Grandmother's Choice - Weeks 36, 37, 38 and 39

It's been a busy few weeks so I've neglected posting my blocks.  My goal from here on out with the Grandmother's Choice block of the week is to use fabrics I have used only once before in previous blocks.  So far, so good - mostly!

This week is Endless Stairs: Rank and Rights, where Barbara Brackman relates the historical viewpoints around how people occupy a rank and are therefore entailed (or not) certain privileges.

I made this one scrappy and used some of the more unique prints that might have been more of a challenge in a different block- 8 different fabrics in total.  I tried to balance scale and darkness of the prints and I quite like this result.

Last week was Nonsense: Anatomy Lessons, where the discussion related myths about what women could not do because it might harm their anatomy -- ride a bike, use a treadle sewing machine, ride a horse.  These examples seem crazy to us now.  I remember that I was not allowed to use the weight room in high school because I was a girl and it was thought it would be damaging to my development.  This seemed ridiculous to me then because we already knew that boys develop in many ways slower than girls, but the boys were allowed to use the weights!  Sheesh!  Each generation smashes another silly assumption.

Here I mixed strong prints with a strong floral to signify we women CAN be strong and athletic and feminine all at the same time!

Week 37 discussed Lucy Stone League where women fought for the right to retain their own name after marriage, promoting "the idea that its women are integers and not halves."

Here, I just had fun with a graphic sense to the block, sorely needed after the previous week's traditional applique.

Week 36 was mentioned in my last post and here is the final version of my Sunbonnet Sue:

I made this one like my Grandma did using her pattern and methods.  I'm pretty sure she would not have used the fabric I used for the sleeve, but hey, I had to get some of myself in there, too!

Week 36: Sunbonnet Sue

This week's Grandmother's Choice block is an applique block called Sunbonnet Sue.  Barbara Brackman writes 'The ubiquitous doll can remind us all the girls who've rebelled against becoming "an entirely ornamental young lady."'

My grandmother made LOTS of Sunbonnet Sue blocks, and I have all of her patterns -- both applique and quilting templates.  She kept her patterns in a dresser drawer up in the attic bedroom.  She did NOT organize any of it. I remember her rummaging around in that drawer picking out the pieces she needed, then just tossing them back in when she was done.

I now have the contents of that drawer in a large rubbermaid under-the-bed box and I rummaged through it this morning to see if I could find anything for Sunbonnet Sue.  I sure did, along with other ladies applique patterns. (couldn't seem to get it to stay rotated!)

Here are a couple quilts and a bag my grandmother made for me with Sunbonnet Sue and a Dresden Doll:

Included in the box of Grandma's patterns were some dress and hat pieces already cut, coincidentally from fabric in my color pallete!  So I will use the dress fabric my grandmother already had - I had to cut it down to fit this block. Here's my plan for the block:

I may take it with me next week on my business trip to work on.  I will include the black outline stitch and the ribbon embroidery on the hat, like Grandma did. So, although I used a "new" fabric, I have still used two fabrics I had only used once before, so my desire to include more of those "one-timer" fabrics is being met.

The Home Stretch for Grandmother's Choice!

We are down to 14 weeks remaining on this fabulous project!  So I am working on my final planning.

I went through all of my blocks and recorded what fabrics I have used and in which blocks.

So - now I know which fabrics I have used only once.  The goal will be to use them in the remaining blocks.  Unless, of course, I see something I cannot live without!!  No - I am going to make a concerted effort to ensure some more cohesiveness in the blocks for the final 14 blocks.  Really.  I have pulled the fabrics and intend to only pull from that bin for the blocks.

I also have a plan for the final setting and it will also dictate what colors I use in the remaining blocks.  My plan has groups of nine blocks in each corner.  In those nine-block groupings there will be a red block in the middle; bold black and white in the corners, lighter black and white and blue and white in the middle blocks on the sides.

Separating each group of nine will be three blocks with red in them.  The middle one on the veritical lines will have a white background.  The horizontal blocks will be those with bolder red or red/black fabrics.

The center block is the star pictured below on a white background.

I will frame the large sets of nine and sets of three with tiny white on black polka do, then sash in between those with a solid light blue/turquoise.

This picture was taken several weeks ago.  I think now that I need to make three blocks with some red in them, five or six more with bold black tones, and then around six with a calmer tone. 

Wish me luck!  It's a plan, and will be adapted if necessary.

Choices, We All Have Choices

This past week's Grandmother's Choice block blog entry discussed the fact that although many women did want the vote, there were many women who did not agree, feeling it was improper for women to engage in such pursuits or to be involved in politics.

