When I suggested adding “ric rac” to the apron a student was making in class, I was met with the most incredulous look only a teenager can give. Ric Rac? Surely I was making that word up! None of the students recognized the name of a trim they might have seen once. Gleefully, I introduced the class to one of my favorite trims. In fact, I created an entire bulletin board to show off the versatility of ric rac. I am not sure I made any converts, but I still a fan of this trim with the funny name.

According to the internet and Google, ric rac was originally called “flat woven braid”–very descriptive! Ric rac is a flat woven braid in a zigzag shape and used as a decorative trim on clothing and household items. Originally made of cotton, most is made from polyester fiber now. It came about in the 1860’s and was used to finish hems due to its stability and durability but became popular as a decorative trim. In the depression era, ric rac dressed up garments made from feed sacks. But it’s heyday was the 1970’s.

Where do I get my ric rac? Since I sew for charity-all my sewing/quilting friends that no longer do much sewing besides piecing or quilting have given me their stash. Friends are on the look out at garage sales, estate sales and in thrift shops for ric rac. Without their generosity, I couldn’t be able to add that final touch!

Presently ric rac is not used on clothing for anyone over the age of 6 years! But it is used on aprons….

Ric rac is a fun trim to add to hot pads…

Even a utilitarian towel for the kitchen looks better with ric rac…..

When I make pennants or banners for a holiday or season, ric rac just adds something….

When you are typing ric rac, be prepared— your computer will change the words over and over. Nevertheless, I liked using ric rac so much that I made the words into part of an account password once!

Come to the Quilts Etc. Sale in October and see how many items you can find with ric rac trim! The sale is October 21 and 22 at First United Methodist Church, Wichita, KS, and for all of you that are not ric rac enthusiasts, the vast majority of items won’t have any ric rac!

Quilters love to play with blocks! Not the wooden cubes of our childhood– but those squares of fabric cut and combined with other squares to create a quilt top or the square made up of little cut shapes that create a pattern that will be repeated over and over to create a quilt top.

The most basic quilt block is a simple square–and it is a very good place to start your creative endeavor.

Any number of “looks” may be made using different color and prints depending on the arrangement of the blocks

But why do something simple? Quilters like to manipulate small squares, rectangles, triangles, wedges and even circles into designs more complicated and perhaps more interesting. Quilters identified the different patterns with a name that was easy to remember and descriptive of the design.

Many factors went into these names. Block names may reflect where the quilter is physically located. Kansas pioneers quilted to keep their families warm and as an outlet for their creativity. The names of three blocks tell a story of life on the frontier.

The Kansas City Star was famous for hundreds of quilt block patterns printed with instructions and templates for free during the depression and WWII ! To read more about the paper’s pattern go to https://quiltmuseum.org/kcstar/. I have an envelope of fragile, yellow patterns my grandmothers cut from the paper–I inherited my tendency to collect more patterns than I will ever possibly make!

Currently, quilters are creating quilts featuring sunflowers, the national flower of Ukraine, to show support and/or to raise funds for different refugee charities.

We have many quilted projects using the “tried and true” blocks—-

The Log Cabin is one of the oldest and there are many variations of the block.

Rail Fence is very popular; the three rectangles reminded pioneers of enclosures using three split logs interlaced with three other logs. This pattern also has many variations.

Pinwheels are basically half-square triangles set to create a sense of motion.

This is just the “tip of the iceberg”. Amazon has hundreds of quilt block reference books. Flowers, stars, animals, places, people, Bible stories, food, transportation–all are the source of names for quilt blocks. Just add your twist and you can name it!

Shoppers do not need to wait until October and the Quilt Sale. All items are for purchase now. Please contact me via the comments section of this post.

Well, life happens! This is not news, but this past week or so, “stuff” seemed to change plans and interrupt daily schedules. My brother and my husband had routine surgeries. My husband’s was be minor and he would be back on his feet in a long weekend. Oops, now he is completely off his foot and no driving for four weeks! My brother was having a procedure that he had had five or six times before and out of the blue he had a reaction to some of the medicines and that changed everything! I know all of you have had similar situations. Remember the old Yiddish saying “Man plans, God laughs”?

