Bodkin Brooklyn

Last Season the American label Bodkin had this very quilty top. Nice colour way. I am beginning to think that dyeing your own fabric is the only way to get the right colours...

Pillow Project Progress

After a frenzied day and a half of designing, cutting, sewing, pressing (my most hated part) and quilting, the pillow fronts are pretty much done and looking pretty good. There are a few things I would like to change in terms of colour distribution but overall I am happy. It was a good experiment in working with an old design and I learnt how to make bow tie blocks which I love...maybe even more than the triangles. I just need to finish these up into actual cushion covers and they'll be done. Now onto to playing around with some broken up log cabin blocks in a straight furrows setting. God, I am getting so into to this nerd-o quilt talk.

Future Plans #1: Solids, shirting and triangles

Primary Pattern: Wild Goose Chase
Quiltmaker: Maker unknown
Geographical Origin: Possibly made in Pennsylvania, United States
Date: Circa 1900-1920

I really love the combination of recycled fabrics with solid colours in a wild geese pattern. This year I would love to make a few things exploring this and I have started collecting good quality shirts at charity stores to begin doing this. The quilt above is from the Jonathan Holstein collection at the International Quilt Study Centre. It was shown in the landmark exhibition of quilts at the Whitney in 1971 and is an amazing example of the aesthetic I am thinking of.

Jen Jones' 'Shirtings' Patchwork

Jen Jones also has at the moment this 'shirtings' patchwork with antique shirting and a solid 'turkey' red. It's very graphic and bold. There are often some fun examples on Ebay of old cutter quilts using shirtings. Might need a trip to the Cloth House in Soho for a couple of minimum widths of their gorgeous by pricey shirtings.

Example of an antique shirtings block from Ebay

Welsh Blankets and Amish quilting

"Unnamed Pattern" circa 1930, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania 70 X 70

There are many similarities between early Welsh quilting and the Amish patterns and the exact reasons for this aren't totally clear to me yet (need to look into it more but there is some talk of the Amish passing through Wales on their way to Pennsylvania). I will show some clearer examples of this in a later post but I just wanted to quickly put up this interesting comparison of an Amish quilt and Welsh Tapestry blankets. This quilt is currently on show in the Amish Abstractions exhibition in San Fransisco. Jen Jones sells many wonderful quilts and blankets from her gallery in Wales. This blanket is currently on sale in her shop. Many of these designs date from the 19th century.

The beginning

Quiltmaker: Maker unknown
Geographical Origin: Made in Midwestern U.S., United States
Date: Circa 1910-1930
Primary Pattern: Strip Alternate Pattern: Flying Geese, Bow Tie

This old Amish quilt from the Quilt Study Centre in Nebraska has become a bit of a favourite in recent times. I am going to use it as inspiration for a little project I have started and see where it gets me. First I need to learn how to do one of those bow tie blocks.


I have been playing around in Illustrator to work out an arrangement for two long pillows after buying a load of plain cottons from Doughty's. The layout looks a bit rough at the moment but it is enough to get me going with some cutting and trial sewing.