September has been declared Quilt Month!

One of my favorite blogs is Mr. Monkeysuit (click here for the link to it). I popped in today to see what was happening and discovered that it is Quilt month! Everyday there'll be a quilt related post on her site and she asked for others to do the same. So I signed on and here I am. I loved the idea of this because it will help me organize and document the vintage tops and quilts that I have tucked here and there. Most of them are worn and dearly loved but there is still inspiration in those lovely quilts and I just can't resist them! So, yesterday, I posted the old Butterfly quilt from my friend Jan and today for you, I have one that I call "Wagon Wheels". This is one that my mother and dad gave me a few years ago. I absolutely love the scrappy rims around the bright yellow circles!

My plan for this quilt - which has never actually been quilted - is to take it apart and give it a new look. I like to have a project to do while I am watching TV (which I actually don't do much of anymore since I spend more time at the computer!) so I'm going to call this my "Pickin' and Grinnin' Project" because there will be a lot of "pickin' out the stitches but I'll be grinnin' because I can picture what it will look like in the end." If you double-click on the photo you can see that this piece is actually in very good condition, unlike the Butterfly quilt, but I need to do the same thing to both quilts. I have snipped the black yarn ties from the Butterfly quilt and tomorrow I will take it outside and remove the batting. It is in lumps and shreds and is not salvageable. The same is true of the batting inside the Wagon Wheel quilt. The maker of this quilt never tied or quilted in any way the layers in this quilt. I have the feeling it may, in fact, be a blanket that I will find when I rip the stitches and open it up for a "look-see" inside. As I said earlier, I have some vintage feedsack fabrics that I can use for replacing the worn butterflies but there is no wear on the fabrics in the Wagon Wheel quilt although they are not stitched very well. With each quilt, I plan to use lots of rick rack and bias trims from my vintage trim stash. My dad, mother and brother all kept me well-supplied over the years by going to lots of estate and garage sales. I'll put my hands to work on the Butterfly quilt first and then "pick stitches" on the Wagon Wheel a little each day. It could take me several days just to rip out the stitching around the edge! I better get out my "pickin' and grinnin' tunes" to keep me motivated!!
Hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend! Tomorrow it is back-to-school and back-to-work for most folks. I am sort-of retired but I say "sort-of" because I get so involved in volunteer stuff that it could be a job! Most of the time, I really enjoy it and right now is one of those times. The next two weeks, I'll be pulling together quilts and info for an exhibit at our library that showcases 150 years of quilting. It's Minnesota's Sesquicentennial and the exhibit is part of Henderson's Heritage Days festival. So I will be working hard, burning the midnight oil to pull my program together. And so, Mr. Monkeysuit's declaration of Quilt month fit very well with what I needed to do! Check back here and at all the sites for loads of quilts and more!