Longsmith Cottage
handcrafted quilts and quilting services
Category: Quilts
The Cottage Journal 10.26.2020
I’m busy these days, incorporating machine embroidery into my quilts. I’ve found quite a few lovely designs in Redwork, and each one inspires yet another creation! Here’s my latest. I’m calling it Acorn Squash, for the dark greens and oranges in the quilt. And for my mom.
While grocery shopping last weekend, I spied a bin of acorn squash in the produce department, and found myself mesmerized by the luscious rich dark greens with tinges of orange.
The Cottage Journal 09.24.2020
This summer, I invested in a used (but new-to-me) embroidery sewing machine. I’ve been staring at it for a couple of months now – totally intimidated to the point of paralysis. It is a bit humbling to be a beginner at something again, after gaining so much confidence over the years in quilting.… Read more
The Cottage Journal 09.14.2020
Several months back, I was chatting with a quilting customer who told me about a miniature cedar “hope” chest she had received upon her high school graduation (I’m guessing in the 1970’s or 80’s). Next thing you know, she had gifted me with one that she had come across in a garage or estate sale!… Read more
The Cottage Journal 06.15.2020
I had the high honor to quilt a Red Work quilt top, embroidered in 1892! The quilt top is also a friendship (or signature) quilt, with each block “signed” by the family member or friend who embroidered it. Since the date, January 19, 1892, is embroidered in the central block as well as some of the smaller surrounding ones, I feel certain that this quilt top celebrates an event, most likely a wedding.… Read more
The Cottage Journal 05.20.2020
It’s a wrap! I finished the barn quilt, and Mark helped me mount it to the studio porch. Looks like a nice spot to sit and sew – or at least have a cup of coffee…
The Cottage Journal 05.13.2020
Still making face masks, and planning a “tent sale” at the end of our driveway, to make them available to my neighbors. But – I’ve also begun another project – and it has meant that I’ve commandeered a large portion of my husband’s work shop space. Kind of a manifest destiny thing…
I’m making a barn quilt to hang outside, next to my studio’s french doors.… Read more
The Cottage Journal 04.20.2020
A few weeks ago, I ran across a vintage quilt pattern that took my fancy. It reminds me of the tiny verbena that I planted in a dish garden just outside of the front door. The quilt block is a flower that measures 4 1/2″ square, which means that the pieces that make up the block are even smaller – 3/4″ squares for the flower centers!… Read more
The Cottage Journal 04.13.2020
Yesterday was Easter. Covid-19 had us attending a “virtual” Easter Mass in the morning, and provided us with tons of leftovers from our traditional ham and sweet potatoes family dinner in the afternoon, since no other family were gathered around our table. The Easter bunny (aka our lovely neighbors Kaylee and Chad) DID leave some chocolate eggs for us – outside our front door on the porch.… Read more
The Cottage Journal 04.07.2020
I’ve finished the second quilt in my Easter series! (Click here to see the first one.) This second one, called Resurrection, uses the Hovering Hawks quilt block – which dates back to the Civil War era. Its strong diagonal lines reminds me of birds in flight, soaring to the heavens. Made from fabric scraps leftover from other quilts, my modern version depicts Christ’s resurrection – from the darkness to the light – on the third day, He rose again.… Read more
The Cottage Journal 04.02.2020
I haven’t done a great deal of sewing lately – the cottage gardens have demanded my attention and so I’ve been weeding and mulching and moving my muscles in ways that they had forgotten about over the winter – oh, my aching back…and knees…and everything else! Needless to say (but I’m saying it), all I’ve been good for by the end of each day is to sprawl out on the couch and watch TV.… Read more
