Block 16-The Pail

Happy Thanksgiving to all! It is quite cold in upstate NY this week. I am enjoying a fire in the fireplace tonight while I work on another block. Today I took advantage of a great sale and got my border fabric for this quilt! The local shop, Ivy Thimble, is moving in a couple of weeks so they had a great pre-move sale today-30% off! I still need to take pictures of it, so I will post that soon.  In the meantime, here is block 16.

Mildred's block

Block 16-the Pail   

The alphabet quilt was surely coming on. Here the club members where already at the letter P.

Nancy might have chosen Pansy or Puppet, but she was not sure that little children would know what these things were. Where is there a child that has not played with a pail and shovel? Joan counted this one of her favorites out of all the blocks Aunt Nancy had made for her. Possibly this was because the pail was made out of a blue figured print. So far there had been little blue in the quilt. That made the pail more interesting and noteworthy.

A solid color might be used for the pail and then an entirely different color for the handle of the pail and the shovel.

Nancy’s continued caution was this-be sure the material is fast color. One would hate to do all that work and then have the block fade and run when washed.

**instructions continue here on preparing the cardboard pattern and embroidering the letter**

When the paper pattern was dry the handle of the pail was cut out first. Then the pail was cut and then the shovel handle. The bail of the handle is made with outline stitches later and is disregarded in cutting the pattern.  The three pieces are laid on fast color cloth and used as a pattern to cut the cloth. In cutting, a quarter inch allowance for turning under is made on all sides.

The cloth pail itself is cut so if there were no handle cut out of it. Later the handle is appliquéd right over the pail.

After the quarter inch allowance is turned under, basted and pressed the pail is is laid in place on the penciled out line of the white block.

It is appliquéd in place using fine, slanting invisible hemming stitches. At the top a space is left to slip under the raw edge of the shovel handle. This is appliquéd in place. The pail handle is appliquéd.

Then a fast color embroidery cotton in brown is used to indicate the bail of the handle. Use outline stitch in working this.

Joan began to murmur, “She sells sea shells.” When she had been at the sea shore on her summer outing she had industriously hunted shells to fill her pail. This block brought the whole thing back to mind. 

Click here for the pattern

Happy stitching until next time!

What else I have been working on

So, as I mentioned in my last post, I rarely have just one project going at a time. I just can't resist. Besides the alphabet blocks, here are a few things that I have been working on.

This is the December table runner from a class I take monthly at Ivy Thimble.

I am also doing a Civil War sampler class there. We just had the last class and I am on block 39 out of 50.

I am getting ready to quilt this quilt: Saltbox Sampler. That was a class earlier this year.

I just finished this tote bag to take on our cruise that we are going on at Christmas time. It was a fun pattern and Trish from Ivy Thimble asked me to teach a class on it after the New Year! So exciting!

This is a lap sized civil war quilt that my daughter and I are making (more me than her!) for her history teacher who is a BIG Civil War buff.

A couple things I can't show, as certain eyes may see Christmas gifts! I will have to post about them after Christmas, because I tried something new there.

OH, and I had great ambitions of making cloth napkins for Thanksgiving dinner with this great Fox fabric I found at Joanns , but it's not going to happen. Maybe for next year!

Happy thanksgiving to all of you! We are supposed to be getting bad weather starting tomorrow night. I hope it does not affect anyones travels!

I will have another alphabet block coming up soon!
Deb

Block 15 - The Orange

Now for a REALLY simple one!

ooops I forgot to add the column the first time:)

Mildred's Block

My Block

One of my blogger friends made a comment about my blocks a couple days ago, and I realized I am BEHIND here ! Sorry about that. It has been a busy couple of weeks. As those of you who are quilters know, we rarely work on just one project at a time! I should show you what else I have been up to. I will take some pics.

This block is the easiest of the entire quilt. I put a little embroidered star for the stem area of my blocks. It doesn't show on the pattern at all, but Nancy calls for a satin stitched circle.

Block 15-the Orange

When the time came for the letter O the members were all sure that it would be used for an orange. They were right. In these days of food information what else could it stand for? Oranges are so vital a part of the diet of every child that Nancy knew each youngster would recognize the block at a glance.

While the quilt club members waited for the last arrival they discussed various ways in which they used oranges. One mother gave her child a glass of orange juice just before going to bed. She said she found the little girl had more appetite for breakfast when she did that. Another mother made an orange gelatin and dressed it up with small pieces of orange sections freed from tough tissues.

Orange toast was served that afternoon after the members finished making the quilt. Later Nancy told how she made it.

Now they were ready to start. They cut the square from the newspaper, held it against a window pane, with the 6 ½ inch square of white gingham over it and with a sharp pointed , hard lead pencil outlined the pattern. They did not try to draw the cross lines within the pattern. That represents the pattern of the cloth.

** continued instructions here on making the cardboard template and embroidering the letter**

Some members used soft orange fast color gingham. One woman had a polka dotted material in soft yellow and brown. She used that, saying that her orange was russet.

One woman had some soft orange colored crepe. She used this to five the crinkly appearance of an orange skin.

In cutting the material a quarter inch allowance was made all around. This was later turned under, basted in place. The orange was then pressed.

Laying it over the penciled outline on the block, it was pinned in place and appliquéd with fine, slanting, invisible hemming stitches.

The stem end of the orange was shown by working a solid spot of dark brown. For this the satin stitch was used.

As they say and admired their handiwork and sipped their tea, Nancy told them how she made orange toast. “I toasted bread lightly, buttered it generously and then covered the top with a mixture of sugar and grated fresh orange rind. A few drops of orange juice were sprinkled on each slice. I put these slices under the broiler and let them toast until the sugar bubbled. And that’s all there is to that. Do have some more Orange Pekoe tea,” said she.

Orange toast? I have never hear of this, but it actually sounds pretty good! Thanks for the recipe Nancy.

We are over half way done with our blocks now. I have to start thinking about how I’m going to put it together and looking for a background fabric. Nancy used white as part of the sashing and background, so I guess it must have been different from the white in her blocks. I think I am going to look for a very light print to use.

Click HERE for the pattern.