Feedsack quilts for Glenna

34 comments
Glenna is calling for feedsack quilts to be posted to help her out with a trunk show for a retreat.
I've been buying feedsacks and patterns from Glenna for years. I love Glenna's real feedsack charm squares and I have a small collection.

I've shown this quilt before on my blog but its really one of my favorites because of the lovely feedsack variety and the red squares framing each block. They are only snowball blocks but the red really sets off the jumble of colors and patterns and give the eye something to rest on. The machine quilting is amazing. My friend Wren quilted it and most all the blocks have different designs quilted into them. A good manyof these these feedsack squares came either from Glenna and Darlene Zimmerman and some other pieces I picked up along the way. Eileen and I did a personal vintage fabric swap a while back and she gave me some absolutely wonderful pieces. Sarah has been showing some lovely feedsacks on her blog, too.

The border fabric is vintage as well. The yellow and red are my favorite color combinations. But don't you love the turquoise in there too? It's got a bit of Monica in there.

This is the first feedsack quilt I made. I wanted to use the bubble gum pink from the 40's to border it. But as you can see I learned a lot from this quilt. I learned the value of contrast of light and dark. This quilt is probably 6-7 years old or more from when I pieced it. My daughter Shelbie hand quilted it for me.

For some of the blocks I used Glenna's flower block (see the cover of her new book), which was in the first pattern I ordered from Glenna way back when. Glenna how old is that pattern?

I learned that hand applique and feedsacks do not really go together. Feedsacks are too loosely woven, of course. And I learned to use white and more subtle neutrals - a valuable lesson for any quilter. Of course I knew this principal but I guess I needed to relearn it. I showed a close up of some of these blocks for Darlene. If she can figure out that in that maze of print some of them are teapots and teacups! I look at this quilt now and I can see so many ways I could have improved.

I really tried to do too much in one project. However, to me it is still very sweet because of lovely feedsacks but mostly because Shelbie quilted it for me. It took her a long time. Like I said, I used Glenna's flower for some of the blocks but I sketched the teapots, cups and hearts. It was the first quilt on my road to drawing up my own patterns. So it is an important quilt in my journey.

Even with the blurr of colors, I think it still has a lot of charm. Every quilt tells a story.
-nanette
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34 comments

Purple and Paisley said...

your quilts are so gorgeous...i love the feed sacks...the colors, the "feel"...=)...serious eye candy

Unknown said...

Nanette, I absolutely love your quilts. I agree with you yellow and red are a favorite combo. Thanks for the show and tell.

quilterpolly said...

I love the yellow and red quilt:) I love the pink bubble gum border also...you are great with colors:)

Browndirtcottage said...

well nanette....i love this quilt.....lessons learned and all it's suppose-ed warts....these are the best kind.....a sense of happy home-e-ness immediatly comes over me..........and way to go shelbie!!

Abby and Stephanie said...

How wonderful to have a quilt hand quilted by your daughter! Oh I do love the snowball quilt with the red squares. Very striking. I don't know about anyone else but I certainly noticed the teapot and teacup!!!

Thimbleanna said...

Very pretty Nanette. I especially like the red and turquoise quilt but the other one has such special memories for you!

Nan said...

You are so right that every quilt tells a story and thank you for sharing part of the story behind this one with us. I also feel every quilt is a learning experience whether you already "know" that lesson or not, it's still nice to have a refresher course!

jen duncan said...

Lovin' that snowball quilt Nanette! Good lessons learned on the second quilt, which still is quite charming!

Amanda Jean said...

your quilts are fabulous! I love the snowball one with the pops of red. I just love red and yellow together.
I was just re-folding the quilts in my quilt cupboard this morning and looking at one I made a mere 2 years ago and I was amazed at how much I've learned since then. (you and I seem to be on the same wavelength these days!)

Elizabeth said...

I love any vintage quilts and vintage fabric. I love that your daughter quilted it by hand for you!

LuAnn said...

Your quilts are gorgeous. Thanks for the cottage tutorial. I just found it linked from another blog. They are so cute. I will only make one....just one.

Happy Zombie said...

Madly in love with your feedsack quilt, Nanette! And I love how you thought of me!

If you ever find this quilt missing... just look for the trail of threads that lead to the Oregon coast.

Eileen said...

Thank you for the great story about your quilts.. especially the one that your daughter quilted. I still have not goten brave enough to cut up my feedsacks to make a quilt.. I guess I'm saving them for when I am r-e-a-l-l-y ready to do it!
Love all the tea cups and pots. You can see them.

Sherri said...

I love your feedsack quilts, especially the one set off in red. This was a very informative post as well! Thank you!

Anonymous said...

I am in love with the snowball feedsack quilt. It is gorgeous. And I really like your 'learning' quilt as well. It has a sweet story behind it and makes me smile to look at it.

Jill said...

I love the snowball quilt with the yellow border. Red and yellow look so nice together.
Thank you for posting the photo of my quilt top on Friday. It's quite an honor to be part of your blog!
Jill

Fran said...

Sometimes you can have 10 perfect quilts but the one with the few 'imperfections' make it feel warmer and joyful and carefree, thus it becomes our favorite just because it's not perfect.
They say that we are our own worst critics and I guess 'they' are right. We are all guilty of picking our work apart. But as I think it's beautiful and charming and I love it.

~~Fran...:c)

Jennifer Paganelli said...

Nannette so pretty who would know???? The red and turquise is a big hit with me too!!

Cathi said...

Gorgeous quilts. I really love the snowball one. One could spend hours looking at all the different fabrics in there!

Carrie P. said...

You do such beautiful work!!

Jane's Fabrics and Quilts said...

Oh my goodness,they are just amazing! I love the fabric, the pattern, the colors, the quilting, all of it. Well, I have 4 cottages done, but I think I am going to re-do them, There is my 1/4 seam and the real one, I want them to be perfect for you, what I might do, is make the bottom bricks into one piece, the less seams for me the the less chance of messing up. there are so many cute ones, I am going to post a picture of what I have done so far tomorrow. Once again thank you and Terri, it is so much fun picking out what fabrics to use! have a nice night, hugs, Jane

Red Geranium Cottage said...

WOW you've got some great quilts there. Thanks for sharing.

Mimi Sue said...

Such beautiful quilts! I'm starting my class in 13 days. Can't wait. Of course I'll have a lot of practicing to do to catch up with you...Mimi

Karen said...

Love all of the feed sack prints. Having a blast doing the cottage blocks. I'm leaving for Minn. on Thurs so might not get pics up until the weekend;)

CJ said...

I really like that snowball with the turquoise and red! WOW!

Barefoot Quilter said...

Your quilts are great! I love the feedsack material too!

Patty said...

I love your snowball quilt; the red and yellow stand out so well.

Glenna @ Hollyhock Quilts said...

Nanette--

These are FABULOUS!!! Thanks so much for showing them. You are SO talented.

em's scrapbag said...

You do fabulous work. I also love the red and yellow in your quilt.

Cheryl said...

One word.....AMAZING :)!!!

Cheryl said...

One word.....AMAZING :)!!!

Anonymous said...

Your quilts make me want to learn to do it (like I need another project)! I love how those tiny red blocks set off the feedsacks.

sewtakeahike said...

Your feedsack quilts are just amazing Nanette! I love the color combo of the first one too, aqua, red, yellow.... I had no idea what a color junkie I am until just recently!!

Nan said...

I am in love with all the quilts you show, but especially the snowball quilt. The red between the snowballs just makes the quilt! Beautiful!! Thank you for sharing them with us.