Antique ((Mall)) Roadshow!!

Do you watch Antique Roadshow? I’ll catch it now and again, and sometimes I am quite amused by the things that people think are worth a lot, but turn out to really be junk!

Mostly because I know that the “value” we put on things ourselves has more to do with our attachment to the object, and the memories it has, than what the actual “monitary value” can give.

If one persons trash is another persons treasure, then I will surely be found in the midst of that trash!

Of course we are always looking for the elusive museum quality quilt that someone has a $10 price tag on at a yard sale, or that $25 featherweight machine – ((I’ve not found one yet, but I know some who have, the lucky quilters!)) but more often I find OTHER things to inspire me. Like this cross stitch at the top of this page. What a life statement that is for me! I tend to pick up the cross stitcheries at places like Good Will where they surely aren’t valued as much as they were in this antique mall. I love the quotes and sayings and they can be found all over my house.

One of the other things I like to do is find the WEIRDEST thing on display! I was wandering through this mall while talking to DH on the phone and I had to say “Hold ON! I gotta take a pic of this..I’ll call you back..I’ll phone-mail it to you..you aren’t going to believe this!!”

The first thing I noticed was the sale sign….and THEN…what the heck? What ARE those things in this tall glass vase? Are those???? No way! It couldn’t be….is it? IT IS!!!

CHEETOS!!! LOL!!

Yes, my friends, this item gets the “Weird award” of the day! Just how LONG have those cheetos been in that glass vase? I have no idea….will this get bugs over time? I don’t want to think about it! I was laughing so hard I didn’t even stop to find out what the “SALE” price was on this item.

Something else I saw quite a bit of….remember these folded star things in hoops?

I think “back in the 80s” I made one of these…and the thing used SO MUCH fabric that I never ever made another one! They were impossible to dust too, and when I started finding them at yard sales a few years later, I’d buy them on the cheap and take them apart and USE the fabric for real quilts! Each of those squares is folded something like 4 times, so there is a LOT of fabric in this one thing.

Here’s another one with the ever present “country lace ruffle” and it’s been poofed out to give it a 3-D effect…MORE FABRIC! No, these didn’t come home with me, just a blast from the past and a “remember when!” It’s kind of funny to see these labeled as “vintage quilt hanging” though! ((Yes, I suppose it has been 30 years?!))

Here is another little “Craft” from the 80s…my mother in law used to make beaded Christmas ornaments…but these are “crystal” candlesticks made with clear beads and safety pins! Why did we ever think this was a good idea? Could you ever get the wax out if it dripped? I remember whole sculptures made with beads and pins! I’d rather be quilting!

SO…about the treasures? Of course, the machines always tug at my heart:

This little table model was a different one than I have ever seen….It still had the shuttle bobbin, but it was electric, in a little “industrial” type table. I liked the brand name –Greyhound!

And the little Wilcox & Gibbs was just too cute for words. It’s a chain stitch machine, and I’ve got a singer one similar to it here at home.

There are so many quilts I wanted to share with you, but there is commentary on each one! So..I think I’ll just post a few here now, and save the rest for another post

This little sweetie is an “old” top, newly quilted….or newerly quilted anyway! It had a thick-ish poly batting in it, but they did do a lovely job on the fan quilting, and the prints in it are really sweet! I started one of these star quilts a long time ago, and I ought to pull it out! The little triangles have so much motion going on, and I guess I am in a springy frame of mind because the pink and yellow just brought the sunshine in!

Can you find the quilt in this picture? You gotta look close! This is what I saw as I passed this booth ---sometimes things are not displayed to “advantage” and you have to HUNT for things that are worth finding ((Yes, that is another life lesson too, isn’t it?!))

This is what I unearthed! Look at that lovely “Swallows” star in the center! This had the “whisker guard” applied over both the top and bottom of the quilt—And it has so much FUN STUFF going on. We do things so differently today! For instance, we’d probably put those two broken stars in two opposite corners, one top right, one bottom left----are you with me here? We are so about “creating” randomness today, that we plan it out to the nnnth degree! I like how she built up the other bocks with sashings to be the same size as the broken star blocks..and it IS an interesting block in itself, isn’t it:

I like those “elongaged” flying geese blocks that make the star wonky And do you notice that the units are rotated? Two are up and down, and two are side ways! OOps!

I loved this bench with the yo-yo coverlet and pillow….wouldn’t this look sweet in an entry way?

