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!
