Our theme last week at Redwork Club was monograms.

Here’s a beautiful “M” to start us out.

Happy E brought these two “P” linens.  When we asked her why the “P” she said….

“Oh, these were Mrs. Fishers!”  Well, that cleared that up.

I believe this is teeny, tiny cross stitch.

Another “M”…

…and a pretty pink “H”

The white-on-white is very pretty and subtle.

I’m sure women weren’t supposed to draw attention to themselves!

One of our members had made this for her aunt.

And now for the “More.”

Cortne’ had recently been given this 1930′s postage stamp quilt.

It was a feast of fabrics!

Loretta finished her Flower Basket quilt top.

She decided to do her butterflies in gold floss.

I think it turned out great!

And I just had to share with you the labels that Linda puts on her quilts.

These are hand embroidered.

She does an amazing job!

About six months ago, the Peninsula Quilt Guild did a Nine-Patch Block Exchange.  The only rules were that the blocks had to be red-and-white and 6″ finished.  Here’s the stack I made.

We each made 24 blocks and swapped them, so we all ended up with the same blocks.  But, it’s what people did with their blocks that’s incredible!

Ethel turned hers on point and framed half with red and half with white.

Cherry did a version of the Disappearing Nine-Patch.

Cortne` framed hers with yellow and set them on point….

…and used her extra blocks on the back!

I think that’s Glennys hiding behind this quilt.  She made her quilt bigger by framing her blocks and adding pieced setting blocks.

Jan also slashed her blocks.  I love the appliqued black stars!

Renee used alternate appliqued blocks.

And don’t you love Ann’s setting with the yellow and white?

It’s similar to this quilt which I had in my photo archive.

And Lynda made a table runner using a Jack’s Chain setting.

Way to go ladies!

So, did you do it?  Did you join the Nine-Patch Project and make a Nine-Patch block everyday in June, July and August?  I have to admit that I did mine in spurts, but I love the result.

I’m going to cut them up…..

…and arrange them like this.  You can see different arrangements for the Disappearing Nine-Patch in an earlier blog post.

I just went through my photo files.  Here are some other ideas for Nine-Patch blocks.  This is a vintage quilt I own.

I recreated it for an issue of Designers’ Quarters Magazine.  In this version, I kept the centers all one color, but turned the blocks on point.

I love the Outline Stripe I used for the binding.

This is the quilt I got from my Grandma Ikey when I got married in 1974.  It’s just a simple Nine-Patch with muslin setting squares, but it has a flannel backing and kept me warm on lots of cold nights!

I took this picture of a vintage Nine-Patch at Pomeroy Living History Farm.

Here’s a modern red and white Nine-Patch that I found of the web.

I took this photo at the Eureka Quilt Show in Montana last month.  I think it’s really cool.

How cool is this?  Black Nine-Patches with coordinating backgrounds and triangles to put them on point.

I believe this quilt is a part of the collection at the Latimer Textile Center.  What a great combination of Nine-Patches and Rail Fence blocks.

This is a well-loved vintage Nine-Patch from the Eureka Quilt Show.  It’s interesting how the sashing is only vertical.

And speaking of vertical sashing, look at this cute baby quilt made by Marla J.  I love her use of colors and how she set the blocks on point.

Another vintage treasure from Pomeroy House.  This one is actually a 16-Patch, but I couldn’t resist including it.

And there’s something to be said for two color quilts.  These Nine-Patch blocks set on point with plain setting squares makes a Single Irish Chain Quilt.

Two weeks ago Bob and I were headed to Kalispell, Montana.  For a change of scenery, we drove past Libby Dam, and through the town of Eureka.  Imagine my surprise when we discovered it was the Eureka Outdoor Quilt Show that very day!

See the girl in the yellow vest?  She was part of the Quilt Police!  I guess there really are Quilt Police.

There were more than 450 quilts displayed around town.

And Eureka isn’t a very big town.

But it sure is charming.

Great looking new buildings.

Lots of “Western” themed quilts in the show.

You’ll see another member of the Quilt Police in this photo.  They were everywhere, but it wasn’t an unruly crowd, so they didn’t have much to do.

The quilts looked fabulous out in the sun.

I love this center medallion with the delectable mountain blocks around it.

There is a lot of work in the medallion quilt!

I recognize this Sunbonnet Sue and Sam quilts as having been made from an Eleanor Burns pattern.  I did one myself years ago.

Tennessee Waltz is always impressive.  You see curves even though there really aren’t any!

This quilter really achieved a “fractured” look with her choice of color placement.

The edge of this Double Four-Patch really adds interest to the design.

A pretty Picket Fence border here.

In my opinion, brights and black always look good together.

Hollyhocks and nighttime sky?

