Grandma Town BOM #10 – Chicken and Egg

Posted in BOM, Finished Projects, Home Accessories, Patterns for Sale by lorimillerdesigns

Are you sewing along? Grandma Town Block of the Month continues with this cute little chicken and egg. On the farm, Grandma raised chickens for the eggs and for Sunday dinner. There was a large hen house behind the house. I never helped gather eggs, maybe grandma thought I would break them. We did get to throw the food scraps and potato peelings over the fence for them and sometimes some cracked corn. There were all kinds of chickens including little banny hens that ran around everywhere. The Chicken blocks finish at 8” x 7”. The Egg blocks finish at 3” x 7”. You will need 6 chicken block and 5 egg blocks for the row of the quilt.

Grandma’s favorite chicken was a big red hen she named Molly. Molly laid large colored eggs, they were sort of grayish green color. Grandma also made delicious fried chicken, but the best was a scalloped chicken that she made which was kind of like chicken and stuffing. It was crispy on the top and tasty all the way through.

I know my grandparents raised their own chickens, but luckily I did not ever have to experience how they got to the table. This chicken pattern reminds me of Molly and her jumbo eggs.

Are you sewing along? If you are, post it on Instagram and tag me @lorimillerdesigns and #GrandmaTownBOM so I can see what lovely things you are stitching up. A comprehensive pattern and directions for the Chicken and Egg block along with the whole BOM is currently in development.

Enjoy!

Grandma Town Block of the Month

If you are new to the Grandma Town BOM, this row by row quilt was a labor of love to celebrate my Iowa roots. I spent my childhood visiting my Grandparents on their farm just west of Des Moines in Earlham, Iowa. It is especially a tribute to my dear Grandma.

When my sisters, brother and I were little and my parents would drive us to my grandparents farm, my brother would yell, “We are going to Grandma Town!”. It was a loving tribute that stuck. This little quilt is full of those reminders of the farm and of Grandma, who loved to garden and loved to cook. Each block is a sweet memory of my youth growing up on that country farm.

I hope you will find some shared love for your family, a cherished farm or your own grandma in my quilt. You can make all of these sweet blocks or pick and choose the blocks you like the most to make something special for yourself or a dear loved one

Released Blocks – 2015

FEB Block 1 – Forget Me Not Flower

MAR Block 2 – Sewing Machine

APR Block 3 – Nine Patch and Color Block Rows

MAY Block 4 – Ear of Corn

JUN Block 5 – Sweet Hearts

JUL Block 6 – Canning Jar

AUG Block 7 – Barnyard Double Block

SEP Block 8 – Pie Quilt Block

OCT Block 9 – Home Sweet Home Double Block

3Sep2015

Grandma Town BOM #8 – Pie Quilt Block

Posted in BOM, Finished Projects, Home Accessories, Patterns for Sale by lorimillerdesigns

Pie is a glorious thing. I choose it over cake or even chocolate. My Grandma was a master pie maker and she taught me the secret art of a light and flaky crust. This month’s Grandma Town Block of the Month is a PIE, of course. My favorite pie is Gooseberry. It is the green, tart cousin of the red currant. It is simply heaven.
Grandma always made two pies at a time and I have the recipe memorized. She taught me how to spin that rolling pin on a giant wooden board that pulled out of an old spice cabinet hutch. Her pies were the highlight of any meal, made with real lard and served with vanilla ice cream. I think of her every time I pick gooseberries and make a tasty, sour lip smacking pie. You can make any kind of pie you like, I made blueberry and cherry. Are you sewing along? If you are, post it on Instagram and tag me @lorimillerdesigns and #GrandmaTownBOM so I can see what lovely things you are stitching up. A comprehensive pattern and directions for the Pie block along with the whole BOM is currently in development.

Enjoy!

Grandma Town Block of the Month

Released Blocks – 2015

FEB Block 1 – Forget Me Not Flower

MAR Block 2 – Sewing Machine

APR Block 3 – Nine Patch and Color Block Rows

MAY Block 4 – Ear of Corn

JUN Block 5 – Sweet Hearts

JUL Block 6 – Canning Jar

AUG Block 7 – Barnyard Double Block

1Aug2015

Grandma Town BOM #7 – Barnyard double block

Posted in BOM, Patterns for Sale by lorimillerdesigns

The Summer is flying by and it is time for another Grandma Town Block of the Month. This month is a bonus double block called barnyard featuring a barn and grain silo. Even though this quilt is called Grandma Town, I would be remiss if I did not include some memories of my Grandpa. He was a short, tough guy who wore OshKosh Overalls and used a red bandanna as a hankerchief. I would get to help with the chores and followed Grandpa around as we fed the animals and took care of the farm.

