Genevieve's pieced block finished

Here once again is the old pieced piece,
which Genevieve's great grandmother may have sewn
along with scraps from her stash,
before I finished the block, below.

Here is the finished block after I added the green print
in the bottom left corner, the salt and pepper print,
the black musician and dancer print (top),
and blue & white gingham (upper left),
all from Genevieve's Great Grandma Helen's stash.
I also added hot pink paisley
from my own fabric stash to the upper right side.
How great is it to see improv quilting from the '40s or '50s?

Then I added white and black floral fabric from a thrift store skirt,
and a lime green border. For the purpose of the photo,
I laid it on a lively Michael Miller print named "Courtney,"
which I will be incorporating into the back of the quilt,
along with this pieced block.

Here is the front again (with the spinning wheel cutting off the lower left corner.)
I don't know what the spot of light in the lime green is, just in the photo,
as it's not in the fabric. I'm guessing it's a reflection from the mirror behind it.

Genevieve's "mischievous squares" quilt top

Genevieve's nursery is purple and lime green,
so I designed what I call "mischievous squares"
with lime green, purple and neutral grays.
A little mischief is good, right?

Genevieve was born August 15, latest great grandchild of my parents in-law (granddaughter of my husband's sister). I suppose I should have started a quilt long before she was born, but that didn't happen. :) I'm pretty sure Genevieve's mom and grandmom don't follow Birds of the Air Quilts, so I'm not ruining the surprise.

Now I am rallying all my design acumen (ha) for the back. Genevieve's other great grandma, now deceased, had a fabric stash that Genevieve's mommy inherited and loaned to my daughter Lesley to make her a bag from whatever she liked. Well, years after Lesley made the bag, she still had the stash, so I called upon her to find it in a box (they moved this summer) so I could incorporate some of it into the quilt back. There is this wonderful hand-pieced piece in the pile of fabrics. I can't be sure Genevieve's great grandma pieced it, but let's say she did.

Pieced piece by Genevieve's great grandma (?);
I've pinned three pieces to the pieced piece:
the black on the left, the salt & pepper, and the green and brown squares,
all from the stash, already cut. Talk about improv piecing!
I'm guessing this would have been sewn in the 1940s or 50s.
Click to see the fabrics better.

My plan is to sew additional fabric from the stash around the edges to form a rectangle, then piece it into a simple quilt back with large blocks of fabrics that coordinate with the front. I see the pieced piece as a precious "bloom" similar to the floral fabric on the quilt front. So I'll frame it similarly, but not necessarily create a set of mischievous squares. Still thinking!