tutty

Oh my I guess that took some time ! Quite beautiful !

beautress

PlainJane, I've been reading your thread for this past hour, and I especially enjoyed it, having done several postage stamp quilts myself. Mine are a little larger because I like the 1.25" finished size as it shows more of the large 30s repro (and some 30s) fabrics that I use. Unfortunately, I am working with about 1500 different fabrics and have designed on graph paper more than I can finish. Mine take about 6 to 8 months to complete (even with the larger size) due to having to sift through about 30 different "paint pot" storage containers. I went into this slowly with the idea my quilts would all be "charm" quilts (only one of each print) Unfortunately after I do about 800 squares, I don't have a single clue about which of the 1500 I have already used and have to review the squares like a book before cutting out the next 35 strips into squares.

I really love your method and the short time it took you to do a 60x70" 4200-square astonishing masterpiece with that contrasting border that makes your work such an exceptionally distinctive one.

Thanks so much for sharing your love of postage stamps. I hope the other people who post here will also share their work.

Here's the scrappy one I made 3 or 4 years ago for a friend's grandson who just had a baby brother who got a similar smaller one. It's called the "Big Brother" Quilt. It took 3 months due to my willy-nilly approach to a charm postage stamp work:

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...g?t=1293595949">

beautress

Excuse my erasure of the Big Brother Postage Stamp quilt. This is my first day posting here, and things work a little differently than other posting places I've visited. :oops:

plainjane

LOVE IT!

Nanamoms

Oh, goodness, I think I would lose my mind, trying to keep up with what went where!! Your quilt is beautiful though!

CarrieAnne

Really pretty@

beautress

Thanks, Nanamoms. The postage stamp format is supposed to be one-patch. I have a lovely example of such a quilt from an antique store where the lady sold it cheap because it was not perfect in its matches, plus it was tied with yellow string she didn't like. For a song, I got a masterwork in subtle colors blended by similar values. I'm not sure what the quilter was trying to accomplish, but I liked her use of 1.25" finished squares, so I cut all my strips 1.75" and did my darnedest to stick with precise scant quarter inch seam allowances.

The reason I liked the slightly larger size is because you "get it" about the fabric statement on a larger square. However, no other size trumps the 1" finished square like PlainJane's beautiful master work in her avatar and in this thread.

After doing several one-patch projects--a quilt long ago, a triple scrap Irish chain, etc., I learned it was easier to place fabrics using only 1 rule--alternate values as best you can and roll the dice on the complete color wheel. I'd work in 4 patch from twosie strips, which I reserved for future quilts back when I started this. Eventually, I'd go through the twosies strips and cut a dozen 1.75x3" pieces, putting one of each of the thousand pairs I'd sewn into 12 separate 2-gallon zip-locking bags you can get at most groceries and chain stores. Someday, I'll get back to those bags--I filled 3 sets in all--and make quilts more quickly.

Again, if you alter light and dark, they automatically "fit in" and it avoids the problem of areas that look like fadeout where the dice roll of placement placed a lot of lights all together. I learned never to sew another pair of light twosie strips together because they looked pleasant!

Oops! DH just brought home me a little dollar burger, and though not hungry, he needs a companion for supper, so I have to leave mid-thought.

Love to all. Let me quickly say that if you ever do a postage stamp quilt, you could get totally hooked on this time-eating joy of a thing to do.

jdavis

Wow!

Vickymomof6

I really really love your quilt. It is beautiful!

Vicky

smockingRN

Jane, That has got to be the prettiest thing I've ever seen! I so want to do a postage stamp quilt.
Did you have a pattern? Thanks for sharing this gorgeous thing!
Karen in La.