Lovely and interesting star quilt.

This block brought a smile to my face!

Another great center medallion block.

And another Tennessee Waltz.

I believe this Center Diamond quilt was done by an Amish woman from nearby Rexford, Montana.

Isn’t this unusual and pretty?

Believe it or not, this is a new quilt.  The quilt maker really captured the feel of an old wool quilt.

Interesting Nine-Patch setting.

I love the use of color here.

Lovely cross stitch.

Look at the amazing hand quilting on this quilt.

And don’t you love the graphic design of the Jigsaw Puzzle quilts?

This Bow Tie quilt is newly made, but made from vintage feedsacks.  It reminds me of my Tie One On quilt.

It’s amazing how graphic a simple Nine-Patch can look when set on point like this.

At the end of town is a public park filled with old buildings from the area.

They were ALL decked out with quilts.

The quilt at the top of the schoolhouse won the People’s Choice Award.

The old library.

It looked like a picture postcard!

Even the train station was decked out.

I think these two guys are doing their Lewis and Clark impression…”We proceeded on.”

There were quilts no matter what direction you looked.

It was a bit windy, but everything stayed secure.

Layers of quilt….

The irregular ends of the sashing strips on the Tulip Quilt are very interesting.

Hunter’s Star.  I’m going to be teaching this at our Retreat this fall.

This Broken Star with Lillies is a stunner.

Of course I couldn’t resist the Thirties Sampler.

The Flying Geese sashings on this quilt are so nice–and the quilting is very special.

I’m a sucker for Pinwheel quilts.

This pile of quilts was in the General Store.

I was delighted to see Jackie Robinson at the show.  This is just one of the quilts she had displayed.

This vintage Nine-Patch in a strippy setting looks like it was well loved and well used.

More Pinwheels.  This time with an interesting alternate block setting.

I think String Quilts are my new favorites!

Fabulous Art Deco design.

After two hours of looking at quilts, I could have used a “Moosage,” but it was time to head down the road!

Finally, I can tell!

Back in April, I had a crew here from Quilts and More magazine, doing a photo shoot in my studio!  It was incredibly fun.

The crew included Adam and Joe….

…and Elizabeth.

Sometimes Joe was my stand-in.  Imagine having a stand-in!

Sometimes I had to do the work.

It was fun to peek over their shoulders and see how fantastic their photos are.

Now the magazine is finally out.  It’s on newsstands now, or you can order it from me.

It has the Getting to Know Karen Snyder feature written by Linzee  McCray….

…and a table runner that I’ve designed, called Center Piece.  They even asked me to provide kits for it!

There’s more to this story, but I can’t tell yet!

Way back in 1974, when I was 20 and my Grandma Ikey was 90, I was getting married.  Grandma Ikey had two Nine-Patch quilt tops that she had made several years before and tucked away.  One was supposed to be for my brother when he got married, and the other for my cousin Jim when he got married–her two grandsons.  However, I was the first to get married, so Grandma gave one to me as a wedding gift.

This quilt became very special to me, because my other grandma, my Grandma Kennedy, and the members of her Ladies Aid Society, did the quilting on it.  I slept under this quilt for years, had it dry cleaned a few time–I didn’t know any better–and have always treasured it.  My brother did get the other one, also finished by the Ladies Aid, and his is in pristine condition.

I always said that someday I’d be a quilter.  About 1993, I got a free quilt pattern in the mail.  It was from Oxmoor House and was for a Grandmother’s Flower Garden.  I thought, “I should make this.  And I should make it king sized so it will fit my bed!”  Ah, ignorance was bliss!  I also remembered that my mom had given me some old fabric and blocks from my Grandma Ikey after she passed away, and that among them were some Flower Garden blocks.  Amazingly, I opened a drawer in my storage room, and there they were–16 Flower Garden blocks, or at least the components to make them.  I knew I wanted to use them in my first quilt!  It took me 2-1/2 years, but I finished that king sized top.

As I was working with the blocks that Grandma Ikey had made (I had to take them apart and re-cut them as they were a different size than my pattern) I began to think that some of the fabrics looked familiar.  I was pretty sure they were the same as some in my Nine-Patch.  So, I got it out and started to compare.  Sure enough, there were some duplicates!  Like this yellow and green flower print.

There was also this cute little blue flower.

You can see it’s more faded in the Nine-Patch.

Sometimes there were only enough hexagons for a half block, but that worked great for the edges of the Flower Garden.

Well yesterday, Bob and I and my parents visited our cousin Betty, whom we rarely see.

She had two quilts that our Grandma Ikey had made!  This star quilt.

And this fan quilt!

