Will Brake for Antique Malls!

See this sign?

One of the nation’s LARGEST MALLS?!

Well, I believed it and did stop ---

I actually made three antique mall stops yesterday with high hopes of finding really cool stuff --- and maybe it’s just me anymore, but all I saw was stuff that wasn’t that great, and everything had more of a “yard sale” feel than what I was hoping for.  Sometimes the treasure hunt is like that ---you just don’t find anything.

I did leave with some photos…for instance, THIS took me back in time:

1970s fondue pot!

We had this same exact set when I was growing up – and I loved it when mom would put the fondue pot in the center of the table and we would cook our own pieces of meat or veggies and sit around and talk and visit while we cooked one morsel at a time.  It was a “togetherness” kind of thing. 

I am sure however, that all of that oil was not beneficial to my early teens acne problem!  It was a fun little flash back, those memories that came to mind while I stood there in the antique mall surrounded by things like this.

NOT A SINGLE TREADLE! ?!?!  I didn’t see a single one.  In fact I came across only one machine:

1950’s New Home

Check the direction of the take up lever on this thing, and how it threads?!

I didn’t bring it home….my herd is really as large as I want it to be, and I prefer machines that are easier to thread than this.  This one has the pulley system that my Betsy Ross treadle has –it’s kind of a pain!

I thought of my friend Allison when I saw this 1950s iron with the red handle!

But I thought the price was high, and my iron herd is pretty well populated as well!  This was a full size iron – HEAVY –but the cord left me a bit suspect.  I am on the look out for another vintage travel iron that I can actually use.

I also want a rectangular glass refrigerator dish for butter, and you wouldn't think that would be hard to find between 3 antique mall stops – but NADA!

There were a few sweet quilts…like this 1950s Dresden plate!

Check the quilting…it marches straight through the plates, which is why this quilt is probably still in such good shape.  Everything was anchored down by the quilting that went right over those plate blades.

There was a very sweet Sunbonnet Sue ---

One thing about antique malls, there is not always a spot to lay out a quilt!  Check the cornerstones on this one..they alternate between pink and blue and I think that added an interesting touch.

By the prints, I’m guessing this is also 1940s-1950s.

My drive from NC to TN included some beautiful mountain views!

You would think with all of these aisles I would find SOME kind of treasure!

NO!

But I did find a couple more quilts:

Isn’t this interesting? 

It’s a string quilt, and is sewn strippy style…the diamonds on the left column have 4 smaller diamonds joined to become one large one.  The other two columns are just one large diamond – did she get lazy?

Close up of one corner.

The diamonds are joined by large triangles of striped fabric which adds to the mass of confusion –Love the border and how she has built that out of pieces and parts.

Striped Castle Wall!

All of the stripes look like they could have come from a clothing factory ---

The prints in the centers look to be about 1950s.

Even though nothing came home with me, I still had a fun time browsing – it was a great way to get out of the car and stretch my legs…..

The one thing I DID buy?

I can’t say no to ice cream!

This morning it is raining in London, Kentucky, and the temps are plummeting.  The rain is supposed to turn into snow at some point.  What a difference from yesterday where temps reached 75 and I was able to go for a nice long walk after dinner!

Will spring EVER really arrive?? 

I’m not being picked up until 2pm so you will find me in my hotel room doing much of this:

Flying geese strips getting trimmed!

I’m sure the maids are going to have a lot to gossip about after cleaning “That crazy quilter’s room” !!

If you missed it, there is a Give-Away and a trunk show of the quilts in my new book going on HERE.  Pre-Orders are in full swing!  Did you order your copy of More Adventures with Leaders & Enders yet?!

Have a great Wednesday, Everyone!

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Quilter’s Dream Home!

I am fascinated by old abandoned houses.

I like to imagine I can hear the voices of those who lived here long ago, the laughter of children playing hide and seek in the yard --echoing through the branches of the trees gently waving in the breeze.

I’m not even exactly SURE which town I was in at this point…I believe I was in Glen Alpine, NC.  I had followed a sign off of the interstate to an antique mall that didn’t pan out, and when my GPS sent me on its round about way back to the interstate westward toward Tennessee and finally on to Kentucky –I saw this.

And stopped.

We've often joked about the “Old Quilters Home” Where we would admit  old quilters as residents based on the abundance of their stash ---

Just think about it!  We could stay up and sew all night ---Sleep in as late as we want ---and Quilt until we Wilt!  What a great time I've had plotting and planning just what the perfect “Old Quilters Home” would be.

This one needs a bit of TLC ---but think of the possibilities!

A coat of yellow paint and it won’t look so spooky!

I took a walk up to the front door….there was a for sale sign, so I played the interested perhaps-buyer.

I wish I knew the story of this place!

What if we turned it into a Quilter’s Retreat?!

I can dream!

“Pieceful Acres –Where Old Quilters Never Die – They Just Go to Pieces!!”

Bye bye house ---

Bye bye whoever lived here and loved here and made memories here ---

If you could have the perfect “Old Quilters Home” what would it include?

Leave me a comment below!  And when it comes to that time – I’ll share my stash if you will share yours!

I arrived in London Kentucky and am setting up in the hotel room to sew this evening.  I’m here for 3 nights.  I’m free tomorrow until 2pm when we will go grab lunch and then set up for my lecture that starts at 6pm.

Thursday there are 50 quilters in my Love Shack class, and I know it is going to be a ton of fun. I hope to meet several of you there!

Quilt On, Everyone!

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More Adventures With Leaders & Enders! Pre-Order Time!

And a GIVE-AWAY to two lucky winners!

We are COUNTING down the days until delivery!

