Last Sunday I received an email from Susan McGirr about the name of my quilt. Here is the information I received from her.
I believe the name of your quilt is Boston Commons. I have a quilt from the 1930’s that looks very much like yours. I have always known it by that name. When I first got it I had researched the name of the pattern and believe I found that name through Barbara Brackman’s books or website. I know in recent years Eleanor Burns has done a quilt by that name but the pattern is different and looks more like a rectangular Trip Around the World. That may be why people are confused. I will attach a couple of pictures so you can see the similarities in the quilts.
Hope you find this helpful. Your quilting is lovely. The squares in mine are quilted in a grid and flowers are quilted in the white bands.
Thank you Susan! She included a couple pictures of her lovely quilt. I downloaded both of them but I can only find this one picture. Oh well.
Now onto the hand quilting progress made on my quilt this week.
I hadn't marked the pieced border or section before I started the quilting. I just didn't know what I wanted to do but decided to start the quilting and the design would come to me.
I had this old corner stencil and thought maybe that would work since there will be some feathers on the inner border. Well, the quilt did NOT like this design, it actually yelled at me and said NO! NO! NO! NO!
So I asked what design do you want and was told the Baptist Fan design. Isn't that kind of overkill? The fan design is already on two other parts of the quilt but that was what the quilt wanted so that's what I'm quilting on the inside design too.
This is the right side of the quilt, note the fan design in the outside white border and the pieced border.
Here is a view of the right side looking toward the center.
The center doesn't make sense yet since you can't see the feathers, they'll be quilted after I roll. I wasn't able to evenly mark the center because of the puckers in the center of the quilt.
I've added another thread color to the group. Do you see the triangle squares along the edge of the pieced section? That fabric is not white white, it's an 'old' white. I'm using a slightly off white thread for stitching in the ditch along the edge of the white section and also for quilting the white fabric .
Here's a picture looking from the center toward the left.
23 comments:
I am so glad that your quilt now has a proper name...I love how the quilt told you to quilt it too <3 It is looking amazing!!! Kathi
It's funny isn't it how one can ponder upon the quilting design of a quilt, then all of a sudden it 'talks' to you and tell you what it wants. It is always a joy to look at your quilting and the quilting on Boston Commons is perfect as always.
Wow, it is stunning. Wonderful job on the quilting.
I think a quilt with so many different fabrics benefits from a common quilt design. The Baptist fan certainly unifies the quilt. I look forward to seeing the feathers in the center design.
I love that the quilt finally told you how to quilt it.... and you listened! Looking great.
it looks great!
This is looking so good!
It's going to be SEW lovely!!!
It's amazing what hand quilting can do. You do wonderful work. This is going to be such a keepsake.
the Baptist Fan is perfect as the quilt told you! Shows up beautifully and ties in well with other quilted designs. just lovely!!
Wow, I love it! I wish I had the patience to hand quilt. I absolutely love the texture it creates!
Beautiful quilting, and such a sassy quilt talking back to you like that!
I always enjoy watch your beautiful quilting evole over the quilt top. Yes, it's better to do as the quilt wants!
What an amazing quilt you are creating!
Beautiful, Gretchen! Your quilting is heavenly!
This is going to be stunning. Thanks for linking up with Oh Scrap!
I am always in awe of those who can hand quilt. Your quilt is amazing!
Lovely. I try to listen to what a quilt "wants" too. It works best for me on sashing/borders more than the actual quilting. I am so not a hand quilter, yet one is waiting for me to finish it. The fall will come and temps will go down! Take care. And I'm looking forward to what you get done this week.
Wow, you have a job ahead of you. I love what you are doing. I've always wanted to hand quilt, but my hands have other ideas.
Your hand quilting is looking fabulous. How funny that your quilts yell at you -- I am frequently the one yelling at my quilts, rather than the other way around (usually whilst attacking them with seam rippers)... This is going to b e so stunning. I do see that you are having to quilt through LOTS of seam allowances, which I remember being challenging the last time I hand quilted some years ago. I think I had to do something different that was like one stitch at a time, almost a back stitch or something like that through the seam allowance rather than stacking several stitches on my needle at a time? My memory is fuzzy, but I was doing whatever Roxanne McElroy suggested in her That Perfect Stitch book. Do the seam allowances slow you down, or do you have a more efficient way of stitching through them without messing up the consistency of your stitch length?
It depends on the fabric, some of those squares are not 100% cotton and stitch harder. I have had a couple of places where I had to stick down through and them stick back up on the back. It works. I also have a small pliers I use to pull the needle through when I have problems. Most of the quilting isn't hard. I don't overdo the quilting, don't want my hand to ache. Thanks for your comments!
I love the quilt and the name history is great. I wonder how it went from a patchwork quilt to a Boston Commons? You mentioned that the fabric squares aren't all cotton. Is there special significance to your squares? Just wondering. thanks so much for sharing.
just loving seeing all the quilting progress shots of this quilt......its like it brings it to life.......it s a lovely pattern.......
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