New Pieces from the Past

The other day I was driving home
and saw a sign on a corner
advertising an Estate Sale.

I had some spare time and thought
I'd check it out.

The sale hadn't started yet and
shoppers were eagerly waiting on the sidewalk, but
with each passing minute, the line was growing restless
and was slowly
edging its way closer and closer to the door.

When the estate seller finally opened the door....

all sanity left.
I just had to stare at the madness
that was happening in front of me.
I didn't pause long
or I might have been trampled.

I spent a few minutes going from room to room
looking at the huge amount of stuff that was in this house.
I could tell this owner had been a collector, a traveler,
a shopper, and had eclectic taste.

I poked and looked
as other shopper literally ran from
room to room, grabbing, posting sold signs on everything
and making piles.
I headed to the basement and was
amazed to see even more stuff.

But look what I found
hanging on a hanger in a corner that
no one had apparently noticed yet.
I had found my treasure.

The price was perfect and
 it's made with all those wonderful

indigos, cadet blues, turkey reds,
shirtings, and double pinks fabrics.
My favorites.

The blocks are all hand pieced and 

there's only one fabric that is starting to shred just a bit.

I did some  investigating trying to find the pattern name.

It looks so familiar.
But I couldn't find it exactly.

Anyone want to venture a guess?

I love the fact that the alternating squares

are white with tiny black dots.

So current, in terms of trends.

Someone had gotten this as a quilt top and 

decided to have it machine quilted with an

overall design.

I generally don't like to see vintage tops

quilted this way, but

maybe there are situations where it might actually

have saved the top.

The quilt's been washed and it's

soft and clean.

Now it has a new home
where it will be cared for and appreciated.

As I watched this person's belonging
being packed up and scattered to the winds,
I was reminded
how fleeting our collections can be.
Hopefully, many of her
treasures found new homes
and can hang out in new collections,
at least for awhile.

Until Next Time-

Treasure Hunting

There are just certain activities

that spell the beginning of summer.

One of them for me is heading 

off to the Old Glory Antique Fair in Denver.

There are always so many

wonderful vendors with booths

filled to overflowing with vintage treasures,

 that are eager to go to new homes.

Running Man and Oliver

browsed for awhile, but

 the warm sun just makes you

too tired to keep looking.

I always find some fun things.

Although, I was gently reminded

 that we had just recently moved and 

were suppose to be lightening our treasure troves.

But here's what came home with me.

I'm always on the lookout for these

vintage picnic baskets.

They're a fun storage solution and
are generally, inexpensive.

Projects, fabrics, kits, they all fit inside.

I'd recommend them to everyone.

Then, of course, these antique fairs are 

a good source for vintage quilts.

I found this one in a small booth

where the owner was lightening her load 

of quilt treasures.

This red and white log cabin quilt called my name.

No, more like shouted my name!

The only inforation she had was that

it had been collected in Illinios.

I love the turkey red and the small shirting print.

It was pieced on a muslin foundation.

Some of the blocks were stitched by hand and

others done on the machine.

The individual blocks were

sewn together by hand and

the backing is the muslin hand whip together.

The quilt has no batting.

I'm estimating the quilt

was done in the early 1900's.  

I think it will look perfect

displayed at Christmas.

I knew I didn't have much room in the car

for any big items, especially

with a car seat and big stroller taking up

most of the room.

But Running Man surprised me

by finding something he liked.

This vintage wrought iron armillary sphere garden ornament.
 It might have been a sundial.
The time was told by the shadow of the arrow

falling on a callibrated band in the middle of the sphere.
Or it was just a decoration of connected spheres
representing the heaven being pierced by an arrow.
The trend now is to make any old  object
shabby chic by painting it vintage white.
So we're going to repaint it
an antique bronze color.
I'll post another picture
once it's settled into the garden.

And yes,
it all did finally fit into the car
and Oliver did too.

Until Next Time-

Clues/Picnic

 Last week

I shared my newest, old project.

This is the two sided

antique quilt that was gifted to me.

