Last Look at Treadle On Origami Bow-Tie Blocks

I've posted several times about my Origami Bow-Tie quilt.  The quilt was made with 3-D, or Origami Bow-Tie blocks in an exchange with members of the Treadle On vintage and antique sewing machine group.  The guidelines for the exchange required making the bow-tie blocks using a pre-1900 sewing machine.

My blocks were made on a Singer VS 3 hand-cranked sewing machine from around 1894.  The machine makes a great, smooth straight stitch.  I call her Bertha in honor of my maternal great-grandmother.

The VS in the machine's name stands for Vibrating Shuttle. 

The bullet-shaped shuttle holds the bobbin, and "vibrates" back and forth, catching the thread loop created by the needle and creating the stitches.  

Once I finished machine appliquéing the borders (not on a vintage or antique sewing machine!), I sent the quilt off to my local long-arm quilter, Cindy Braiwick.  I didn't give her a lot of specific instructions on the quilting, so she could get as inspired as she wanted.

I may have already mentioned the emotional attachment I have to this quilt.  The block exchange took place just prior to Hurricane Katrina, and I received my exchanged blocks just as I was about to move back home to New Orleans after being evacuated for about six weeks.

When I picked up the quilt from Cindy after she finished the quilting, I may have gotten a little verklempt.  I was just blown away by what she had done with the quilt!

First, she chose a perfect design for the blow-tie blocks.  Every part of the block was quilted except for the bow tie "knot" - the 3-D part.  

Even better, she really filled in around the appliqué shapes with lots of different designs.

One of my favorites - the feather and heart design shown here.

It took a little while, but I finally finished the binding, sleeve and label for this quilt.  It's hanging on my hallway quilt rack so I can admire it every day!

October's Five (tiny) Tuesdays

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge for October was to use up dark scraps like browns, blacks, and grays.  I found lots of great scraps to use for Tiny Tuesday blocks - and there were FIVE Tuesdays in October!

Tiny Tuesday block one:  Walking in the Dark 

I had some scraps from the black and gold quilt I'm making for my son Andrew, so I put them to good use!

Week two:  Geese Circle

I used some scraps from a recent Halloween quilt for the second Tiny Tuesday block.  The center square is supposed to be light gray, but there was a perfect skull begging for fussy cutting, so that became the center instead.

Week three:  Jacob's Ladder

This is the base pattern for my son's quilt, so just for fun I made a Tiny Tuesday version.  The pepper fabric has been in my stash for years, and I enjoy using the scraps as often as possible.

Week three:  I Love Chocolate!

I forget the name of this block, but I used some scraps of chocolate bar fabric.  The block was kind of boring with a blank center, so I cut out a chocolate-dipped strawberry and appliquéd it.

Week five:  Cornerstones

Happy Halloween!  These scraps were from a baby quilt I made for my niece, who was born in October.  That "baby" just turned 16 and got her driver's license!

My other Rainbow Scrap projects are on hold for the time being.  I need to focus on getting the black and gold quilt finished so I can give it to my son as soon as possible.  Once that is finished, there are RSC projects calling out to be completed!

Linking up with other scrap lovers at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge link-up.