I was thrilled to see them, but even more excited when I started recognizing some old friends among the prints!  The white daisies on this pink background really speaks to me–I’ve always loved daisies.  Here it is in Betty’s star quilt….

…and in my Nine-Patch quilt…..

…and in my Flower Garden quilt!

This very abstract blue print was in one of the stars…

…and in my Nine-Patch.

The other print in this star was also familiar.

It’s not only in my Nine-Patch….

…Grandma Ikey made my baby doll a dress from this print!

And here it appears with a blue paisley…

…which is also in my Nine-Patch.

This fan blade had lots of matches to my quilts.  The center blade with the little Lemoyne Stars print….

…made its way into my Nine-Patch, although it’s much more faded here.

And the dark brown with the aqua flowers….

…is REALLY faded in my quilt.

Did you notice the little tulip print in the above block?  It turns out Dolly has a dress made from that print, too!  I love her rick rack!

INSERTED 8/3  My sister emailed me last night.  She had gotten her dolls out to check out their dresses, and here’s what she found–and said.

Here are Chatty Baby and Chatty Cathy all decked out in their tulip dresses.  Please note that my dolls can stand up by themselves, because they are not missing any legs.  Chatty Baby is upset, because she can’t find her scarf.  (I suspect the reason Chatty Cathy is looking away from Baby is because Cathy lost her own scarf and stole Baby’s.)

Then this morning Sally emailed me this….Chatty Cathy has a headache this morning from wearing the scarf too tight. Serves her right, I think.

How do you like the blue gingham sundresses?

I love the pink gingham — wide rick-rack for Cathy and narrow rick-rack for Baby.

Does the white fabric with yellow roses look familiar, SW?

As a matter of fact, it does.  It’s in my Flower Garden quilt!  Thanks, Sally, for sharing!

The dainty blue flowers, next to the bottom blade…

…make an appearance in the Flower Garden quilt.

And the last blade, with it’s wild pink, red and black combination…

…shows up in the Flower Garden quilt.  I think Dolly had a dress from this, too, but I don’t seem to have it.  Maybe my sister does.

And one of my favorite prints, which I remember is in my brother’s quilt too, is the gray and red one.

It’s in both of my quilts….

…and Betty’s fan quilt.

It’s amazing the connections among these four quilts–five if you count my brother’s.

Yesterday my mom told me that Grandma Ikey once said that when she and her niece, Elsie (who was two years older, but that’s another story) would buy fabric for a project, before they even cut into it, they were planning what they’d make from the scraps!  Spoken like a true quilter.

And I have one more quilt to show you that’s from Grandma Ikey.  This is the crib quilt she made when my brother was born, and that Mom used on all three of us kids.

I had a super fun day on Wednesday.  Nan stopped by the studio, we visited, we “did” lunch and then we went to the Klipsan Antique Mall!

Look what I found!

I had forgotten my glasses, and at first I thought this was machine quilted.

But no!  Just incredibly tiny hand quilting.

It was too great a treasure to pass up.

And the ice cream cone variation on the border just makes it that much more special.

Added July 25…….

Thanks to my friend, Melinda.  She recognized this as a Ruby McKim pattern, right down to the border!  Thanks, Melinda.

I’m so far behind on my posting, but I just have to share these wonderful quilt with you.

I love historical villages, and we were lucky enough to hear about Kolona Historical Village while we were in Iowa.

And even luckier that in one of their TWO quilt galleries, they were having a display of Depression Era quilts!

Like this beautifully embroidered and hand quilted basket quilt.

I thought the border was stunning!

These blocks really reminded me of the Kate Greenaway children that the original Sunbonnet Sue is based on.

I loved that she was doing all kinds of chores, including harvest!

How’s this for a Dresden Plate.  And who says they didn’t use orange in the Thirties!?!

This sweet little doll quilt was made special with a scalloped border.

Postage Stamp quilt like this one fascinate me.  Even the white background is pieced 1″ squares.

This Trip Around the World quilt was probably a kit.

This is the same star pattern as the first quilt I ever hand quilted!

I thought the applique and quilting were superb on this quilt.  I don’t think I’ve seen this pattern before.

The salmon pink in this Grandmother’s Flower Garden is a bit unusual.

Another Flower Garden.

This quilt is from a Nancy Page Quilt Club serial design.  Each week instructions for a new flower was printed in the newspaper.

I love how this maker coordinated her prints in the birds and flowers of each block.

You can see another Garden Bouquet quilt on the foot of this bed.

This beautiful design is from Marie Webster, who contributed quilts to Better Homes and Gardens Magazine for years.  She also ran her own mail order company selling patterns and kits.

I thought this bluework quilt was charming, but loved the bed skirt even more!

The traditional Sun Bonnet Sue.