Thus, this week I am just going to show off some recent finishes by the Quilters at First. There is no theme- we have a habit of telling ourselves and each other that we will make thus and thus to insure there will be a balance of items at our Quilt Etc sale in October, but we are so easily distracted by new patterns or pretty fabric! So these are our newest additions!

Shirley was also thinking of the winter holidays when she created the scrappy Christmas print quilt using the Chinese Coin pattern. It is 70″ x 74″ and is $200. It is a large twin or would work on a double.

This cool rainy May weather will quickly become hot and sunny. This bright 10″ x 40″ table runner is great for a casual warm weather table. It is $40. SOLD

The fabrics are 30 and 40’s reproduction prints. The long arm quilting is Baptist Fan. It is bound in “that green” –very popular in the 1930’s. It measures 62″ x 72″ (would fit a twin bed) and is for sale for $250. This was interesting to make for every piece in this quilt is the same size!

It is a “sort of” scrappy nine patch. The borders and binding are from the same jelly roll collection. The quilting is “Baptist Fan” –Measuring 65″ x 73″ and for sale for $250

The next photo is a quilt that has probably already sold but just wanted you all to see it! Sharon has lots of friends and “friends of friends” that love to golf and she has specialized in some great golf theme quilts.

Yup, life happens and sometimes the best therapy is needle, thread and fabric!

If you are interested in any of these pieces, please leave a comment or contact a Quilter at First.

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Quilters love stars in their quilts. Is it because we “wish upon a star”? Or like the Kansas state motto, quilters believe “Ad astra per aspera“— “to the stars through difficulties.” Stars may symbolize our “light at the end of the tunnel”. Whatever, they are fun to make–depending on the pattern!

If you “googled” star quilt blocks, you would find hundreds of star variations. Often the same pattern will have several different names. Twek a pattern, voila–a new star. But some star patterns have been around for years!

This table runner made by Vicki uses white sawtooth stars as part of the border. The center panel is stem stitch embroidery. Measuring 22″ x 57″, it is $75.

I usually don’t show unfinished projects, but I am making a Carpenter’s Star table topper or wall hanging in Christmas prints.

On the design wall and sewn together–life happened and it isn’t quilted yet.

This quilt needs binding before it is photographed, measured and priced. (Secret–my least favorite part of quilt making is machine sewing the binding before finishing it by hand binding)

Vintage prints, polka dots, Baptist Fan quilting, 30’s green and stars!

But my favorite star to make is the Wonky Star. Similar to the saw tooth but the points are free hand.

May need to make another one of these—there might be enough fabric in my stash “wink-wink”.

The best sleep comes when one sleeps under the stars–either in the heavens or on quilts!

My son and his family are spending Spring Break in Hawaii—again. This trip is much easier to do if one lives on the west coast! Their photos this year are showing me a different side of the islands . If it wasn’t for a few glimpses of the ocean and beach, I would think they were somewhere in the southwestern states. I am learning Hawaii has a lot more to offer than sandy beaches, palm trees and aqua coves. But I still think of all those travel poster scenes when I dream of visiting Hawaii.

Maybe because Hawaii is on my mind, this quilt made me think of the Islands. The colors are the blue/aqua of the ocean and the white of the sands of the beach. The floral pinwheels suggest the breezes and the tiny flowers are in the blocks and the borders.

The back of the quilt is a batik fabric with a tropical leaf print. The backing is so attractive it could be used as the top for a change.

The quilt measures 84″ x 96″ which would fit a queen size bed but could be used on a king. It is for sale for $450.

For now I will enjoy Hawaii second hand via photos and stories. And I will continue to dream of aqua water, white beaches and ocean breezes.

Check out the photo gallery post for other offerings.

My cousin likes to say, “Abe Lincoln and I were both born in a log cabin!” Eighty nine years ago she was born in a rustic log cabin in southwest Missouri. She was the first child of a very young couple starting out in the middle of the Great Depression. I would have been fascinated by it, but it was gone by my teen years.

My favorite quilt block is “log cabin”. I suspect the pattern was the result of quilters using fabric scraps that were very narrow and short. This pattern utilized every bit of their precious fabric.

Most log cabin quilts use color to emphasize the design. In the example above, dark colors were used on the right, light colors on the left. But traditionally, the center block is always red to symbolize the hearth of a home.

