Multi-Generational Quilt Top

So my husband calls from an estate sale and says there is a quilt top with lots of brown fabrics in the blocks with a light blue floral alternating block.  He is not a quilt expert so that is pretty much all I could get out of him.  I guessed it might be circa 1870 so told him to splurge the $7...

Well, I was half right!

The blocks are 19th century but that blue (which I hoped was Lancaster blue) is most definitely not!

Plus, the blocks are all neatly sewn by hand while the alternating blue blocks were sewn on by machine.  Since the fabrics are more than 30 years apart it would be considered multi-generational...even though there is a chance it was all done by the same person.

This top was packed away with some of my other fabric study pieces...

That was the cabinet I worked on today...it took a long time to pack.

However I am making progress on the packing front...think my sewing room will be finished by the end of the week!!!

The things you find...

There is a lot of "stuff" in our house.  That said, we are making great progress in sorting and packing.

I have to keep an eye on my husband as he would toss anything that he doesn't immediately recognize...like a box of block doesn't have value since it isn't a quilt!  Yup...got to keep and eye on him.

Been gathering lace and wool for this quilt for years and it almost went to the charity shop!

Of course I am guilty of trying to finally get rid of a box of record albums that we have hauled around at least 4 moves and never taken out of the box...but I told him I was doing it.  That is why the box is back in our hallway...he is "thinking about it."

But on the bright side I found some scraps of my favorite fabric that I thought was long, long gone....

I so wish they would reprint this Paris fabric!

On the other hand I found 3 yards of this superhero fabric!  What was I thinking?

I am also putting aside a few items for the American Quilt Study Auction at this year's seminar in New Hampshire.  Not sure yet if I will be able to go but I want to support the organization.  I've narrowed down the quilt donation to one of two: the red, white and blue rocky road to kansas in the photo above or the circa 1880 braid quilt below.

I also have a few books that will go up there and maybe some blocks...

first...a nap...

A bag of fabric....

How many of you have gotten the call - "I have some fabric left to me/been in my closet/no sure where it came from and thought you might be able to use it or know a place to donate it."

It is so hard...I mean once the fabric makes it over the threshold it isn't like I can say...oh, no this smells like smoke take it back!  or, this fabric must have been stored in an attic and is so crispy you could use it for kindling!  or worse, this fabric was stored in a garden shed and is either trying to grow mushrooms or a cure for some unknown illness...

I don't want to sound ungrateful for their thinking of me...it is just rarely do I find a wonderful piece of fabric that I have been looking for or even get excited about.  Most of the time the entire bag gets tossed in to the washing machine (sometimes many loads of laundry end up being done...)

And then there is the ironing...the sorting...and then the moving most of it on to another quilter.  I have to admit a fair amount has ended up as cleaning rags or filler for dog-beds.  This is time and energy I could be using for quilting or for care and maintenance of my own stash (which is as much work as caring for a garden!)

But I know...when the next call comes I'll say yes...the eternal optimist that surely one bag someday will have something I will dance around the room waving above my head!  Someday....

Quilt Show Haul...

I mentioned in my last post that I did my share of shopping at the North Carolina Quilt Symposium show last weekend...now that I am unpacking I am seeing just how much I brought home!  zikes!

my finished curve block from Pepper Cory's Conquer the curve workshop

I did go with a list and found several of the items I "needed" for projects.

This group of fabrics and embellishments from Fiber on a Whim out of Atlanta fits that category.  I love the different fabrics - burlap, linen and cotton.  I've had a drawing on my idea board for a couple years now...time to start!

Years ago I made two simple table runners using French fabrics I bought on a trip overseas.  I donated one to a silent auction and the other I gave to a friends.  Always regretted not getting enough fabric to make another!

But now I have the fabric and will make one soon!

Also got some neutral fatquarters (when did fatquarters hit $3?  I must have been napping!)

Also got some fq sets of Pepper Cory's shot cottons.  These fabrics are the chameleons of the fabric world - they play well with Kaffe Fasset fabrics, reproductions and even 1930's.  Some of these are going in to my neutral quilt.  The others are going into my applique stash!

My birthday splurge was a new set of Kai scissors.  I was only going to get one but they had this show deal...you know how that goes.  These grip the fabric while you cut...love them.  Even today when my hands are a bit shaky I can cut well.  And so much safer than rotary tools on a day like this!!  (the little fabric tied on the handle is the warning label for my DH...if there is fabric on the handle he knows it cannot be used for anything but fabric!)

I like having an envelope of mixed needles in my carry-around stitching bag.  These are a new brand to me.  After using them on two projects I have mixed feelings.  Not as easy to thread as some of the large eye clover needles and thicker that most of my needles.  That said I think they might work well appliqueing batiks where I tend to bend my regular Milliners or straw needles quickly.

