Vintage Blocks Wall Hanging

Vintage Blocks Meet Vintage Fabric Pack

In the first years of quilting, I spent considerable time acquiring new fabric. Then I began collecting old fabric, blocks, quilts, ephemera, and so on. The day of reckoning came when I said, "What am I going to do with all this stuff?" (or my kids if I leave it undone.) And that pretty well sums up where I am at currently, and hoping to direct my quilting energy and time to correcting. 

I am a sucker for the tag sales where there are stacks of blocks stuck in a baggie for $2 with lots of pieces waiting to be sewn. It just screams, "Make me, Julie!" Mind you the fabric is from the 1940's, and 85 years later still not sewn together. It's usually a case of someone trying out a block, and it didn't come together as well as they'd planned. Many start out as hand sewn, and honestly those are the best as you can easily unpick them. It's not always necessary, though, and often I like the look of hand pieced, slightly imperfect blocks. That was the case here even after fixing a few seams that had pulled.I sewed 4 of the blocks in the stack together. Most points met nicely, and remember these were cut in the days of scissors only. No acrylic rulers or rotary cutters ever touched these. I kept the square of blocks in sight walking by them several times a day, and thinking what I could do with them. Then I found a small pack of precut solids, also vintage and cut with pinking shears--no mean feat.

I thought what a pretty border that would make! Initially I intended to flank each side of the square as I didn't believe I had enough squares. The first two sides were finished, and additional sides laid out, and I had just enough using some of the 'not my first pick' colors.

Adds a bit more of oomph to it, right? Try as one might, it's tough to be super accurate with pinked edges so it will all look a bit more handmade than I'd like. It's okay. It would be fun to add some embroidered flowers, but would that be too much? Hand quilting? Maybe. I like open ended projects that allow for tangents and surprises, and this one feels fun already!

Come on, Doxie girls.

Let's go sew.