"Broken Dishes" and the pottery challenge Part 2

Our recent pottery challenge was a lot of fun.  It required me to study the tea cup I received, and be inspired designing a small quilt that symbolizes its origin and history, as well as please Sally the recipient.

The teacup was the last remaining piece in this set of English china.  I didn't need to be a major sleuth to know this meant a lot of broken pieces preceded this tiny delicate cup.  Ta-dah…I would use the "broken dishes" block in my design.  

Sally's grandmother was born in the Netherlands. I had no idea when her family came to the US, but I knew she was born in 1849....so I picked browns and creams in mid-19^th century reproductions, since I didn't have Dutch fabrics in my stash. 

I also researched the history of the "broken dishes" block. There are many details about its history, but to simplify, it exemplifies the early Americans packing up their possessions and heading west to settle in the new frontier. Their treacherous wagon travel meant lots of lost and damaged personal belongings, thus the broken dishes pattern emerged.  Its not a pinwheel though, rather a tiny little HST pieces in similar fabric designs signifying broken pieces of fine china, all in a compact little quilt would work great.

Sally liked her quilt, as did her mother, and the effort created around it.  If they liked it half as much as I enjoyed doing it, then I'm a happy quilter.  And thanks to the bee in Downers Grove for their inspiration!

I'm in love with my Niagara non-aerosol spray starch plus, with DURAfresh™

I don’t talk a lot about products on my site, but I found one I feel deserves a plug, especially for cost conscious quilters.

Most hard core quilters know the name BEST PRESS, a flake free spray starch product that comes in various fragrances like spring breeze and lavender. It works great but it’s pricey.  Sorry BEST PRESS, but it is.

There are tons of recipes on Pinterest to make your own starch. A few of my quilting BFF’s have tried them, with varied success.  The starch settles in the bottle, constantly requiring shaking or plugs up.  Not a deal breaker, it’s just kind of annoying. And it’s cloudy. And you have to add essential oils if you want it to smell nice.

I kept scouring the stores and finally found a starch that I believe stands up to Best Press…….Niagara non-aerosol spray starch plus, with DURAfresh™ fabric refreshment technology. Great marketing no? Anyway, its biodegradable, non-aerosol so it’s not killing the ozone layer, guaranteed not to flake, in a lovely light lavender fragrance…….and the 22 oz. bottle was $1.50 at my local Meijer store. It also comes in original fresh linen scent.

So I gave it a try.  It’s hard to see in the photos, but the small dark rose batik is thick and wrinkled, whereas the pink alligator print is super thin and flimsy.  For me, I want starch that forces stubborn wrinkles away, yet gives my limp fabrics substance without gunking (is that a word?) and flaking….you know what I mean.  Here’s the before and after…..stubborn wrinkles gone, flimsy fabric feels thick, I super saturated before pressing and there are no flakes, and the verdict is.......I think I’m in love. I know, get a life!

ALWAYS IN STITCHES Bee Pottery Challenge

Recently one of my bees decided to do a quilt challenge, largely inspired by a program presented by the All Hands Around bee from Downers Grove presented at our Big Red Quilters Guild program.  Their bee has been around for more than a quarter century! Doesn’t that sound so much older than say 25 years?!  This group does A LOT of challenges, and they don’t shy away from the tough ones.

Our bee decided to take baby steps first, and do something small and simple, a pottery challenge.  Everyone brought a favorite piece of pottery hidden so no one knew whose it was or what it looked like. Each participant picked their surprise, and opened so the group could see what each had to use for their inspiration.

Keeping it simple, we decided the size to be 12-24” on each size, so nothing smaller than 12” square, but not larger than 24”. It could be rectangle or oval, whatever shape seemed inspired by the pottery. We gave ourselves less than 2 months, before some of our snow birds left the winter. 

We had a blast, and here is a snapshot of what we did:

Missing - Nancy's quilt for Ines

A wool crazy quilt with blanket stitching made by Joan, inspired by Barb’s modern pottery tray

A charming applique pattern made by Sally, inspired by Joan’s mothers antique hobnail milk glass chicken dish, honoring her pie making skills

Quilt made by Ines, honoring Janice’s blue and white delft inspired dish

Quilt made by Janice, inspired by Nancy’s Dream Big dish

“Broken Dishes” quilt done in mid-1850’s reproduction fabrics commemorating Sally’s great grandmother born in 1849 in the Netherlands, her last remaining English china tea cup.