Quilts from simple squares are ALWAYS a favorite, just for the funky fabrics they have in them…true scrap baggers! This one had fabrics into the 50s and early 60s…It’s four 9-patches combined into a 36 patch block, and set in a zig zag setting. FUN!! Whose shirts, dresses, skirts, aprons, pajamas were these? Whose memories are tied up in this lovely humble quilt? We’ll never know!

Look at THIS riot of color!! And then look closer!

It’s double-knit! And it probably weighs 30 lbs!

Someone did an awesome job on this….many many many hours. This will never disintegrate, fade, or ravel! I wish I knew more about this maker!

And there is more…..lots more! And I’ll save that for another post! As for today, I’ve been heavy at the machine working on the cruise project-- It’s like working backwards for me. I need to “kit” these up. Yes. Kits. Yes. That means everyone will have the same thing. Yes. I know…I don’t sew from kits, I don’t DO kits, and kits don’t DO ME! But we are persevering and I think this will work out great!

So far, we are combining 3 unrelated charm packs to get the “scrap” look I want. NO MATCHY MATCHY!! LOTS OF VARIETY! Lots of stretching and growing for my Cruisers who think they can’t put a modern print next to a civil war! LOL!

Right now it’s a secret project…starting with a “finite” amount of fabric, finding out how far it will go and what I can do with it, all while keeping it at the $35 per Cruiser that I am allotted. Can ANYONE make a quilt from a kit for $35.00 anymore? Not if it is bigger than a baby quilt! So we are a bit limited there, and I need it to be a project that takes THREE DAYS…so there are lots of things in this equation that I am bumbling with.

The cost, the amount of fabric in limited variety, the time it takes to sew it, and the size. Anyone want this job?! I’m just feeling a little bit stressed about it, but I’m making headway!

Quilters With Heart!

This morning I woke up to an email from Julia, the subject line stating “Scrappy Nut Here!!”

I wasn’t sure if she was referring to me or herself, but just the title made me smile and I quickly sat down with my tea to read what she had so sweetly taken the time to write:

I just was forwarded your wonderful link and have enjoyed reading it so much!

One thing I have realized also - and I have been a quilter since 1965 and am 68 yr old - it there is NO WAY on earth I could use all of my scraps...no way. And I do not have a long arm, so you can see my point better.

WHAT TO DO WHAT TO DO??? After a dear friend died, I was the one who was asked by the family to handle the 'quilt stuff' and dispose of it as I saw fit. She had quilted for over 50 years! MERCY ME, you should have seen what I had! Thinking of Mary, my friend, whose heart was generous and kind to all, I decided to package up scraps and supplies and send them along up to the extremely poor super rural Mountains in Northern TN and Southern KY. That got the ball rolling.

My husband and I volunteer at an ALL volunteer local food pantry. If you can not buy food, how can you buy quilt fabrics of any quality? This idea started a new chapter in scrap-giving.

Still with TONS of Mary's fabrics, I made up small boxes and large newspaper plastic bags of scraps to place on our pantry's FREE TO ALL SHELF. You would have thought gold nuggets were on those shelves. Ladies started to cry! One lady walked back to say, God Bless you all, I have not been able to get fabric for years!

So on it goes now, I have a laundry basket sitting next to my cutting area and scraps go into that. Then into those plastic bags (which are free each day!) and on to folks who realllllly can use them!

Yes, I have cut some fabric up for my own projects. But have decided the Lord has blessed me with good things, and I should share those with others when I can.

God bless you

Julie

Julie, you are the one who has blessed me with this story. Thank you SO MUCH for your giving heart to help quilters find their joy when they have so little! You have blessed them abundantly. The one thought that got me to tears was the lady who walked back to say “I have not been able to get fabric for years!”.

There are so so so many ways to give, and “loving your neighbor” doesn’t only mean the person immediately next to you, but can be in your same town as well as across the world.

There is something that giving does --- instead of leaving you with less, it fills us with more. And the other “holes” in our lives somehow seem less significant, less deep or empty.

This box was sent off to Golden, Colorado yesterday! It’s contents? Two humble little quilts on their way to Japan. And while working on these quilts, There were two tornados that hit very close to home here, one in Virginia, and one in Sanford, NC ---creating quite a bit of devastation as well. I had to quiet my heart that I was doing the right thing sending these so far across the world, when there is need for love and comfort so close to home.

It feels like the “Old man with the star-fish” story, you know? “You can’t make a difference” he was told….his reply as he threw one back into the ocean—“I just made a difference to THAT one!” And because my heart was turned toward the people in Japan as I was finishing these up, that is where they are going. From the moment I started putting these together, these quilts already BELONGED to Japan.

