The McHenry Landmark Crazy Quilt Final Block

 The final block of the McHenry Landmark Crazy Quilt! I just finished this yesterday.

Started in 2017, this is a traditional Victorian style Crazy Quilt pieced and embroidered entirely by hand on a cotton foundation fabric.

 

Each of the 30 blocks featuring a McHenry Landmark is 9 inches square. All lace is either vintage or antique. I used vintage Mother Of Pearl buttons to make the little spiders. The Victorians loved spiders, so each block has a spider and spiderweb.

 

The next step of the process is to assemble it. I will do this on my sewing machine! It will have a 3 inch border around the outside and a sleeve on the back for hanging.

 

When it's entirely complete, I will be doing a presentation on this project for the McHenry Landmark Commission and The McHenry Area Historical Society. I expect this will event will be in the Fall of this year.

 

I'll post photos of the assembly process when I get to that. I need to do some calculating and pick up the supplies for finishing it.

 

Here are all 30 blocks "Photoshopped" together:

 

If you click on the photo, you can enlarge it to see it better.

 

I'll be rearranging the blocks for visual balance.

 

McHenry Illinois Landmark Crazy Quilt

 I completed another block for the McHenry Landmark Crazy Quilt:

This is the Nicholas Bohr Stone House built in 1911.  It's located on Broad Street here in McHenry, Illinois where I live.  

This is the 2nd house that Nick Bohr built for his family.  He was a stone mason and plastered a lot of the of the historic homes and building in the early 1900's.

This is a traditional Victorian style crazy quilt that I started back in 2017.  Each block is 9 inches square and pieced by hand on a cotton foundation.  

Here is a photo of all the blocks so far:

If you click on the photo, you can see a larger version.

All stitching is done by hand.  The lace is either vintage or antique and the only embellisments are a few vintage buttons.

I have 6 more blocks to do and then I can start to assemble it which I will do on the sewing machine!

Some of the buildings on this quilt are no longer standing.  Many of them are.  I will put together a book with photos of the individual blocks and a brief description of each landmark.  That book will benefit The McHenry Area Historical Society.  I'm on the board and I'm also on the McHenry Landmark Commission.

Anyway, first I have to complete it.  I'm thinking it will be 7 blocks across and 5 down.  Since it will be displayed somewhere in town (I have a place in mind), I think that arrangement of the blocks will be more visually appealing than to assemble it lengthwise. 

McHenry Landmark Crazy Quilt Block 31

Progress continues on my McHenry Illinois Landmark Crazy Quilt.  I've completed Block #31.  This building was originally known as the Fox Pavilion.  A dance hall built in 1931 to replace the original dance hall which burned down in shortly before this one was built:

This building eventually became McHenry's Roller Skating Rink.  Sadly, it burned down in May of 2021.

I have 9 more blocks to do for this quilt.  It's been a huge project, trying to preserve the memories of our landmarks here in McHenry, Illinois where I live.

Here is the entire quilt so far:

I've been working on this since December 2017.  The blocks are 9 inches and I'm working it in a traditional Victorian style using muted fabric colors.  All lace that I use are either vintage or antique.  The only embellishments are a few Mother Of Pearl buttons to create the spider that appears on each block.

I chart the lettering out in my cross stitch pattern software and stitch it on the block using waste canvas.

McHenry Landmark Crazy Quilt Block 30

I just finished up another block for the McHenry Landmark Crazy Quilt.  This is the McHenry Brewery built in 1868 by George Gribbler:

Here's an older photo of it:

Much of the original building has been replaced but it's still in operation!

Here's the entire quilt so far:

There will be 10 more blocks so I still have a little way to go!

The McHenry Crazy Quilt Block 29

I pulled out the crazy quilt that I've been working on for a few years featuring the landmarks of McHenry Illinois where I live.  I still have a few blocks to go but this is the old Iron Bridge over the Fox River.  It was built in 1881 and replaced with concrete bridge in 1976:

The colors are brighter than they look here.  I need to get a new digital camera so for now, I'm just using the camera on my cellphone.

Here's the entire quilt so far:

Click on the photos to enlarge the images.

This quilt is pieced entirely by hand on a cotton foundation.  A lace is either vintage or antique.  Each block has a spider and spider web on it.  The spiders are made from vintage Mother Of Pearl buttons.

The next block is our Brewery.  I'll post a photo when it's complete.

McHenry Crazy Quilt Update

 Block 23 of my McHenry Crazy Quilt:

This is our first High School built in 1924 on the east side of town.  In the late 1960's, a 2nd High School was built on the west side.

Each block is 9 inches square.  The vintage photos are printed on fabric sheets that run through my printer.

The blocks are pieced entirely by hand on a cotton foundation fabric.