It’s time to get really excited and ramp up the pre-orders so that you will be in the queue and among the first to have their copy shipped!

It’s been a long time putting this book together.  These units and projects were in the works right after the first printing of Adventures with Leaders & Enders and I knew I couldn't stop just because that one book was done.

Five years has passed since the release of Adventures with Leaders & Enders.  Why wait so long for a sequel?  Because the whole premise of sewing with Leaders & Enders is about building units in between the lines of chain piecing other tings, one at a time – it is not a race.

Units build on the side, one by one, and then almost like magic, there are enough units for a wall hanging, a baby quilt, a lap quilt or even a bed quilt.

With the release of MORE Adventures with Leaders & Enders I am even more convinced the we can make better use of our time, our fabric, our thread just by implementing this one simple method of always leaving a pair of something underneath the presser foot when we end a line of chain piecing.

Many of these quilts you’ve seen in progress through blog posts, through magazine issues, through classes I’ve taught.

Some of them have been previous mysteries.

Some of them you have never seen before now, and they are all here in one volume for easy reference for you –a book full of gorgeous full color photographs and large close up shots so you can see just what it is that I DO use in my quilts..EVERYTHING –and you can too!

Let’s have a trunk show, shall we?

Cheddar Bow-Ties was our Leader & Ender challenge 2 years ago!

This is how I finished mine..with a scrappy checkerboard border.

I quilted it in spider webs!

Easy Street was Last Year’s Mystery!

All of those grey/white 4 patches were built as my Leaders & Enders while I sewed the other block units.

Leaders & Enders don’t have to even be a separate project.  They can be part of the quilt that you are already making..just set them by your machine and use them for that purpose.  It works!

Close up of fun fabrics!  I love those great black-on-whites!

Four Patch X!

Four Patch X was a block from my Addicted to Scraps column that I just fell in love with!

Check out how the corners make a churn dash with the sashings!

Lucy’s Baskets!

Inspired by a photo of an antique quilt, my friend Lucy invited me to swap basket “kits” with her in an effort to include each other’s fabrics in our similar quilts made in friendship.  This worked really well, leaving the stitching to be done by each maker, since collaborative blocks rarely turn out the same size from maker to maker.

Close up of baskets!

Friendship Cross

Started during the Basket Project with my friend Lucy from the Netherlands – all of the basket leftovers got cut down into block parts and assembled Leader & Ender style!

Close up of fabrics, including some Dutch ones!

Lazy Sunday ran as a Mystery through 4 issues of Quiltmaker Magazine in 2013.

Now all the parts are here in one easy to follow pattern to help you sew up the scraps!  I used the 4 patches in the Ladder blocks as my Leaders & Enders while working on this project!

Oranges and Pinks and Greens and Purples with a touch of turquoise, Oh My!

Midnight Flight was designed as a block for  an issue of Quiltmaker’s 100 blocks by 100 designers.

Simply making one block for the magazine was not enough – it demanded to be a quilt!  The 4 patches in the block quarters became Leader & Ender parts while working on the other block parts and border units for this quilt.

Narragansett Blues!

In the spring of 2012, I visited the Ninigret Quilters of Rhode Island and spent a bit of time exploring the local beauty around Narragansett Bay.  In October of 2012, I was mourning the devastation that befell beautiful Narragansett in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. 

Close up of Narragansett Blues

As the hurricane raged, I sewed and sewed using a box of Leader & Ender 4 patches that were waiting without a project to use them up.  Finally I ended up with this quilt.  I entitled it simply Naarragansett Blues.  The blue matched my mood – the blue in the morning sky brings hope in the new day.

Scrap Crystals!

A box of blue and neutral bonus triangles (Half-square triangles saved from other projects), a bin of 2” cut squares and a desire to sew on my 1911 treadle machine—That’s all it took for me to start building simple broken dishes units as Leaders & Enders in between the lines of other projects.

This block was featured in a past issue of Quiltmaker’s 100 blocks, and now the full quilt pattern is here in More Adventures with Leaders & Enders!

Spoolin’ Around!

Spoolin’ Around was our Leader & Ender challenge a couple of years ago, and you saw my spools as I was making them.  Here is the result of what they turned into!

SO many fabrics came from YOU as you sent me pieces in envelopes to add your scraps to mine.  I love this quilt!

Texas Tumbleweeds was a mystery I taught in Plano, Texas and now it is in More Adventures with Leaders & Enders as a regular pattern!

Can you mix batiks with regular cottons? Yes you can!

I used the 4 patches in the center of the ladder block as my Leaders & Enders during the making of this quilt.  It’s one of my favorites in the book!

Winston Ways, Named after my adopted home town of Winston Salem, NC!

This block was also featured in a past 100 blocks issue, and now the full quilt pattern is here for you!

Can you guess what THESE 4 patches were??

Do I have your attention?  Are you curious to know more?  Order your own copy of MORE Adventures with Leaders & Enders and we will have you hooked in no time at all. 

Your own adventure with Leaders & Enders is just about to begin!

Click HERE to visit our online book store and place your order!  I expect delivery of the books somewhere around April 1st.  Books will be shipped in the order that they are received. 

If you are an international customer, there are international shipping options for you also in the book store.

And as always, orders of 3 or more books ships FREE within the USA!

Along with my books you will also find great releases by quilters I admire: Mickey Depre, Victoria Findlay Wolfe, Judy Martin, and Tonya Ricucci and a couple publications by Quilktmaker Magazine that also feature my designs.

How about a Give-Away for More Adventures with Leaders & Enders?  I'm drawing for TWO winners!  I head to Pigeon Forge, TN on Monday, March 17th.  I will draw for the lucky winners that evening!

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Good luck everyone!

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