Perfume on a Pig

Here are versions two and three of the rail fence using the muslin strips as the center. These would make great lap quilts for hospitalized teenagers or pre-teens, as the muslin centers would be the perfect place for signatures and best wishes thoughts. Although each are set alike, the prints differ depending upon which scrap fabrics were being added to the stash as the quilt stitching progressed. The last version has many more reds--I think I was running low on other colors.

These quilts were made from a more calico-type print that was rescued from scrap contributed from unknown sources and from a box falling from the garage because of a borken door. A friend took one look at the relative "ugliness" of the quilt in comparison to the other versions and wanted to know why I had chosen the blue print as setting fabric. Well, it's because I cut it for the former variation, found it not suitable and took out what I had sewn. I used it for these quilts because it was already cut--you know, I had cookies and milk.

After completing the "grandma style" top I decided to perfume the pig and add some Grandmother's Flower Garden hexagon motifs I had on hand, adding a vine and leaves for good measure. Yes, Jo, I did it all by hand! Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder.

There is quite a bit of distortion in the top so this quilt may have to be tacked instead of quilted. I'll know better when I lay it out to baste it.

This version is made with the same background, but the center of each block is the same print calico in a dark value. The eye rests more easily in this version with the repetition of the same fabric. I decided this needed no "perfume" so it will be finished just as it is now.

This final version uses the same 2 x 5-inch strips, but uses a partial seam technique to add the strips around a square. The blocks finish the same size of the rail fence, and when I show them side-by-side, observers puzzle over what is different. The center is a 3-1/2-inch square. The same selection of strips was used to make this quilt as the first rail fence quilts. The surrounding black setting and border give it a bright dramatic look.

The box is still full of these 2 x 5-inch pieces as I seem to be adding to them all of the time. I'm thinking that a Pioneer Braid would be another fun design to use with the accummulated strips. Now let's see--do I have cookies or milk?