There will be 40 blocks all together.

Most of these buildings are still here although a few have burned down (a long match in my opinion).

I have to get some more photos printed up.  17 blocks to go!!!

The McHenry Quilt = An Update

I was finally able to get back to a little crazy quilting!  If you remember, I started a traditional Victorian Crazy Quilt a few years ago.  The purpose is to document the historical landmarks of McHenry Illinois where I live.

I plan to hang it in my home and use it to promote The McHenry Area Historical Society.  I'm  a board member and the editor of the Facebook page.

So I just finished block #19:

This is the very first Mill in McHenry owned by The Owen Brothers.  It sat on Green St.  Of course it's not there anymore but at least there are a few photos of it floating around.

And here is the whole quilt so far, photoshopped together:

This is a traditional Victorian Crazy Quilt.  Piece by hand on a cotton foundation.  Each block is 9 inches square.  I'm using new fabrics but in colors and type that would be traditional to the Victorian Era.  I'm only use vintage and antique lace.  The only embellishments are the spider on each block made with vintage Mother Of Pearl buttons.

If you click on the photo, you can see a larger version of it.

Reruns

First, thank you to everyone for your kind messages.  I will survive.  I always do!  Things will definitely get better once I can buy a house and have some space and access to my things.

So, until then, I'll post photos of my stitching and things I made prior to all the chaos.  I'll call them "reruns"!

I know you've seen some of the blocks for my McHenry quilt.  I started this a few years ago when my former husband was going through cancer treatment as a way to keep my mind busy.

The photos on the blocks are some of the historic buildings here in McHenry, Illinois where I live.  I did work on this since I've been here at mom's but finally got fed up trying to stitch in such a small  space so I put it away for the time being.

Anyway, the photos are printed on Inkjet Fabric Sheets which I run through my printer.  Once they're heat set with an iron, the images are permanent.  Not that this will ever need to be washed!

Each block is 9 inches square and worked in the traditional Victorian style.  It's pieced by hand on a cotton foundation.  All lace is either vintage or antique.  A nice lady here in McHenry gave me a box of velvet fabrics along with some old lace.  I can't access my antique lace at the moment.  And I can't access most of my fancy crazy quilt fabrics so there's a lot of velvets on here but that's okay.  Like I said, I'll get back to it.

There are no sequins on this quilt and no embellishments.  (Hard to believe for me huh?  Me who loves glittery things?  LOL!!)  The only buttons are tiny vintage mother-of-pearl buttons used to make a spider on each block.  I did make some fabric yo-yo's to use as flowers.  Everything else is hand embroidered.

I've included the names of the buildings along with the dates that they were built.  I do my own research as I'm a McHenry historian.  I'm also on the board of the McHenry Area Historical Society which is just such an honor for me!!

For the names and dates, I chart them out in my cross stitch pattern software and then I use waste canvas to stitch them onto the blocks.  Once the stitching is complete, I just pull the waste canvas threads out from underneath the stitches.  One by one but it goes pretty fast and it's a great way to do cross stitch on crazy quilting!

Anyway, when I can get back to this, I still have a lot of buildings to document so it'll  be quite large. Most of the buildings that I'm documenting are still standing.  A few have burned down or were taken down due to deterioration but most are still here.

 Once it's complete I plan to use it for promotional purposes for the historical society.

McHenry Historical Crazy Quilt Block #20

Another block for the Mchenry Historical Crazy Quilt - this is the Samantha Button house built in 1854 and located on Waukegan St. Again I couldn't find a historical photo so I grabbed a screenshot from Google earth and oldened it in Photoshop.

Samantha Button was the daughter of William McCollom one of the very earliest settlers to McHenry Illinois. She was born in 1830 and came to Mchenry with her family in 1834. The only building in town was a log cabin located on the present site of The Riverside Hotel.

Her family continued west and made their home on the west bank of the lake named for them, McCullom Lake.

Samantha died in 1934 at 103 years old. Until her death, she was the oldest living mother of a civil war soldier. Her son died of typhoid during the war and is buried in Woodlawn cemetary here in McHenry.

This quilt will be a record of the historical buildings in McHenry. I'm still in Gagetown (the Main Street area) so theres a ways to go yet!

This quilt is pieced and embroidered entirely by hand. All lace is vintage or antique. The only embellishments are some vintage Mother Of Pearl buttons used to make the spider bodies. Spiders and spiderwebs are a traditional motif on antique crazy quilts. The Victorians believed that spiders were good luck so there is a spider on every block of my quilt.

I will be using this quilt to benefit the McHenry Area Historical Society. Preserving Mchenry's history is very important to me.

Next block - I'll be taking a little buggy ride (LOL) over to Centerville (Green St.) and doing the Owen Bros. Mill. Built in 1840. And I do have a real photo of it!!