So, we have for week 35 Granny's Choice: I'm an Anti

This was a fun block to do - easy and has lots of movement.  Picking the fabric was fun!  I have been wanting to include a larger piece of the plaid I used on the "blades" and I have always like the way the leaves go with the plaid.  And a relatively calm background this time.  I have to admit, I tried a livelier background and I'm glad I kept it toned down.

Coffee Cup: Not My Job Description

This 34th week of the Grandmother's Choice BOW deals with the issues of the inequality of women's pay and as an indicator of that the fact that women were expected to make the coffee.  When I was in college I worked a couple of summer's at the same place my mother worked.  I remember being incredulous that I had to wait at the end of the day for her to take care of the coffee pot.  It mystified me that she felt obligated to sharpen the boss's pencils, even when we were late for something planned for the evening. 

Now, mind you, some of this came from her training when she was fresh out of high school and worked as a secretary at that Agency.  She resigned when I was 5 and went back to work there when I was 17, and boy had the times changed!  She had a little bit of difficulty NOT doing some of those tasks.  I opined (with my typically 20 year old indignant attitude) that if she WANTED to do those things and was not EXPECTED to do those tasks, it would be fine.  And I told her that she should never teach the younger secretaries that it was mandatory.  Ah - to be young and right all the time!

She did grow a backbone and really embraced the ability to have a say and to express her opinions.  I am so proud of all she has accomplished!

So - here's my nod to both tradition in the saucer and lace tablecloth and more modern times in a bold coffee cup.

I chose this fabric for the saucer because it reminds me of this saucer that my grandma and/or my aunt used -- not for coffee but to prop a glue gun on so the glue would not get on the table!

Block of the Month - Dixie Diary and RBD Things We Love

I made progress on more BOMs recently, and am enjoying the change of pace these blocks bring to my creativity.

I am incorporating embroidery pieces into The Dixie Diary blocks, as you may know, and it is a challenge to match the fabrics to the embroidery to the pattern for the month.  Although this month 4's pattern, Asylum, wasn't initially my favorite concept, I very much like how the block turned out:

I am not know for my "sweetness" in my quilts, but this really is rather sweet.  It just goes to show a little bit of embroidery can go a long way towards making a block special.

I also completed month 4 -- Sunshine -- of the Riley Blake Designs BOM, "Things We Love".  It's my more typical bright and fun fabrics, and I am enjoying the larger block size on this one as the blocks will finish at 12".  I snuck an owl in the corner -- cute, huh?  I also decided to have contrast between all the fabrics so that both pinwheels would each stand out.  In the sample block provided by RBD, there is very little contrast between the outer points of the star and the inner pinwheel (where mine is the dark purple).  I like it even though it makes the yellow pieces look a little odd in the center of the block.  I thought about putting the background color in those small triangles, but in the end decided to stick with the yellow.  All in all, it makes me smile.

It would appear that the advent of sunny weather this Spring has me in a sunny mood with all this yellow!

Catching Up with Grandmother's Choice

The past few weeks have been crazy, with helping in a family yard sale and business travel.  I have managed to keep up with some sewing, though.  I have done the blocks for Grandmother's Choice Block of the Week, but have not had time to post them until now.

Weeks 31, 32, 33 - I have been in quite the graphic design mode:

Week 31: Tinted Chains: Click

In week 31, the title of the block was "Tinted Chains".  In the blog post, Barbara Brackman writes:  "The fact is women are in chains and their servitude is all the more debasing because they do not realize it." Susan B. Anthony 1872.  ... A century later Ms. Magazine created the code words "The Click," to define that flash when a woman realizes the psychological chains that have governed her self-image, role, and behavior.

Later, I used the oval fabric to represent the links in the chain.  Originally I planned to use the black on white down the middle and the white on black in the four squares at the sides, but it was too much, even for me!  I quite like how this one turned out.

Week 32: Mr. Roosevelt's Tie

Week 32 commemorates Theodore Roosevelt who support (sort of) women's rights but didn't think they were a very important matter until he was up for election and some women had the vote! Although I know he did not have the same type of mustache as the fabric I used, I could not resist using it!  It makes me grin when I see it!  I could have used one of my plaid fabrics in the middle instead and it would have been good as well (or better):

Block 32: Mr. Roosevelt's Tie - not used

Week 33: Contrary Husband

 Finally, we just completed week 33, with some more Y seams.  Mine went together reasonable well, but I did have to sew one of the seams several times before I was happy with it.  This week's block is "Contrary Husband" and brings up the issue in women's suffrage that women could not get away from abusive situations.  So Barbara writes:  "We can use it not so much to recall a bad marriage, but as a reminder of an important legal right, the freedom to leave."