I bought a few patterns...things that I don't see locally.

This one really caught my eye...has two of my favorite things -strings and curves!

Next year they have quite a line-up for instructors.  You do not have to be from North Carolina to participate.  You do however need to sign up early to make sure you get the workshops you want.  Usually starts around January...

Estate Sale finds...

A couple of interesting quilts from estate sales last weekend!

First a hexie quilt!  I know I said I had enough EPP in the closet and said no-more but this one is different.

I haven't seen a lot of black pathways in a garden block!  Paving perhaps?

This quilt is hand-quilted using blue thread which matches the backing fabric. I see this fairly often here in the south and am wondering if it is a regional characteristic.  

It has a great collection of fabrics that range from circa 1910 through the 1930's.  Lots to look at!

Next to come home was a top.

There are some fun western fabrics in this.

It is a simple 4-patch with alternating block pattern.  A good piece for fabric study.  It is pieced both by machine and by hand.  Would love to know which came first!

I learned a hard lesson at this sale.  There was a quilt that got away.  It was circa 1850 and in really tough shape but I went back to it several times.  I didn't know the pattern.  When I got home I checked all my referenced...no luck.  So during breakfast I talked my DH to driving me back to the sale only to find the quilt had been sold!

So I've drafted up the pattern and while the "quilt that got away" is fresh in my mind I'll piece a few blocks to hang in my sewing room.

Reuse decorations...

I just read an article about this year's decorations at the White House.  They really are beautiful and as a bonus 90% of them were re-used from prior years.

Santa on books - 1991, Maryland

Which got me to thinking about how many of my decorations were "re-used."

Russian carved santa - Moscow, 1993

This year, except for the Poinsettias almost all of my decorations have made prior appearances!

Santa Smoker, Germany 1984

When I traveled often I bought a Santa almost every year so I have santas from Germany, Russia, England, Poland, New Mexico, Virginia...well, lots and lots of places!

A lighthouse star from my Mom, 2005

My tree ornaments range from German, New England seaside, to scottie dogs (yes lots of scotties!)

Plus a few sewing related....tiny thimble ornaments!

Christmas Music Magazine, 1927 (framed in 2010)

I even change out some of the pictures on the walls.

Today I'm making some fun table runners using Cowboy and truck fabrics...

need to add a few new things to the mix!

Bits and bobs...

I noticed there were lots of photos in my "for blog" file that just never made it into a post...hence my title - "bits and bobs."  (One of those British expressions that I love!)

A new cork board for my sewing room and a block I've been playing with...

My quilting buddies celebrated my birthday a few weeks late...I had a birth-month this year!

220 charm squares in a bowl!

Each of them cut 55 6-1/2 inch blocks for me!  I have quite a pile now!

My sister Mary Ellen sent me this precious wall hanging for my new sewing room...

and her husband Dave turned this bowl out of Maple.

 They also sent hot-dog rolls...the New England kind!  (flat on each side...)

Still working on my dragonfly "portraits"...

I may have to break down and get the baking pan from King Arthur Flour so I can just bake my own...for whatever reason you can't find this kind here in the South and lobster or chicken salad rolls just aren't the same if the roll isn't buttered and grilled!  Now I'm hungry!  

why I wash fabric...

I've written before about the donation quilts my guild makes to raise money for a camp that serves children with cancer.

Well we were so close to having the next quilt-top finished when I got the "knock on the door."  The quilter with the last block had used a steam iron on it and the blue batik ran...spreading blue into the pink and then as we tried to fix that the blue ran into the orange.

After checking that there was enough fabric to make another if needed...I said a quick prayer to St. Teresa, patron saint of seamstresses, and dunked the entire block into a sink full of soapy warm water....

and then waited...

good news...

it is blue where it is supposed to be blue...pink where it is supposed to be pink and mottled where it is supposed to be mottled.  Phew...

Now to get this top finished and out of my sewing room!  (and back to working on some quilts for the show!)

Just a bit more fabric...

I know I wasn't supposed to buy any fabric until the new sewing room was set up...ok, I cheated!

It was a late night purchase...couldn't resist some early Halloween fabric.

Particularly when it has such interesting graphics.

And no...no plan on how I'm going to use them!  Maybe construct some liberated log cabins around them....still thinking...

I am however storing almost all my fabric in cabinets of in boxes now.

Noticed too many had developed these fade lines on the outside edge.  I need as much light in my sewing space as possible (MS makes low light work difficult) so I don't want to put in blinds or shades.  I am going to put the film on the windows that is supposed to reduce the fading but I'm not sure I 100% believe it...so the only fabric that will be out on the table or shelves will be fabric I am using at the time...small hills instead of mountains!

BTW...I finally watched the final of Wolfhall!  Loved it.  Even took out my Tudor Tailor mug and made some English tea for the occasion!