The Top Is Done

It took me 6 days but I finally completed the top of the McHenry Landmark Crazy Quilt:

 

 

The lace, trim, yo-yo flowers and buttons are all sewn on by hand.  The lace is vintage, given to me by my mother in law.  The buttons are vintage Mother Of Pearl.  Took me hours to go through my stash and find enough of them with the shank and the right size!  The leaves have vintage 2 hole MOP of buttons on them too but they have a green tint to them.  They kind of blend in which is what I wanted.  The only thing not vintage are the little vines.  That trim is in my stash and I thought it was perfect to go with the little blue flowers.

 

Here's a closeup of one of the corners:

 

So the next thing to do is go to Hobby Lobby and get the backing fabric and about 50 black buttons to sew on the back for the purpose of holding the layers together so it doesn't sag while hanging.  Despite no do-dads other than buttons, this quilt is quite heavy.  

 

It measures 65 inches wide X 55 inches high.

 

Be sure to click on the photos to see them up close.

 

I'm going to take a little break before finishing it up.  I had to do all the hand sewing while sitting on the floor.  My back needs the break! 

 

When it completed, it will hand in my hallway.  I'm planning on doing a presentation on it for the Historical Society at some point. 

McHenry Landmark Crazy Quilt

If you've been following my blog for awhile, you know that back in 2017, I started a traditional Victorian style crazy quilt with historic photos of some of the landmarks here in my McHenry Illinois where I live.

It's quite a challenge and periodically, I put it down for awhile just to take a break.

Well, I picked it up over the weekend and completed another block:

This is St. Patrick's Catholic Church.  It was organized in 1840.  The first church building (top photo) was erected in 1853.  An addition was added in 1872 and then another in 1883.

In 1922, the current church was built (bottom photo).  The first church was razed in 1946 so for a time, both buildings stood on the property.  The first church on the east and the 2nd on the west.

Here's the entire quilt so far:

Each block is 9 inches square.  They blocks are pieced by hand on a cotton foundation fabric.  All lace is either vintage or antique.  No glittery beads or sequins on this one.  Just a few vintage buttons.

We're fortunate here in McHenry to still have many of our historic homes and buildings.  I could keep going on this for a few more years but at some point I have to draw the line.  I will do 7 more blocks and then it's time for assembly.

Be sure to click on the photos to see a larger version.

Block #27 of the McHenry Landmark Crazy Quilt

Another block for the McHenry Landmark Quilt. This is the Colby-Petersen Farm which thanks to our McHenry Landmark Commission is now on the National Register Of Historic Places!!

This block also includes the "McHenry" info. It will be in the top left-hand corner of the quilt when I put it together.

 

 

 

I miscounted when I posted the last block. This quilt will have 35 blocks not 40. I have 8 more blocks to do.