something old, something new

I just finished a multi-generational collaboration. My cousin Lynetta sent me these basket blocks that were hand-pieced by my Great Great Grandmother Harriet Woodcock Emiley. She died in 1925, so they must have been made before that. I wonder if these were leftovers from a larger quilt, or these were all the blocks she finished for this project.

I decided to put them together into a small display quilt--I know from an antiques point of view, I probably shouldn't have trimmed and sewn them, but hey, who enjoys them if they are sitting in a drawer somewhere, right? Now I am talking about my Great Great Grandma Harriet and showing off her work.

I sashed the top with Kona coffee and bound with some Kona red. (Still don't know which one, sorry.) I wasn't sure how to quilt it, and in the end I decided on diagonals along the edges of the triangles in the baskets. Those diagonals weren't exactly straight, but I decided to follow them anyway, resulting in a little bit of a wonky look.

Ten blocks seemed awkward until I decided to use one on the back. I was so happy when I found this backing fabric. It was pretty and old-fashioned looking, and perfectly matched the red and brown I had already picked out. I bordered this block in the red and brown, and added both my own label and this hand-written label that tells what I know about the blocks.

Thank you so much to Lynetta for sharing these beautiful blocks!