What a pretty orange and blue print.  😉

Dogwoods.  I’m not sure, but I think this might also be a Marie Webster design.

A beautiful Ohio Rose.  This quilt is on my list of “to make” quilts.

I’m not sure of the name of this quilt pattern.  Anyone?

There were even some feed sack dresses and aprons on display.

Quite stylish, don’t you think?

I have a crocheted apron like this!

You might be poor, but you could still look good!

The staff here was wonderful.  If you’re anywhere close, I suggest you visit!

Do you want to make a pile of nine-patch blocks with almost no effort?  Then do it using your squares as “leaders and enders!”  That’s how Jacque made all the nine-patches for this quilt.  Here’s what she wrote me in an email:  I made the 130 9-patches in no time at all while working on other projects.

Okay, so how did she do it?  She used her squares as “leaders and enders.”  A lot of us, when piecing quilts, use a “leader”–a little piece of fabric that we run under our needle before we start.  Like this…

That way, when we start piecing our block, we don’t worry about long threads that need to be trimmed or losing the corner of the block in the throat plate of our machine.

You might do one block or string piece a whole bunch of blocks, and when you come to the end, you use another little strip of fabric as your “ender.”

Perfect for string piecing, but it doesn’t get you any Bonus Nine-Patches.  SO, instead of using scraps for your “leaders and enders,”  have a pile of squares next to your machine.

When you’re working on other projects, and you need a “leader” or “ender,” pick up two squares and use them instead of a scrap.

Do your regular piecing as usual.

And end with two more squares–your “ender.”

Before you know it, you’ll have a pile of components ready for your Nine-Patches!

I once made all the blocks for a Jewel Box quilt using this method.

Jacque got her inspiration from the book Adventures with Leaders and Enders by Bonnie Hunter.

I was so lucky that one of the temporary exhibits at the Vesterheim Museum was  a quilt show!  These were quilts made by area Norwegian/Americans.

I love signature quilts, and they had a lot of them!

This was a fundraising quilt made by the Big Canoe Lutheran Church women.

Members of the congregation paid five or ten cents to have their name included in the quilt, then it was raffled off.

This quilt was made in the early 1930′s in Decorah.

It was a fundraiser for the hospital auxiliary there.

I love the green-on-white and white-on-green combination and the circle quilting at the corners of the blocks.

This quilt was made by the Highland Lutheran Church Ladies Aid Society.

It was purchased by Pastor Holie, who served the church from 1897 to 1915 .

It was used for years on his daughter, Olga’s, bed.

When Olga passed away, her daughter had it draped on her coffin to represent the community in which she was raised.

This Wagon Wheel signature quilt was made by the Baldwin Lutheran Church’s Ladies Aid Society.

It was a gift to the pastor.

This quilt was quilted by twelve year old Ellen Knudson in 1865.  It had been pieced by her mother and grandmother.

This Ocean Waves quilt was made by Nellie Long in 1878.

Ingeborg Hanson made this quilt in 1870 for a Ladies Aid raffle.  Her sister-in-law, Anna, held the winning ticket.  The funds were used to help build the Cedar Valley Lutheran Church.  Many congregations had Ladies Aid Societies before they had church buildings.  Through quilts and other efforts, women made significant contributions to church budgets.  The stems and leaves on this quilt would have been green when it was made, but green was a fugitive dye and has faded to a light tan.

Mathea Norde started this quilt while she waited for John Wrolstad to return from the Civil War.  John served with the 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment, also known as the Scandinavian Regiment.  After the war, he and Mathea married and had twelve children.

I was surprised by the large amount of yellow used in this quilt.

This log cabin quilt was made by Mary Haugen in the late nineteenth century.

It won first place in the Minnesota State Fair.

Clara Rikansrud made this quilt in 1922.

It was a graduation present for her son, Aurthur.

This quilt honors the twenty pioneer women members of the Highland Lutheran Church.

Margurite Paulsrud and Olaf Rossing married on June 20, 1929.  One week later, Olaf was ordained as a Lutheran minister and the couple moved to Bagley, Minnesota, to serve their first parish.  Before they left, Marguirte’s mother and aunt presented her with this crazy quilt dressing gown.  They thought she needed something  warm for Minnesota and something nice as a pastor’s wife.  In 1937 they presented her with the matching lap robe.

This crazy quilt dressing gown was made by Helena Rossing around 1900.  It is embroidered with Bible verses in both English and Norwegian.

This quilt, whose blocks represent the Norwegian flag, might have been made in 1914 when Norway gained its independence.

A modern Norwegian flag quilt being raffled to benefit the museum.

The next three modern quilts were made to represent Rosemaling, the Norwegian decorative painting style usually seen on wooden items.