Here's a photo of all the blocks together so far:

There's at least another 20 blocks to go so this quilt will be quite large!!
 

The McHenry Historical Crazy Quilt Block 19

This not a great photo but I've complete block #19 of my McHenry Historical Crazy Quilt:

I finished it yesterday and it was rather cloudy and dreary so the colors are a bit off.

This is the Methodist church on Main and Center St. in McHenry, Illinois.  The original Methodist church was on Elm St. This is the 2nd church. It was built in 1859.

I couldn't locate a vintage photo of it so I grabbed a screenshot from Google Earth and "oldened" it in Photoshop.  It took me awhile to age the photo.  There are electric lines running through the photo so I took all those out.  Then I added a sepia filter to it and then faded it out a bit and then made it look slightly water-stained.  I think the results are pretty good!

The photos are printed on fabric sheets that I run through my inkjet printer.

This is a traditional Victorian style Crazy Quilt pieced and stitched entirely by hand. The purpose is to document the early history of McHenry Illinois.

When I assemble it, I will be doing it on the sewing machine.

I'm using traditional Victorian era style fabrics and colors. All lace is antique or vintage.

 

I've decided, now that I'm on the board of the McHenry Area Historical Society, to use this quilt for events to help the society.

Next block - The Samantha Buttons House.

Block 16 of the McHenry Historical Crazy Quilt

I completed another block for my McHenry Historical Crazy Quilt:

Block 16 of my McHenry Historical Crazy Quilt. This is the Gage House, a hotel built by the Hon. George Gage in 1858. Later it became known as The Parker House but sadly burned down in 1890. It was replaced by the current Simon Stoffel building.

This quilt is a work in progress recording the early history of McHenry's historic buildings. It's worked in the traditional Victorian style, pieced by hand on a cotton foundation using traditional fabrics and colors. All embroidery is worked by hand as well. All lace is vintage or antique.

Next block: The Methodist church.

McHenry Crazy Quilt Update

I've been working on blocks for the McHenry Historical Crazy Quilt.  I started this project a few years ago:

I have 15 blocks completed with at least another 25 to go.  Click on the image to see it close up.

The blocks are 9 inch squares.  The photos are (mostly) antique pictures of old buildings in the City Of McHenry where I live.  In a few cases, old photos just don't exist so I grab screenshots from Google Earth and then "olden" them myself in photoshop.

The blocks are pieced entirely by hand on a cotton foundation.  The only embellishments used are threads, vintage or antique lace and tiny vintage mother - of - pearl buttons.  Each block has a spider and web on it so I'm using the buttons to create the spider.

This quilt is intended to look like a traditional Victorian Crazy Quilt so no beads, no sequins, no glittery do-dads.

My most recent completed block is the old Blacksmith and Wagon shop:

Built in the 1870's, this is what the building looks like today:

Hard to believe it's the same building but it is!

Here's an ad from our local newspaper for the business:

I just started on Block #16.  Another old hotel!

McHenry Historical Crazy Quilt Blocks 9, 10 and 11

I've been doing a little stitching on my McHenry Historical Crazy Quilt.  You may remember, I started this project a few years back and work on it little by little as I have time.

I've completed 3 more blocks which are worked in the traditional Victorian style.  They're pieced entirely by hand on a cotton foundation.  All lace is either very vintage or antique.  Other than a little lace, the embellishments are limited to hand embroidery and each block has a tiny spider made from little vintage mother of pearl buttons.  I'm trying to use traditional Victorian colors on these blocks.  And no beads or sequins (I do miss stitching with my glitter!)

Block 9:

I'm using old photos of historic McHenry, Illinois buildings.  This is the Empire Theater built in 1919.  It burned down in the 1950's.  A new theater was built on the same spot 18 months later and then completely restored last year.

This is before the remodel:

 And this is what it looks like today:

Block 10:

This is the public school built in 1894.  It's still used as a grade school and it's called Landmark.  The land was donated by an early McHenry family, The Owens.  They also donated the school bell which still hangs in the tower.

Here's what it looks like today:

 Block 11:

This one is my favorite!  This is referred to as The Counts House!

This beautiful Greek Revival style home has a facade on both Waukegan St and another on Main St. The 1 acre property was purchased in 1859 from George Gage by a prominant physician, Dr. William P. Melendy and his wife Mary.

The house was built in 1860. The Melendys, who eventually moved to California sold the house to Oliver Owen in 1873. Oliver Owen (the Owen family donated the land for the school above)  sold the house to Frederick Schnoor only a few months later.. Eventually, in 1912, Fred deeded the house to his son for $1.00. Yes, you read that right!

