Vintage CQ....Border Block by Block

I sure have been flying around lately! 4 trips in the last 6 weeks...so it's been good to have portable stitching for all those airplane rides.
The Vintage CQ border blocks have fit the bill quite well.

I've put in enough work on the individual blocks that it was a surprise when I got them all up there on the design wall to see just how this project is starting to jell.

I thought I'd give a block by block tour here, starting from the upper left corner and going clockwise around the quilt...


Block 1. I added that wide red vintage ribbon in the upper part of the block, and the purple oya trim along the bottom. That's a very strange seam treatment on the middle right...sometimes I just let my imagination wander and come up with something weird. Whenever I look at it I will remember being in a cramped middle seat on a cross country flight....It looks cramped, doesn't it?


Block 2 has that big chunk of a truly vintage crazy quilt pieced into it. I added the floral trim and some big lazy daisy stitches...these are actually showing up all over on this quilt.


Some ombre ribbon, embroidered rickrack, a lace motif, and more lazy daisies were added to Block 3....That "AA" vintage tape was a very nice gift from Freda B awhile ago. I love sneaking it into all my quilts.

Block 4 has another one of the lace motifs that I scattered around the border. It's cut from some old lace that Cathy K sent to me last year. I love having reminders of my friends in my quilts! More of those variegated lazy daisies are here, too. Nice big fat stitches.


Block 5 has even bigger detached chain stitches, done in variegated blue knitting ribbon.


My friend Bev wrote to me that she thought the yellow triangular patch on the bottom left of Block 6 here stuck out too much, when viewed in the context of the overall quilt. She might be right, and I might lop off a little of it. Meanwhile, more lazy daisies...these white ones were worked in Aurofil #12 cotton thread which I LOVE.


Block 7 again has a big chunk of that old crazy quilt pieced into it. I think I will be leaving it alone and not adding to it in any way. But next to it some very large ombre ribbon detached chain stitches and the purple oya hopefully integrate the block a little. Another lace motif will tie it into the other border blocks as well.


Block 8 has my embroidered lucky clover that Conni J sent to me. AI LUVZ IT. (Conni and I are good LOLCat buddies, and we only talk in LOLspeak to each other.) This block is so busy that I am a little stymied as to how to "shape it" with the embellishments so I am letting it speak to me further before I add more.


Block 9 has that big piece of handwoven silk/wool that I bought in Varanasi, India 9 years ago. I so love that fabric.
Yet another lace motifs was added as well as another of those strange seam treatments which fortunately blends in with the orange patch it is on. I'm not snipping it off, though!


Block 10 received some more oya trim, embroidered rickrack, and giant lazy daisy stitches. The jacquard ribbon in the center of the block was from Betty P. I love having her here!
That embroidered white fabric was brought back from the Philippines by my grandparents over 60 years ago...


God Bless America! That's what Block 11 is about, and all the additions are to develop that little theme. Do note the cherries in the fabric next to George Washington! I added the star trim somewhere over Iowa....


Block 12 received two lace motifs and some timid little white stitching on the right. I need to punch this block up a bit.


Block 13 is one of my favorites. It has the Egyptian fabric my peripatetic grandparents brought home from Cairo a long, long time ago. That giant lazy daisy fan is new and I want to make a bunch more of them. The fifth and final of Cathy's lace motifs is here.


Block 14 has the blue plaid Millenium ribbon that Kathy S sent to me especially for this quilt. There are more big stitches added on the seams and a twisty ribbon as well.

All of the blocks are assuming their own personalities to me as I spend more time with them as individuals.
.....Yes, crazy quilting is a world unto itself, isn't it? Anthropomorphizing blocks, are we?