Home with lots of loot!

   The only good thing about that time change was the extra daylight for the long drive home........and it is always good to return home to your own bed :)
We got the van unloaded this morning and the mountain of laundry done.  In between loads, I sorted through the fabric.
   What's on the table is from one very large shopping bag......fat quarters, pieces, and yardage, a few books and magazines.   Two more smaller bags remain to be sorted.  There are lots of wild and uglies in there.....as my daughter says it is her mission now to get all the "ugly fabrics" she  can find during her estate sale excursions.  Turn around is fair play.....wait till she sees what I put on the back of her next quilt :)

Actually, there were some nice fabrics in the bunch, and even a couple of older floral fabrics that will be perfect to share for the upcoming workshop.  And a few prints that I will turn into circles.....the cutest owl print for one.   I would estimate this tonnage at about 30 yards!  I have a lot of work to do, don't I.



  The Singer 99 K came home with me!!!  We found this at an estate sale last fall, and it has just been sitting.  As I have more room ---and stitching  projects----we loaded it into the van.  So one day soon, I intend to devote to cleaning and getting this one ready to sew.  Bet it will be perfect for sewing circles for appliqueing.













   Then I got a really beautiful present.....hand made by my daughter who has developed into a very fine metal smith.  A corded necklace with a button pendant and toggle closure.  The pendent and closure are made of silver.  Using an old button, she did a cast and mold to create the design, which I love.

    See those paisley swirls.....yep, exactly what I love.  She hammers in the texture, and solders it together....somehow.    I can't explain the details, but take my word for it, it is lovely.  All of her pieces are so very unique.  sorry.....just being a proud mama.


 The "daddy-do" project list went well, and Sir Old Man was kept busy with a new one.  Of course, it involved a trip to the big-box store for all the required pieces.  A pipe bench with wood seat for the front porch has been on her bucket list for a while.
    I sat and watched the two of them twist pipe and  figure out the instructions/pictures.  Then there was a lesson on how to use the chop saw......power miter saw, and some nail gun usage with the small compressor.  So as my daughter covered in man glitter/saw dust is doing the happy dance for "I can use power tools",  and her Dad is beaming,  I had an epiphany.....a very clear vision of how important that time was.   It was a completed bucket list day and they did not even know it.
   When she was born, Sir Old Man is known to have remarked to the nurse...."A girl?  What am I suppose to do with a girl?"   I know the answer......teach her to use power tools!  

   Tomorrow for sure, I am making circles, and triangles, and squares.
Happy stitching.  

Vintage Friday

   Not mine, but DD's find!  She has been searching for an older machine that has a good straight stitch and that would sew through multiple layers of heavier fabrics like denim.  She was over the top when she ran across this machine.....an older New Home---with the running greyhound logo---in almost like new condition.  It also does a zig-zag stitch, and we think it is from the early 1950's.  I believe it is a 3/4 size machine.  Hopefully, she will get a chance to stitch on it and give me a full report.
   I went to lunch yesterday with a friend, who is jumping back into quilting and having a lot of fun discovering our wonderful world.  Jennifer brought along a couple of vintage quilts to show me.  These belong to a friend who asked her to attach hanging sleeves to them.

  A wonderful/ delightful/greatly loved feedsack quilt is such a joy to see.   A quick photo of some of the fabrics.....dots, stripes, prints, flowers, birds....just the whole array of those wonderful vintage prints.
   Now look at the pattern the maker used.....just a larger square surrounded by a single row of logs.  Simple, yet so effective to use every bit and piece of fabric.  Looking closer I see the effect created by using high contrast in some blocks, and low contrast fabrics in others.  It gives the quilt movement, and lets the eye  dance around the quilt to find a resting spot.
 

   Number 2 vintage quilt......wow!  This is just one of those rare beauties.  Hand-quilted with the tiniest of stitches, and beautiful applique now faded to that delicious tomato soup color, finished off with the triangle border that has a scalloped edge.  I was in awe.  
   Both quilts have been greatly used, laundered, and loved.  The batting is almost non existent, the binding are frayed.  Some people might say "that old thing", yet as a quilt maker I see the lavish of time and love that went into both of these.  I appreciate the history they represent.....covering a bed on a cold winter night,  wrapping a sick child, used as a table cloth for a family picnic, or draped over chairs and becoming a boy's fort.    Used and loved.....that is why I quilt.

Back to the present and what I quilt.  This is the last Faux Braid done in batiks.   I am quilting a stylized vine of leaves through the diagonal areas along with some feathers in part of the border area.  I should be able to finish this up over the weekend.

Happy stitching.    

Trip and inspirations

Batteries re-charged....at least on the camera.  It may take another day or two for me!
I was fascinated by the barns along the interstate as we drove through Ohio, especially.  I loved the weathered appearance, and the shapes.  Such interesting angles and roof lines.  I spotted a couple with quilt blocks on them even, but zipping along at 70 mph made photo taking a little bit difficult.

  We made a detour stop in Bluffton at a quilt shop---Forever in Stitches.  This mural was painted on the side of the outside of the shop building.  A very cute town and great quilt shop.

  I rarely buy patterns....but  I did pick this one up along with the ruler, and a few fat quarters.  The spools quilt uses rectangles instead of squares ----a neat variation---and should be great done as a scrap quilt.  Of course, I found some floral fabrics to add to the stash.

   One of the places I asked to see in Detroit was the Fisher building.  It's a National Historic Landmark, built in the Art Deco style.  Originally it was to be 2  towers, but only one was completed due to the Depression of the 1920's.  Today it has offices, shops, and the Fisher Theater.

   The main entry is eye-popping design.  Quilt patterns everywhere I looked!
 Hexagons here too!






 







   There were mosaic tile designs on the walls and ceilings.  Carved limestone details on columns and cornice work.  Brass and copper designs in the elevators and door handles.  An absolute treasure trove of inspiration.  I am so in awe of the craftsmen that  put their talents into this masterpiece.



   After lunch it was a visit to a couple of antique shops and a quilt shop.   Yep, more floral fabrics!  I always have my eye out for good light value florals, and I did find one, but the others were just crying to come home with me.  I think it will be time to put away the scraps and cut into some flowers this summer!








Oh...yes....the yard sale find of a fabulous hexagon quilt top.  The full story is I almost passed it by.  I don't do hexies, and I am not into depression era quilts.  Then my daughter said, "You could finish it for me for the guest room.  It would fit in perfectly."  What's a Mom to do?
    She and Trey have a darling
1926 Bungalow style home now....with tin ceilings, knotty pine storage, and arts and crafts style details through out. .   And I could not bear to have this quilt top waste away.  So for $12,  it came home with us.........but how will I finish it off?

   I zipped a photo or two to Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville, the hexie guru.   Bonnie replied that the fabrics were from the 30's and 40's and encouraged me to complete it ---even with machine quilting.  Binding?  Look to the flower centers or setting, she said.  
   And that is when the light bulb went off in my head and I knew how to finish it off and save the scalloped sides.   You can see that the top and bottom edge of the quilt top is a straight row, but the sides have that lovely scalloped effect with the piecing.  If  I was to straighten the sides, so much of it would be lost.  I have to get some things rolling and I will share my plans later.
 Thank you , Bonnie, for some insight and encouragement.
 

Insight:   Inspiration is there....just look for it!

Happy stitching. 

Yard sale find

Quick stop on the way to the Farmer's Market yielded this find.  Deana claimed it    

Added info....this is a top only, so it must be finished.  All hand pieced beautifully done.  Colors look like 30s to 40s to me......with feed sack prints.  Cost:  $12.  Is that a find?  :)