used to make doll clothing.  (See end of post).   Necessity turned into wearable art.!

At the quilt store, Sew Studio in Naples, FL, I found fabric to make a quilt reminiscent of our trip here.  The staff was extremely helpful and I came out with a collection of fabric that is colorful and earthy at the same time.

I was able to find some Seminole patterns on-line.  The designs are actually very simple and should be easy to work into the pattern, Meadowsweet, from the Jan/Feb 2009 issue of Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting. I plan on adding Seminole strips on the top and bottom of the quilt. I can’t wait to get started!

Lucia, Quilting on the Road!

There's always time to quilt!