Friday, December 30, 2011

CQJP progress


I added linens to the corners of the surrounding blocks. The next step is what to do about a border around the picture.

Below are some shots of the many letters, cards and postcards from my mother's French pen pal, Michelene. They wrote to each other during World War II and for a while afterwards. In the early 1960's, I wrote to Michelene once or twice. Most of her letters were saved.






I had thought about scanning some of these & printing them to use in my quilt. If not, I think they'd make a great quilt on their own.



9 comments:

  1. Yes, wonderful bits of history! They'd make a wonderful quilt!

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  2. I love all the letters and postcards but they feel like a different quilt to me.

    I'd be tempted to put your aunt's picture in the middle of a GFG block since they worked on that kind of quilt. Isn't there one in the picture?

    You could also use one of the more full doilies in the middle (or sew 2 together) and have the edges cover the seams of the surrounding blocks--like a doily sitting on a surface. You could add embroidery on the doily and around the picture.

    I like the linens! You may end up mixing them up more so you don't have all of one style in one section; same with some of the blocks. You don't want 2 big sections of burgundy next to each other (I suspect they will be covered partially with pics). Long lines can also be softened with embellishments here and there; same with some of the sharp points you have from patch angles.

    I'd say figure out your middle and you are good to go! Even if you don't figure it out right now, you can still start stitching.

    In the end, I bet you only cut a few linens.

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  3. Initially I thought the letters & things would work here but no. One of the quilts is a flower garden, yes. I've been moving the blocks around - this is not the final arrangement. I think I used maybe 4 scarves, total.

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  4. I could do a WWII quilt and use the postcards. I have a number of photos of my father & uncles in uniform. One day...

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  5. WWII quilt is a splendid idea! It would be fun to have both wallhangings hanging next to each other in your home!! How cool!

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  6. Isn't it wonderful how the written word endures?

    Good progress on you blocks. Looking forward to that border selection:)

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  7. What a treasure! I agree the letters deserve a quilt of their own!

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  8. Libby: I'm so glad my mother was a bit of a hoarder! It's fun to read back through Michelene's letters - it gives me an idea of what Mom was like when she was in her 20's. I do know that she corresponded with her until after Michelene got married, which I believe was sometime in the 1950's. I'd love to know what happened to her.

    Jen: Treasure is right. There are dozens of letters that Mom kept. I'm going to send these postcard to be scanned to get a better image. They will make a wonderful quilt for my daughters.

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  9. Hi I am now following your blog and you are welcome to visit mine. Now we can compare notes and enjoy our journey together.

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