Martha Washington's Flower Garden

This is the quilt I got from my grandmother who passed away 20 years ago.  You can find more about that information here.   It has taken me about a month to find the name of the pattern.  I knew it was diamond set hexies, but did not know the name of the pattern.  I asked on the Mad For Treadles Facebook page.  They suggested tumbling blocks, diamond set hexies, Grandmother's Flower Garden etc.    I knew it was not Grandmother's Flower Garden.  I used all these key words and Googled it until I found the pattern name.   I found this old one from the 1800's, it is called Martha Washington's Flower Garden.  Here is a full view of my quilt.  This pattern is going to be my next hand stitched project, I may even try the English paper piecing!

From looking closely, I think Nanny did English paper piecing.  I had never seen her use this method, but the only quilts I remember were the ones from her quilting bees that were tied.  Little kids don't pay a lot of attention to those things.
In person, I can only see the cube design through the camera lens or in the mirror.  I think it is because of my glasses, I can't see this pattern.

The star is the other pattern in the quilt.  My favorite thing is to look at all of the different materials she used.  I wonder how many of mine and my sister's old dresses ended up in these quilts?  I love the yellow.

She used a lot of plaids, which I think looks really neat.  I would have never thought of doing that.  Do you see the green gingham?  I love the quilting.  She did not stitch in the ditch, but echoed along one side of the hexagons instead of both sides.  I don't think I'm making sense, so look closely at the picture.

That pink is so vintage.  There is no rhyme or reason to the colors.  Some of the diamonds are all prints and some are mixed with prints and solids.

I love the bright reds thrown into the quilt.  I love the pink ballerina material.  I loved anything ballerina when I was little.  Do you see how she finished this quilt?  She made half diamonds on the sides and some of the ends of the diamonds are white.  It looks like she just sewed a small white border and a white binding on the quilt.

For right now it is on my quilt rack.  I'll be giving my sister her quilt, the Grandmother's Flower Garden next week, and then I'll move it back to it's spot here behind my treadle.

I think this quilt proves that most of today's patterns and techniques stem from the older patterns. We have tumbling blocks, stars, diamond set hexies, and English paper piecing.    If you want to see more hexie quilts, visit my pinterest board.  I have a lot of hexie quilts on there.  I'm a little obsessed!
If you have a hexie quilt you would like to share, please leave a link in my comments!  I would love to see it!
Don't forget to enter my giveaway, it ends on Monday!
I washed it today, thinking it had been washed lots of times because it was so soft.....but the bright red that I love?  It faded onto the white.  I line dried it, is it possible to fix it?
Happy Quilting!
Missy