Great Grandma's quilt blocks

Last year, my great-grandma passed away, and since hardly anyone in the family sews, I inherited a big box full of random fabric.  I really don't know how long it's all been sitting in that box.  But, from the vintage look and feel of the fabrics, (not to mention the dust layers on the box) I think it's safe to say several decades.  Then, buried in the middle of her stash, jackpot!  I found all these old quilt blocks she had made and never put together into quilts.  Some of the bow-tie blocks are even hand-pieced.  I love thinking about my grandma sewing together these same fabrics and the story behind them--how old she was, what was happening in the world when she made them.  I love this generational connection that quilts can create.  I'll be working with these same blocks to finish her quilts years later.  And, I plan on making a baby quilt for my next little one, so this quilt will connect five generations in my family.

I haven't been doing any quilting or sewing recently, but I've been wanting to start a new project and these blocks might actually get me excited enough to start.  I want to make a lap quilt with these white-background blocks.  I love how vintage and antique quilts use fabrics and combinations that I would never choose today.   Look at the two below:  green triangles and red floral?  weird brown squares and pick floral??  It's hard to tell if Grandma had really different tastes than I do, or if she was just being thrifty and using up all the fabric she had on hand.  Either way, these blocks have a completely different look than I would ever create.

I don't know what to call these blocks.  Does anyone know the name of this pattern?? 

These are some of the squares I want to make into a baby blanket.  Again, very different fabric choices than I usually make, but that adds to the charm and beauty of using vintage blocks!

The slowest part of starting these projects has been planning the quilting.  I decided when I first saw the blocks that I want to learn to hand-quilt, to add to the vintage feel.  That has taken some time, and I really, really need to keep practicing so that my quilting will do justice to Grandma's quilts!
-Lily 


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