Sunday, November 13, 2022

Smoothing Iron or Minnie's Stars or Road to Florida -- It's a Finish!

It's a finish!
83 x 90




 This quilt was inspired by a vintage quilt made by Minnie Lee Deakins and is a Quiltfolk pattern called Minnie's Stars.  (At one point Quiltfolk had a monthly pattern subscription for a surprise vintage pattern but that only lasted a few months. I think they now sell the patterns online?)

 Anonymous previously left me a blog comment that mentioned the block is known as Road to Florida and also lately named Smoothing Iron.  I can see how it could be called Smoothing Iron, a name I really like, but not sure about the road to Florida as a block name. There seems to be a lot of vintage blocks that start with "road to..."  


I started the quilt because I had quite a few small chunks of blue TOTs (tone on tone fabrics) I wanted to  use up. I decided on blues for the triangles and warm colors for the triangle centers. I was going to just make the quilt in reds, blues and yellows but soon found I had to add some oranges and pinks for the center triangles.  I didn't have enough of my blue chunks to finish the blocks either and soon after I blogged that I would need to purchase fabric to continue a quilty friend sent me a surprise package of blue TOTs.  That had me calling the quilt "Out of the Blue". 

I quilted it on my DSM (Brother PQ1500SL) with blue thread. 


I used a few different blue TOTs for the binding. 



The back.


 

16 comments:

Julie in GA said...

This is beautiful! I love all of the wonderful warm colors against the deep blues.

Linda said...

This is an unusual design but looks very complicated. Definitely above my ability range! Great colours. Your quilt really makes a statement.

Sylvia@Treadlestitches said...

Wow! What a beautiful quilt! I've always loved that pattern but never had the guts to try it. It's a perfect use for those tone on tone blues.

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

That's really beautiful, Cathy! It took me awhile to figure out how the blocks are made. They make a neat design - love those stars where the blocks come together. Congratulations on your finish!

Kathleen said...

this is just FABULOUS !!!

Vicki in MN said...

That's a pretty one for sure, lots of brightness to it. Wonderful that your friend surprised you with TOTs.

gayle said...

It's gorgeous! (Though all that point-matching must have been crazy-making...)

swooze said...

Wow! Amazing as always. Another winner!

Quilting Babcia said...

This is so bold and graphic, I love it!

Quiltdivajulie said...

Simply stunning! Those Quiltfolk patterns were something, weren’t they?!

Ada Plouvier-Kopitopoulou said...

The quilt turned out beautiful with the colors you choose!

Anonymous said...

I love this pattern. I first saw it in a photo of an antique quilt made of shirtings. I made one using flannels and plaid shirts, and it is one of my favorites. Your quilt is wonderful!

Mystic Quilter said...

A stunner!! Love your colours Cathy.

Nann said...

A rather challenging block! It looks great. You know that all you have to do is say, "I need some...." and one of us will happily ship you an entire box.

mangozz said...

What a gorgeous quilt! I have a pattern for this design called Hopscotch by Thimbleblossoms. I have been wanting to make this but couldn't decide on a color combo. I think I will try something bold and colorful like you did.

Rose Marie said...

So colourful! Gorgeous!