Log cabin is a very traditional block, but modern quilters have adapted it to suit their vibe.

Traditional blocks made the original way is my favorite. Log Cabin blocks can be very soothing to make. A good afternoon is sewing together strips of fabric while listening to an audio book!

Sandy Klop, a big name in quilting world, designs a line of fabric called American Jane. To quote the website it is “an upbeat, happy look rich in primary colors”. American Jane fabrics suggests the vintage fabrics of the 30’s and 40’s, but has more intense colors versus the pastels of that period. I chose two jelly rolls of “Hop, Skip and Jump” plus some coordinating solids and low volume prints to make this log cabin quilt.

The quilt measures 60″ x 80″ fitting a twin bed or full size well and serving as a topper on a queen size bed.

This quilt just makes me happy! It is for sale by Quilters at First for $300. Leave a comment please, if you are interested.

I am fascinated by drawings that upon a second examination, a new design or face or animal appears. The drawing becomes much more complex than it first appeared. After you have discovered the more intricate design you will never see original the same way again. Some quilt blocks are designed so that when they are sewn together a secondary design appears. For example, this quilt photo I pulled off Pinterest is a great example of a secondary design forming.

The following top is an example of two different block sewn together that create a third design.

But when the two blocks are sewn together in an alternating pattern, a third pattern appears.

A modified “Irish Chain” appears. Of course the use of color is very important in creating another pattern. But even with the one color, a secondary design can appear.

Can you tell which design was “the” block for this quilt top?

Or was it the “Shoo Fly” block with “Flying Geese” used for the sashing?

We don’t know—this quilt top was made by an unknown artist. A member of Quilters at First found this completed top in a thrift store and I quilted it and added the binding from the fabric that was sold with it. I would like to meet the person who pieced this sweet top. The points are perfect. (when the top is machine quilted on a domestic machine, the quilter sees every inch of the top!) Every corner of the half-square triangles and the flying geese is present–none were cut off.

Reproduction fabrics of the 30’s and 40’s were used masterfully. The green corner stones make the coral shine. The background fabric is a vintage looking cream color.

The quilt measures 45″ x 60″ and for sale for $75. If you are interested in this quilt, please leave a comment or DM me on Facebook.

Perhaps now you will start looking for bonus designs or patterns in quilt tops–or in the tile on floors or walls!

Too often, I hear people express this same sentiment about a quilt or hand embroidered towels or some other handcrafted item. The item must be carefully saved so it won’t get worn or damaged. When I give a baby quilt to a new mother, I want the baby to be wrapped in it, or crawl on it on the floor or used later as part of a quilt fort the child makes. My grandson’s first large quilt is quite faded now since it has been on his bed for over 15 years and therefore had to be laundered multiple times. That makes me happy.

True, I have been guilty of “saving” items away in a box. My grandmother’s wedding quilt is safely stored in an acid free box for my daughter, but my mother continued on the preservation that her mother started, I can’t stop the practice. But more and more, I display the quilts or keepsakes in my home so I can admire and enjoy them.

My mother-in-law once said to me “Are you saving these for your husband’s second wife?” But when we were going through her things we found many items that had not been used. So I think everyone pays homage to the “enjoy it now” belief but just can’t bring themselves to use some items for fear of damaging them.

Finding quilts at auctions and at antique shops has become a treasure hunt for some folks. Who doesn’t like to brag about a heirloom found for very little money? I found this beauty at a relative’s estate auction. It isn’t a family piece according to the owner, but one they had purchased. I would have paid much more than I did to have this pastel grandma’s flower garden in my collection.

The Quilters at First will have a Vintage Corner at the annual Quilt Sale in October. We will have donated quilts, aprons and table linens. Lucky for us, most of the items are in great shape, they just need a new home.

Ida donated this vintage butterfly quilt. We are not certain about the quilt’s age, but the butterfly motif was popular in the 1930’s and 40’s. The fabric is certainly of that period—the simple tiny prints and the solid yellow.

Prairie Points surround the quilt, adding color and a feminine look. The quilt measures 65″ x 74″.

The quilt is being offered for $200 and you may buy it before the sale. Please leave a comment if you are interested.