Saturday, March 27, 2010

CLAMSHELLS

I have been cutting out these little Clamshell pieces like crazy. I determined to try and use only my older vintage fabrics I have had stashed here and there. I also decided to make my pieces larger than the pattern......WOW WEE.....I would have had to cut out a bazillion cazillion of these suckers by 'their' instructions!!


I have been wanting to make this quilt for a l-o-n-g...l-o-n-g time. This photo is from a book of mine called America's Heritage Quilts by Better Homes and Gardens...copyright shows 1991. This particular quilt shown is dated back to 1936. Clamshell quilts were said to become popular in the East but then became a favorite through out the rest of the country.
Here is one of my favorite vintage pieces....see, it's waffle fabric. The blue flowers are j-u-s-t right!!

Now.....all I have to do is finish cutting out the vintage pieces and then get on to cutting out the muslin/neutral pieces to fill in between the rows........AND THEN.....get to hand sewing all of these together............sigh...........I know this will be a long term project....it will be worth it though................won't it???

41 comments:

  1. Belinda, you find the best patterns. I haven't seen this one and love it. I'm all into scrappy and a challenge.

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  2. Well Miz Belinda. What can I say. You've taken my breath away again. This quilt is going to be so gorgeous. It looks vintage already.

    Tell me, is there a set template, or did you make it yourself?

    Hugs
    xxx

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  3. When I saw the first picture, I thought "what in the world are those things?" :) The finished quilt will be beautiful. I love the piece that you say is your favorite.

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  4. PS: I love looking a "older" stashes to see if Grandma, Mom or I had anything made out of any of the same fabric. Not here. sigh. Am I the only weird one that does that?

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  5. I have always admired this quilt but it does look complicated. I know you can do it though and it will be spectacular.

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  6. You are going to hand sew these all together? That is ambitious! Love the vintage fabrics. It's going to be a stunner!

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  7. It really is gorgeous! I agree with Nedra that it's going to be a stunner.

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  8. Oh yes, Belinda it will be worth it...that's a beautiful finished quilt, and I'm sure your will be beautiful too..
    Now this is one quilt I have not done, perhaps one day!

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  9. Ohhh it will be so worth it - I love that pattern. Now don't be tempting me.

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  10. Of course it will be worth it!....I have always wanted to make a clamshell quilt...so I'm really going to enjoy seeing yours come together:)

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  11. Belinda...could you please STOP this? You have gotten me into enough trouble with the liberated stuff, I will NOT be sucked into the hand sewing stuff!!!! That is some serious cuteness going on there, it will definitely be worth it!!!

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  12. Oh that is going to be gorgeous! You are way braver than me to do one of those!

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  13. I love the quilt a lot, I had a friend whio made one by the machine and it put me off watching her. I even saw papers to english paper piece them yesterday. I think hand piecing is the way and I can't wait to see progress.

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  14. Thank you for the birthday wishes.

    Wowo what a pattern you have chosen. It's going to look fabulous. I don't envy you all the hand sewing though.

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  15. This pattern is very fascinating to me. I would love for you to show us how you sew the rows to each other. I am trying to figure it out in my head but I don't think it is quite right.
    Some really cool fabrics.

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  16. I've always admired that quilt. Yours will be fantastic!!! I'm loving the fun vintagy fabric you are using.

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  17. I have a paper template for this quilt, but am having lots of difficulty finding instructions. Can you please share the process with us? Yours is gorgeous already!

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  18. Wow, this is interesting and very new to me! Looks like you'll be very busy for a while, can't wait to see photos of this wip. I've never seen this pattern before! Fun fabrics!

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  19. Love these clamshells...can't wait to see your finished quilt...it will be amazing!

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  20. Oh my gosh, Belinda, you won't believe this, but I've been making this very quilt for years!! I own that book and fell in love with that picture. It looks like a quilt my grandma would have made...if she did, I don't know.

    Actually, I'll be sewing mine by machine to practice my invisible machine applique. I have all the pieces ready to go, but I'm not quite sure where it is since I moved. However, mine will be doll quilt size.

    By the way, I have an abundance of 50's and 60's scraps. Are you interested in some of that vintage? I'd be willing to share some with you.

    Oh, and tell PackRat that I do that too. I actually found a picture of a quilt that had a piece of fabric that I had a piece of....and it was a book about quilts from the 1920's!

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  21. A lady at my Guild did one of these Clam shell quilts. I always wanted to try one.
    Yours is starting to look great!
    Can't wait to see it finished.

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  22. Worth every second. It's going to be an amazing quilt.

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  23. What a beauty! Those long term projects become our BEST friends!

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  24. hooray for you - making this lovely vintage quilt - looking forward to the progress!

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  25. This will ensure a long life because it will take ages to finish! Happy Clamshells to You will be your new birthday song :)

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  26. Ok, so I want to see how you do this. I have an idea using clam shells but have no idea how to assemble such a quilt. Hmmm...maybe a tutorial??

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  27. oh my. you have me convinced I need to do one of these at some point. But I'm gonna have to figure out how to do it by machine or it'll never happen. hand sewing just isn't my friend!

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  28. I love the pattern and the choice of your fabric!
    Micki

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  29. Ohhh this one is going to be a beauty! It will definately be work the wait and hard work! I see quite a few vintage pieces that I like.

    BTW-Goober can help you arrange the pieces :0)

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  30. Your work is most beautiful my dear. Thank you for sharing. Happy Quilting.

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  31. That quilt is absolutely adorable. Can't wait to see it finished!

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  32. What a great pattern for showcasing those vintage fabrics! It's going to be beautiful.

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  33. Oh Belinda it is going to be wonderful. I love the fabrics. The one in the book is beautiful, inspiring. I wait to see how it comes together.

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  34. Looks like an awesome project, would love to see how you sew them together. Love your bright blocks in the previous post.

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  35. I think you will just love this quilt when you get stitching on it...it will be beautiful!

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  36. Belinda,
    I keep telling myself it will be worth it...I was not smart like you and I used the smaller clam shells...My sister chose my least favorite color to work with and I have cut wool felt in the shape of the clam shells and am using it as the paper in the English paper piecing method of quilting. I have
    155 pieces joined and 250 pieces made up...I may be doing this a long while! CQMadhatter

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  37. Helloooooo? o-o-o-o-o.

    Oh my. There's an echo in here again! Shoot.

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  38. My word you do have your work cut out for you, this is looking lovely.I am paper piecing a quilt that is not a five minute job, so keep going!

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  39. BELINDA! This is so delightful. I absolutely love it and I have to say, I don't think I've EVER seen anything like this before. At least not that I can recall. I'm swooning.

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  40. The clamshells will make a gorgeous quilt...it will be so worth your time!

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