Vintage stockings

The stockings have come out better than I'd hoped. I'm so pleased. The quilt patterns show beautifully on the stockings. Each one is slightly different from the last, but when hung, they will look great. I've listed the first one on my Etsy shop and hope to have the remaining seventeen finished and listed soon.

Another project.

It seems like before I get one project finished, I have an idea for the next one. I have a very old quilt that was made by my great aunt.

It has a lot of damage and deterioration from age and wear but I wanted to do something with it. I thought that I could cut it apart and make something. I decided on Christmas stockings. I wanted the design of the quilt to show through the pattern so I used a plastic shower curtain to make a clear pattern.

Then I just placed the clear pattern (which I traced off an old Christmas stocking) on the quilt and cut them out.

I'm pretty happy with the way they're turning out. I used unbleached muslin to make the backs so that it matches the original material my great aunt used. I had to do a bit of mending in spots, but it doesn't take away from the appearance of the quilts.

Now, I have to admit, I did have a little bit of help with this project as you can see by the following pictures. Molly is always there to lend her support.

Quilting

My mother used to make patchwork quilts for our family for as long as I can remember. Nothing fancy, just four inch squares sewed together in random order.

My kids and grand kids always liked to look at the various fabrics and remember what material came from which pajamas, dress, curtains or whatever, that "Big Grandma" made for them.

Well, mom had a quilt started that she isn't able to finish now due to her arthritis and macular degeneration so it's been passed down to me! Now I never would have thought that just sewing together four inch squares of fabric would be so difficult.

But I have a new appreciation for the time and handiwork my mother put into those quilts. But I'm having trouble matching up all those seams when I put the rows together! The good side, is that my mom wants to give these as Christmas gifts so I have some time to work on them. I can only hope that these quilts turn out as well as the ones my mom made.