Postage Stamp Quilt

Well, Kate. I think this would be a good time to do some experimenting. Why don't you choose just one flower from the basket and make something very small? If it turns out to be exquisite, you can frame it. If it's a dud, it can always be a potholder. I think I'd begin with 1/4" seams and trim them skinnier if it seemed like a good idea. Trying to learn to use a smaller seam for stitching might mess with your brain. Not, in your case, a good idea. BWaaaHaha. Polly

"Kate T." Now for the challenge of a lifetime. After my mother passed away I

Definitely quarter inch seams for minis. If you are sewing squares together, then I would press the seams open. The whole things stays much flatter. If you press to the side, then you will have lines of lumps with very narrow dips between them. I wish I could show you the difference ... However, if you did a small square - say, 6 x 6 little squares - press open first and judge that; then press to the side and compare how you think about them. You might not actually like flat? But I have done that with all my later small quilts, as I love the effect. Quilting shows up better, because any relief is created by the quilting and not by lumpy seam allowances. . In message , Kate T. writes

Yes I tend to go tilt when learning new things. This will be a learning experience.

Kate

i was looking at the hand drawn pics of the pieces and it looked like a 1/8 inch seam. WHEW. Not for me. Think I will stick with everyone's advice and use the quarter inch seam. Either that or do months of trimming to 1/8 seam, and that would mean extremely heavy quilting to keep it all together.

Kate

Ladies, thank you for the suggestions on pressing the seams. Early this morning I did 2 6 inch squares. one with open seams, lot of pressing and the other with the seams pressed to one side. Lots of lumps. Pressing the seams is very time consuming but the look is far better, I think. Not to mention matching the seams.

The name of the lady that wrote this book is Anne Orr. She designed all kinds of crochet and tatting projects. I think this is the only quilting book she ever did. I can't find a date on it and assume it was written in the 50's or early 60's. The cover has appliqued strawberries on it. I have decided to put it through my scanner to have a working copy. The book is starting to come apart and don't want to lose one precious page.

Kate T.

Howdy!

1941:

or:

a Postage Stamp quilt from the pattern: Bio:

(I remember some of these; an older friend of my mother used to pass along her books): R/Sandy

YES, YES, YES THAT'S THE BOOK!!!!!!! Thanks for doing all that research. Thank you, Thank you.

Sorry for shouting, I didn't realize the book could be that old. 67 years old to be exact. Well I'm off to read my "history book" and try to recreate history with todays fabrics. I am so pleased with the inheritance my mother left me.

Well H-u-m-m-m-m, there is that box of crochet booklets, published in black and white. Wonder if I have more Anne Orr and don't know it. That's a discovery for another day. I got quilting to do. WOO-WOO

Kate T. South Mississippi

Beggin' your pardon, ma'm, but 67 is not old. We don't even remember 67. Polly

How true, how very true - especially this week >gg< . In message , Polly Esther writes

Anne Orr was primarily a cross-stitch designer, which is probably where she got the idea for some of her patterns made up of little squares.

Before you launch into a postage stamp quilt, you might want to look into the foundations-marked-with-squares method that is often used for watercolor quilts. The idea is that you lay out all the squares on a fusible grid and iron them in place. Then you fold the grid along a lengthwise seamline and sew it all down the whole length. Repeat. Clip the seams where cross seams will be. Then fold and sew along the width. Saves loads of time! (Haven't tried it; seen it done and was very impressed. For example:

) No reason you couldn't do this on a smaller scale. My mom made one of these mad postage stamp quilts. She went even further and divided the inch squares into triangles. She went nuts doing it and it turned out so huge it now takes up one whole dining room wall of my sister's house.

Monique in TX

I saw a store sample of one of those iron on grid postage stamp quilts at a precious little shop in Tennessee. The stitcher wobbled just a little and the result was pretty dismal. I really don't mean to be a cranky pants but I would just croak if I'd put that much time into a quilt top and then be disappointed. Polly

I resemble that remark!! :-) I think the book is 70 YO. if is has been around scince 1941. Maybe.

Nana