In 1920, the house was sold to an Austrian dignitary who immigrated to Chicago. Count Oskar Bopp Von Oberstadt. He sold the house in 1927 when he moved back to Europe.

It was Count Oskar who gifted the church bell to St. Patrick's Catholic church here in McHenry!

The house sits on the highest ground in McHenry and was loaded with fruit trees when the Count sold it.

So that's how this gorgeous home came to be known as The Counts House.

It is listed now on the National Register of Historic places.

This is the house today:

So do I know my McHenry, Illinois history or what?  LOL!!  I love it!!!

I still have a lot of history to document so it'll be awhile yet before this quilt is complete.  When I do finish it, I will be gifting it to the City Of McHenry.  I'd love to see it hang in City Hall!

Back To The McHenry Quilt

A few years back, I started working on a Crazy Quilt using old photos of my little town of McHenry.  Well, it isn't so little anymore but I still love it here!  McHenry was est. in 1836.

I've done a lot of cross stitch projects lately and thought it would be nice to do some crazy quilting but due to current circumstances, I can't get to my sewing machine much less use it.

The McHenry quilt is worked the old fashioned way.  The foundation piecing is done by hand!

I'm trying to do this quilt in the traditional Victorian crazy quilt style so no beads or sequins on this one!  All the lace is very vintage or antique and the fabrics are dark jewel tones...velvets, brocades, satins.

The only other embellishment is a few antique mother of pearl buttons used to create a tiny spider on each block.

Well, I just finished Block #8 last night.  This is our old grist Mill (left) and Creamery (right):

The Mill was built in 1872 and the Creamery in 1881.

Here is the photo:

Both buildings still stand today.  The Mill has several additions on it and the Creamery is now a house. 

Here's a screenshot from Google Earth so you can see how it looks today:

I think it's so cool to see the old photos and then take a look at how things look now!

For the next block, I'll be doing our old movie theater. 

McHenry Historical Crazy Quilt Block 6 - Hanley's Woods

I've been stitching on my McHenry Historical Crazy Quilt and finished up Block #6.  This Hanley's Woods:

If you don't live in McHenry, this probably won't mean anything to you but Hanley's Woods was owned by Alexander Hamilton Hanley and is located over by where my parents live.  Today it's known as the Whispering Oaks subdivision and Water's Edge.

The man on the left hand side of the photo is most likely one of Alexander's sons.  Probably George Hanley.

As I've mentioned before, Alexander Hanley is my old McHenry settler of choice!  LOL!!!  Honestly, I don't know why but if you're interested, here's a picture of him:

Special thanks goes out to Patrick Wirtz, our McHenry Historian for sharing the photo of the woods with me.  I had never seen that photo before.

Here are a few close up photos of the stitching:

I always embellish my lace.  Since this quilt is traditional in style, I've overstitched all the lace pieces instead of using beads and sequins like I usually do.

 These are just little satin stitched flowers, just scattered here and there.  Like they would be in the woods!

The little heart is filled in entirely with French knots.  I love doing French knots.  My grandmother taught me how to do them and every time I do, I think of her.

A simple little cross stitch pine tree, like one would find in the woods!

McHenry Historical Crazy Quilt - Block #5 Complete

I was wide awake at 1:30 this morning so I just got up, made coffee and stitched.  I finished up on Block #5 of my McHenry Historical Crazy Quilt:

As a reminder, this building is called the North Western Hotel.  It was built in 1901 and sits on our Main St. next to the Train Station.

Here are a couple of closeups:

I haven't decided yet what photo I'll working on next.  Maybe by the end of the day....

McHenry Illinois Historical Crazy Quilt Block #5

I'm moving right along on my McHenry Illinois Crazy Quilt.  If you're new to my blog, I started this project to take my mind off of worrying about my husband who's being treated for cancer.  And for worrying about how I'm going to pay all the bills on my income.

This is block #5:

The building is the North Western Hotel.  It was built in 1901 and sits right next to the Train Depot. 

Here's a screenshot of it now.  I grabbed this off of Google Earth.  In was in the process of being repainted:

It's called, "Apartments" now but it's really public housing.  At least it's well kept and maintained in it's original era style.

I don't know about anyone else, but sometimes I wish I could go back in time for just a day and walk around my little town and see what it was like back then.   Thankfully we have old photos!

Here's a couple of close up photos of the stitching:

I have some more stitching to do on this and then I'll post another photo.

McHenry Crazy Quilt Block 4 Complete

I finished up Block #4 of my McHenry Illinois Crazy Quilt the other day:

Since I couldn't find the exact year that this house was built, I simply embroidered "1860's" on the block.

The "AH" stands for Alexander Hamilton and then his last name is at the bottom of the block.

There will be several more blocks devoted to this early McHenry settler.   But for now, I've moved on to Block #5.