 Side One

Side Two

I suppose the quilter really looked at this quilt in

the reverse order from how I have,

with the crazy quilt as side one, the glamorous top,

and the pieced rectangles as the lowly backing, side two.

But it's side two that has 

stood the test of time.

The fabrics from side two

 are late 19th century prints

simply cut into 3 1/2 by 5 1/2 inch

rectangles and

sewn by hand into long strips and

then sewn together.

The crazy quilt has a date of 1893

embroidered on a brown velvet square.

I  have no expertise in

vintage fabrics and many of the fabrics

that were in the top

were silks, linens, wools and it also seemed like other

types of fabric that I didn't know how to identify.

Like the brown fabric under the horseshoe embroidery

is all loopy with twisted threads.  

That fabric just seemed weird.

So that made me wonder if the date was correct.

The batting was interesting too.

It was cotton, old and a bit musty.

And across the whole piece,

which was pretty much all intake,

were these large machine chained stitched,

stay stitching threads.

The rows were approximately 4 inches apart.

I didn't know if that was how batting generally was produced

at that time, or

was it someone's homemade batting?

Kind of weird.

But I did find one small

dating clue stitched in the crazy quilt side.

There was a small piece of ribbon partially stitched

into a couple of seams.

 It says:

Fifth 

Annual Picnic

of the 

OS Ass'n

held at

?

August 20, 21 '90

I've stared at that diagonal line 

of printing wishing it would

come into focus.

I wonder

 what picnic this quiltmaker went to

123 years ago yesterday?

 I'll probably never know.

***

So it makes me wonder

if in my next quilt,

should I add 

a few interesting clues to the top

to make a quilter in the future

wonder who I was?

***

Also don't forget to comment

on my last post for my

anniversary giveaways.

 Until Next Time-

New Project

 I know what I really should be doing.

But there's more to life than packing boxes.

Right?

A dear friend of mine recently gave me this

vintage quilt.

She told me that I might actually do something with it

whereas she probably wouldn't

so I gratefully accepted her gift.

It's not a prize winner.

But someone had stitched it together

and created a interesting quilt.

 This is one side.

It has some wonder examples of

turn of the century prints,

 

shirting, double pinks, black mourning prints,

Cadette blues, and claret reds.

 Each rectangle is 3 inches by 5 inches finished and

they're hand sewn together.

The quilt is tied and it has

a knife edge finish.

The fabrics are in perfect condition.

I could have some fun with these fabric pieces.

Wondering what's on the other side?

A crazy quilt

dated 1893.

This side is in very sad shape.

Many of the pieces are shredding and 

have disintegrated,

 but someones initials are still there.

I'm really not a fan of crazy quilts,

 but they are an incredible amount of work,

 with delightful embroidery.

They were a wonderful way to show off a person's

hand work with

all those different stitches.

 The quilt was incredible heavy.

 I envisioned that there must be another

quilt stitched inside that had been used as the batting.

So with Jack the Ripper,

I started taking the stitching out along the edges.

No, I didn't find another quilt, 

but I did find something to help confirm

 the embroidered date.

  Until Next Time-

A Happy May Day Quilt

 One of my antique quilts 

reminds me of May Day:

flowers, and high expectations 

of warmer weather.

April showers bring May flowers.

 Antique Tulip Applique

Red, Green and Cheddar

approximate age mid nineteen century

91" x 77"

The quilt itself is in great shape.

The red fabric though is shredding and

 is very fragile.

But the flowers are happy and the green

is that lovely shade of poison green

that I love.

The cheddar adds a special color element.

There are a few pieces of red that 

have stood the test of time.

The red  binding is very narrow, but has

shattered.

The alternating plain blocks are

quilted with tiny even stitches.

The basket pattern is consistant in all the blocks,

but the floral arrangement is different in each basket.

How fun is that!

 And what do these may flowers bring?

Happy thoughts and sunshine smiles

And wishes for a wonderful Spring.

Except for the front range here in Colorado

Look at our spring weather!

Until Next Time-