Wednesday, July 20, 2016

"Housetop" is Finished!

"Housetop," 60" x 60"

I finished hand-quilting this just in time for picnic season!
The top was made in a class with Gwen Marston back in February.
It's called "Housetop" because its inspiration came from the  
Gee's Bend quilt designs that go by the same name.

I quilted it with Barb's big fan stencil and #12 perle cotton.



It includes an old linen napkin and a scrap of polka dots from a friend in New York.




A lovely floral dress,




An old skirt,




An apron from the 60's or 70's,




And two tablecloths from the same era. 




Both were round and had 4" white fringe.  
Remember those out on the patio table?  




This wonderful Jane Sassaman print was perfect for the back. 




I made a wide back to front binding, like the Gee's Bend gals do.
(If anyone wants a tutorial on this, let me know.)




And it's already been launched with the first picnic of summer!

Happy summer--or winter--to you!





35 comments:

Heidi said...

Wonderful quilt !
I love the different colours of the backing fabric in the binding.
And your bold color combination . Adorable !

Ailsa (Cape Pincushion) said...

Wow, it looks so stunning! Your quilting is so neat. What a delicious, summery quilt!

Quilteuse Forever said...

What a joyful quilt again LeeAnn!
From a rectangle center you succeed to make a square top, full of surprises and memories. All the colors shine in the Sun for a perfect picnic... and your dog agrees! The Baptist Fan quilting underlines the timeless desire to happy days.

Happy Summer!

Linda said...

Great quilt! I always love Grwen-inspired quilts and this is lovely. So bright and cheerful. Love the notes on the origins of all the different fabrics, the quilt is like Memory Box.

The Cozy Quilter said...

Wow! Great quilt! It captures the spirit of the Gee's Bend quilters and Gwen Marston. I love it!

the girlfriend gap said...

I just love this. Appreciate so much your creative inspirations. I need to throw caution to the wind : ) Thanks for sharing. Janita

Quiltdivajulie said...

Brilliant! And yes, I'd like to see a tutorial on the wide binding ala Gee's Bend (since I've never had the opportunity to meet with or take a class with the ladies).

Chris said...

Lovely quilt + yummy picnic + sweet doggie = happy day! Such a happy quilt, thanks for sharing!

patty a. said...

What a fun quilt! I love quilts that contain fabric that have memories!

smazoochie said...

What a joyful combination of colors & patterns! This is what quilting is about!

Annemieke said...

What a happy, fresh looking quilt! It looks like if the red strips are floating on the green/blue fabrics.
I like that you reused so many fabrics and we even had those table cloths with white fringe. They were quite sturdy I think?
I wish you many more happy picknicks, on this quilt with your cute dog.
Groetjes
Annemieke

Janie said...

I agree, that is one happy quilt, that's what a good quilt should look like. Beautiful hand quilting too.

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

A lovely quilt, and perfect for picnics! I love how you have built a quilt around all those bits & pieces, so creative, and so full of memories!

Rachaeldaisy said...

Wishing you many happy colourful picnics on your wonderful housetop quilt!!!

Judith said...

Love it, especially that it has been put to use already!

liz said...

<3

apiecefullife said...

My favourite kind of quilt!

Anonymous said...

i love this quilt, your choice of fabrics and the "history" of them... and your hand quilting augments it so wonderfully!

Julie Fukuda said...

So cheerful and perfect finish for summer.

P11otter said...

What a fun quilt! I like it very much!

dorothy said...


i like your nifty quilt style….fun, whimsy and color. i'm interested in your tutorial dorgoff@frontier.com

Marie said...

This one is a beauty! I've got plans to make a similar style using Kaffe prints and black and white polka dots but I just love what you've done - those fabrics couldn't be any more perfect. I'd be interested in the binding tutorial that you mentioned.

rondiquilts said...

I despise the word "envy", but I'm envious of your hand quilting, just beautiful. I love it.

Rondi

m. said...

Lovely! Everything a quilt should be. Free pieced, Happy, full of memories, and even hand quilted in big Baptist fans! Enjoy! And thanks for sharing with us!!

Quilter Kathy said...

Gorgeous! I think I need to get myself one of those stencils!

Marit said...

Such a happy and vibrant quilt! Just love the contrast of the big scale free form housetop design and the orderly hand-quilted baptist fans. As always, the use of bold colors makes your quilt shine. So fun to see the big scale prints come to live. Hope you will get to use it a lot, a very happy quilt for a picnic...

; )

Barb said...

super fun and happy quilt! Love the use of the vintage fabrics and apron - too fun
Your stitching looks great - so even! How do you avoid getting bearding with the pearl cotton?
What a sweet picnic buddy :) does he like humus? coco does

Ada Plouvier-Kopitopoulou said...

Lovely vintage fabrics. So colourful for a picnic! What a sweet doggy!

Kaja said...

Wonderful, bright, full of joy. I love your scrappy bits, and the backing and the back-to-front binding and the curves of the quilting against the lines of the piecing.

fiberchick said...

Your Housetop quilt is another triumph! Yes please to a tutorial:)

Sujata Shah said...

LeeAnn,
Beautiful finish! I love your stitches and the front binding. Great summer quilt. You are on a roll! xo

Diane said...

Such a fun and pretty quilt. I would love a tutorial on the binding. It's always interesting to see how others do something a little different.

Lynn Dykstra said...

I love it! The raw edge of the napkin is a nice touch. I hope you have many good picnics with it!

Nat Palaskas said...

Lovely picnic rug! What a great quilt. Love all the stitching! Hugs Nat

Hilacha (loose strand) said...

Thank you Lee Ann for such interesting post. The binding tutorial: useful, as it improves the way I used to finish quilts before I learnt the binding with a strip. Much better and more elaborate technique, and yielding better results. You see, although being far away, one can help the other, and make (quilting) life better.
And then, the quilting! Delicious little stitches that give a fantastic colour composition a grand finale!