Retreat Project #3, Grandma's Embroidered Blocks

I found 25 embroidered blocks in my mother's stash after she died in 2006 . They were old blocks that I had never seen before. They didn't look like the type of embroidery mother did, they were traced onto the background fabric then embroidered with at least 4 strands of thread, maybe more.

I have no way of knowing for sure, but I think my maternal grandmother, Sylvia Jane Miller, embroidered them. One of the ladies at the retreat told me the embroidery patterns were from a newspaper series back in the 1930's. That fits with grandma's time frame.

I've wondered for years what to do with them, how to set them, what fabrics to use; I decided earlier this year that 2019 was the year something was going to happen with them.

Originally they would have finished at 12" but I trimmed them to 9-1/2" so they will finish at 9". This is going to be a wallhanging, the blocks are too special to be a bed quilt. 

Friday morning, after finishing the quick & easy crib quilt, I started working. First I bordered each block with 1-1/2" blue sashing (1" finished). Then I figured how many of the rectangles I needed in between each block, cut the rectangles, then cut 4 times that many 1" squares and did flippy corners on the rectangles.

The sashing rectangles are ready to go. Next step is to decide how to arrange the blocks. I won't have this project finished in 2019 but I've made a good start and will see a finish in 2020.

Just in case someone wants to know, Yoder Department Store in Shipshewana, Indiana has quite an assortment of white fabrics, including a white that is an 'old' white'. 

Linking to Midweek Makers, Needle & Thread Thursday