The 3 small quilts, made from Ruby McKim floral embroidery designs, were now layered with batting and backing, ready to be quilted. In my head, I knew how I wanted to quilt them, but I needed to know if that idea would really work.
Making the pillows from the three blocks that were too small to be included in the quilts would be the perfect place to try out the quilting idea. After they were squared up, the blocks were bordered in green fabric to the size that would fit a 12" pillow form. They, too, were layered with batting and backing.
I used three strands of ecru embroidery floss and a big stitch to quilt in the ditch around each floral block. How to quilt the border? I calculated the measurement of half the width of the border and drew a line all around the block at that measurement. Three strands of green floss were used to stitch on that line, again with a big stitch.
At this point in the pillow construction, Ruby met Aunt Grace. I decided, in keeping with the 1930s era of the blocks, that I would back the pillows with Aunt Grace reproduction fabrics from my stash. I was able to find prints that "matched" the flower on the pillow block.
Lapped backs were made for the pillows. Two pieces of fabric were cut for each back--they measured 2 inches longer than half of the pillow measurement (6" + 2"= 8" in this case) by the width of the raw pillow (12 1/2" in this case). One long edge of each back piece was stitched with a narrow hem--double 3/8". The two pieces were placed RST on the pillow front, top flap first, then bottom, making sure that the raw edges met all around the pillow. As the pieces were stitched together (with a 1/4" seam allowance), I made sure to reinforce where the pieces overlapped so that the stitching would hold when the pillow was inserted. I also zig-zagged the raw edges to finish them off.
I am happy with the way the quilting turned out. The big stitches, in colors that match the block and border, hold the piece together without detracting from the original beautifully embroidered blocks. Now that I know that my quilting idea works, it's on to quilting the 12-block quilts. I hope to have the entire project completed by summer.
