Do you know that you can make a quilt with two pins and a needle?
A lot has changed for quilting since I first learned how in the 1960s, but the basics are the same.
All of the specialty items found in quilt stores, vendor booths and online are not necessary to make a quilt. Quilting has become expensive if one thinks that they need all the new items on the quilting market. New tools are fun to use, and easier, and sometimes more accurate that the old way of making a quilt. However, you can make this maple leaf block without fancy tools, like I did in the ’60s.
The quilting industry has exploded since the 1960s. Back then, it was hard to find many magazines that were just for quilting. There were some patterns in newspapers and magazines, but unless you wanted to make a quilt, they went unnoticed. Books on how to quilt were just coming on the scene. Now, there are many books, magazines and internet tutorials.
Calicos were on the store shelves with only a few other fabrics that did not have some polyester in them, back then. Completely cotton fabric was hard to find. Quilts were made with double knit polyester, cotton/poly fabric or dressmaker fabric from the scrap basket. The amount of fabric that is available today is overwhelming. Fabric comes in every tint and tone of the rainbow and every pattern imaginable.
In 1960, pieces were cut out using cardboard templates. The size of the template was different if the block was hand pieced or machine pieced. An old cereal box was just fine for this. The template was placed on the back side of the fabric and drawn around with a sharp pencil. Several templates had to be made as the template grew smaller with each pencil stroke and could not be used for very many pieces. When a copy machine was available, a template pattern was copied from a magazine or book and then glued to sandpaper.
When the rotary cutter and rulers came on the scene, quilters were excited to be able to do template free quilting. The first acrylic rulers did not have markings and were made in different widths. They were not accurate. Soon, the rulers had measurement marks and accuracy improved. Quilters could now cut many pieces at a time.
In the ’60s, there were many discussions on whether a “real” quilt was hand-pieced or machine-pieced. Some quilters always hand-pieced their quilts, where others used the sewing machine. In hand piecing, very few supplies were needed. Supplies could be kept in a small basket to be brought out when working on a quilt. If a sewing machine was used, it was probably already in place to make garments for the family or home decor.
In machine piecing, the seam is sewn from edge to edge, including the seam allowance. In hand piecing, the seam is sewn from finished edge to finished edge, not including the seam allowance.
In the ‘60s, county extensions provided ladies with lessons on homemaking and crafts, one of which was quilting. Quilt guilds were formed. The guilds provided education, fellowship and community service. Concord did not have a guild until 1995 when the Capital Quilters Guild was formed. The Capital Quilters Guild meets at Havenwood at 33 Christian Ave. in Concord on the second Friday of each month. There is a social hour at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting starts at 7 p.m.
In the ’60s, the “quilt police” said that a machine-quilted blanket was not a real quilt. There was a battle on the difference. Minds were changed when women such as Harriet Hargraves began to write books and teach machine quilting. Several others followed and machine quilting is now considered normal. Three types of machines can be used to machine quilt – a long arm, a mid arm, and the domestic machine. All are accepted at quilt shows.
Some things in quilting never change. Quilts were made and still are made for expressions of celebration, love, friendship, means for companionship, outlets for grief, thoughts of the quilter, political messages, and just to have a warm covering for the bed.
The same quilt block patterns are used today as they were back in the ’60s and earlier.
There are as many leaf block patterns as there are different trees and plants. The oak leaf, grape leaf and the maple leaf are the leaf blocks most commonly seen in quilts. There are many versions of each pattern. Usually, the oak leaf and grape leaf are appliqued and the maple leaf is pieced.
This maple leaf pattern is a nine patch. A nine patch block has nine squares which make a larger block. The nine patch lends itself easily to endless variety because each of the nine squares may be made of several small pieces.
When I started quilting in the early ’60s, I used articles from a magazine to design the blocks. There was just enough information to know that there was a ¼-inch seam and how to make templates. Because I was self-taught in the beginning, I sewed the block pieces together using 2 pins and a needle. The pins were at the beginning and the end of the seams. They held the pieces together and gave me the starting and stopping points. My first five quilts were made this way.
Since then, I have had many classes, learned to use lots of tools and gadgets and have gathered a large stash of fabric. On occasion, I go back to the relaxing method of making a quilt with two pins and a needle.
Supplies: 2 pins, 1 needle, thread, fabric scraps in two colors (background and leaf), cardboard, sharp pencil, ruler, fabric scissors, paper scissors.
Make a template for each different shaped piece. You will need a 3-inch square and a 3-inch piece cut on the diagonal.
On the back of the background fabric, mark two 3-inch squares and four triangles.
On leaf fabric, mark three 3-inch squares and four triangles.
Cut ¼-inch away from drawn line as seam allowance. Cut a bias piece, on the diagonal of the fabric, 1-inch by five-inches.
Place one background triangle and one leaf triangle right sides together. Place pins in beginning and end of the drawn seam. Knot the thread.
Place needle exactly at the beginning pin. Back stitch twice and sew on the line with a small running stitch, leaving seam allowance free. Repeat four times with the other pieces.
Finger press. Fold bias strip in thirds and applique diagonally on 3-inch background square.
Lay out pieces as in the diagram. Sew together from pin to pin, leaving seams free.
Press.
Supplies: Fabric scraps in two colors (background and leaf), thread, sewing machine, rotary cutter, cutting mat, straight ruler, square up ruler.
From the background fabric, cut one 3½-inch square, two 3-inch squares, and two 4-inch squares. From the leaf fabric, cut four 3½-inch squares and two 4-inch squares. Draw a diagonal line on back of the two 4-inch background squares. Put 4-inch square background and 4-inch square leaf fabric right sides together and sew ¼-inch on each side of line. Cut apart on drawn line. Repeat twice with other pieces. Press to leaf side. Trim to a 3½-inch square.
Draw a diagonal line on both 3-inch background squares. Place on upper right corner of 3½-inch leaf fabric square. Sew on line. Cut ¼-inch away from sewn line. Press to side. Place second 3-inch square on left bottom of 3½-inch leaf fabric square. Sew on line. Cut ¼-inch away from sewn line.
Line up squares as in diagram and sew. Press seam on top and bottom row to outside. Press middle row seams to inside.
Sew the three rows together, press.
(Beverly MacGown is a member of the Capital Quilters Guild. The guild’s next meeting will be Oct. 14 at 6:30 p.m. at Havenwood, 33 Christian Ave., Concord.)