New Vintage Blocks Project

And this one time, I went for a drive...

It seems like a lot of my quilt stories start with a road trip.  Well, this one is no different!

The 2018 Sauder Village Challenge has been announced. It's called Modern Vintage: "This year’s challenge focuses on the incorporation of unfinished vintage quilts or blocks into a Modern Quilt aesthetic.  Scraps of vintage blocks and top fragments are to be recycled to create a new and innovative quilt."

I knew about the theme back in June when I was in Shipshewana during their quilt show and found some cool vintage blocks to use for this challenge. The red & white star blocks are hand pieced.  The red work blocks are a little stiff and definitely in need of washing, as there is some unknown staining. The star blocks will also be hand washed & I'm expecting the red dye to release in the process.  It can't be helped, they need a washing.

Yep - red dye release during washing, just like I thought.

The embroidered blocks are cleaner but they are still stained.  I may be removing that part of the block with some creative design choices.

The second part of the challenge is to use at least three (3) American Made Brand solid cottons along with the vintage bits. And of course, you need to buy the solids out at Threads of Tradition - the quilt shop in Sauder Village. Located in Archbold, Ohio, the shop is about 250 miles from me. That makes it 500 miles round trip or all in a (long) day trip. At this point I was just winging it color scheme wise. There is no design plan yet, so I need to cover my bases without going overboard.

This is what I came up with, planning right there on the cutting table at the shop. Going to be interesting to see where this leads, though I have plenty of time. I like getting these fabrics as early as I can so they're ready for a winter project.