We would get ground corn from the grainery and Grandpa would hand me a galvanized bucket to scoop out the feed and take it to the cows and pigs.

My brother and sisters and I often played in the barn. I would also help Grandpa milk the cows on a little wooden 3 legged stool. We even threw the hay bales down from the loft down to the wagon.

Both of these blocks combine to make a jumbo double block for the center of the quilt. You will only need one of these jumbo blocks.

Are you sewing along? If you are, post it on Instagram and tag me @lorimillerdesigns and #GrandmaTownBOM so I can see what lovely things you are stitching up. A comprehensive pattern and directions for the Barnyard block along with the whole BOM is currently in development.

Enjoy!

Grandma Town Block of the Month

Released Blocks – 2015

FEB Block 1 – Forget Me Not Flower

MAR Block 2 – Sewing Machine

APR Block 3 – Nine Patch and Color Block Rows

MAY Block 4 – Ear of Corn

JUN Block 5 – Sweet Hearts

JUL Block 6 – Canning Jar

30Mar2015

Grandma Town BOM #3 – Nine Patch and Color Row

Posted in BOM, Home Accessories, Patterns for Sale by lorimillerdesigns

Is it Spring yet?? I laugh because it is snowing right outside my window right now. Lets think happy thoughts like more quilting. It is time for the next block of the month (BOM) for my Grandma Town Series. This month is a couple of quick blocks, a Nine Patch and two Color Block rows. Both of these are simple and will give you time to catch up with the two blocks already released. I hope you are sewing your Grandma Town memories along with me row by row.

My Grandma made very utilitarian quilts and the Nine Patch quilt square was simple to cut and stitch by hand. I have found some churn dash squares that Grandma made on a quilt top I found in her attic, but most of her quilt tops certainly were made from a lot of Nine patches in very interesting color combinations. They were made from scraps after all, and nothing went to waste.

Since Grandma lived through the great depression and because I had been saving vintage and reproduction 30’s fabrics, I am pulling them out to make a 30’s version of this quilt too. You may see some of these muted, tiny prints in my upcoming blog posts. It will be an interesting look compared to my bright and bold colored Grandma Town Quilt.

You will need to make one row of eight, nine-patch blocks.

You will also need to make two rows of color blocks. This is just a group of 4 inch finished blocks.

They highlight the center farm blocks and are arranged above and below to frame them. You will need 16 blocks for each row. A comprehensive pattern and directions for the Nine Patch block and color row blocks along with the whole BOM is currently in development.

Enjoy!

Grandma Town Block of the Month

Released Blocks – 2015

FEB Block 1 – Forget Me Not Flower

MAR Block 2 – Sewing Machine

1Mar2015

Grandma Town BOM #2 – Sewing Machine

Posted in BOM, Home Accessories, Patterns for Sale by lorimillerdesigns

It is a new month and time for the next block in my block of the month (BOM) series for 2015, Grandma Town. It is a sewing machine! Grandma loved to sew by hand or on her trusty green sewing machine. She made her own clothes or mended Grandpa’s overalls or was happily hand stitching quilt squares while watching TV.

This quilt block honors her memory with a row of 6 blocks of sewing machines.

A comprehensive pattern and directions for the Sewing Machine block along with the whole BOM is currently in development.

Enjoy!

Grandma Town Block of the Month

Released Blocks – 2015

FEB Block 1 – Forget Me Not Flower

28Jan2015

New Block of the Month 2015 – Grandma Town

Posted in BOM, Home Accessories, Patterns for Sale by lorimillerdesigns

I am so excited to introduce my new block of the month (BOM) series for 2015, Grandma Town. This row by row quilt is a labor of love that I have dreamed of and worked on for over a year. It is a celebration of my Iowa roots, and growing up visiting my Grandparents on their farm just west of Des Moines in Earlham, Iowa. It is especially a tribute to my dear Grandma.

When my sisters, brother and I were little and my parents would drive us to my grandparents farm, my brother would yell, “We are going to Grandma Town!”. It was a loving tribute that stuck. This little quilt is full of those reminders of the farm and of Grandma, who loved to garden and loved to cook. She made the best pies around and my favorite was the tart and tangy wild Gooseberry. Each block is a sweet memory of my youth growing up on that country farm.

Grandma Town BOM #1 – Forget Me Not

In your “Garden of memory”, please give me one little spot;

To cultivate the flower, they call “Forget – Me – Not”.

Here is my first block in the Grandma Town BOM series. It is a dainty Forget Me Not flower and it is the first and last row of blocks in this memory filled quilt. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of my Grandma and this little block is a lovely reminder of this. It is a 5″ finished block and you will need to make 20 blocks. Use all one color, or mix and match for a nice scrappy look.