The color is bad on these pics….nothing like hotel room lighting to turn EVERYTHING a sickly shade of yellow! But here is the bargello bound in scrappy greens and ready to send. It’s a tandem project between Tammy from MD and myself. She supplied the top, I removed the skulls (LOL!) quilted and bound it. Thanks for teaming up with me Tammy!

The sampler was also a “group” project of sorts…((Ewwww..this yellow lighting is bad too!)) I won the blocks in a block lotto, so they were made by many friends. Randy pieced the center for me from the blocks, using my double pink fabric. I bordered, quilted and bound it. Together, quilters can make a difference!

Here is the address to send your quilts to:

Send new quilts of any size from baby to adult to:

Dana Jones
Quilters Newsletter
741 Corporate Circle, Suite A
Golden, CO 80401

• Mark your box: “Quilts for Japan.”
• Send quilts as soon as possible and no later than April 30, 2011.
• Enclose your name, address, phone number, and email address with the quilts.

Oops…forgot to do the last bit myself! I did put an address label on the outside, but I forgot the phone number and email address?!?!? Oh well ----

Beyond The Bougainvillea (Free Kindle Book!)

It’s like this..do I wait til tomorrow to post this, because I’ve already written a post today? What if it isn’t free TOMORROW? But is today? So I’ll post this now!

Beyond The Bougainvillea ((Yeah, I really had to watch closely to spell this one right!)) is free on Kindle, and maybe some other formats too.

Book Description
She found her place in a turbulent era of deep passions, heartbreaking sacrifices, and grand dreams.When scholarly, smart Mary Margaret is sixteen, her father marries her off to a drunken neighbor in return for a tract of land. The year is 1924, and Mary Margaret's motherless childhood has already been hard as a farm girl on the desolate prairies of North Dakota. Abused and helpless, the new Mrs. "Marge" Garrity seems destined for a tragic fate.But Marge is determined to make her life count, no matter what. Her escape from her brutal marriage takes her to California, where she struggles to survive the Great Depression and soon answers the lure of the state's untamed northern half. There, embraced by the rough-and-ready people who built the great Ruck-a-chucky Dam on the American River, she begins to find her true mission in life and the possibility for love and happiness with an Army Corp engineer of Cherokee Indian descent.Author Dolores Durando knows Marge's world very well. She grew up ninety years ago on the plains of North Dakota.

I went over to Amazon and read the reviews --- many many 5 star reviews, one saying:

I don't recall ever having being moved to tears on the first page of a novel, nor do I recall reaching that point at least half a dozen more times before reaching the final page. That did happen as I read Beyond the Bougainvillea, and it happened quickly, because I could not put the book down!

Okay, so we download this one too, because isn’t that what having a Kindle, or a Kindle App for your phone is all about?

The paperwork day has been majorly successful –I’ve nearly caught up on all that was waiting for me to do. I just might stitch tonight!

There is a border section for the hexagon medallion calling my name! The question remains…this is one of the side “fill in” units that I have drafted here –There is the option to do SIX of these fill in units to turn the quilt into a giant HEXAGON before filling in the 4 corners…and I’m not sure what I want to do yet. I guess I’ll just do the TWO sides, and see if I feel any more inspired with how to execute turning this thing into a square, and then into a rectangle!

Think Pink!

While on my road trip, I got a voice mail reminding me that I had a mammogram yesterday at 4pm! I guess there was no better way to celebrate my return home, than by heading straight to the imaging center and taking care of “the girls!”

This cartoon cracked me up….and I know all of us of “a certain age” can relate! It doesn’t take long, it’s only a “BIT” uncomfortable, and you know that everyone in the waiting area is hating it just as much as you are!

My imaging center has moved---and they USED to have tea/coffee/cookies while you wait…NO MORE! And the magazines were old and dog-earred, so I took care of some email on my phone, and began reading one of the latest kindle uploads on my phone as well.

This is my plea to you, that if you haven’t had a mammo in a while, GO DO IT!

I spent some time flipping through the pics for Saturday’s 1/2 day Scrappy Mountain Majesties this morning and editing them down….after having MY mountains squashed flat, it seemed only fitting!

		Scrappy Mt Majesties, Kingston, NY 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

These gals got a HUGE amount done in just a 3 hour class! It will be fun to see what quilts they turn out with their blocks—there was a lot of fun arranging going on!

I have some great pics from the antique malls I hit on the way home, but that will include more editing down, and I’ve got a LOT on my plate today to get things in order after being gone 13 days! So…I might get to doing that tonight for tomorrow’s post. Stay tuned!

But I DID take a 3 mile walk last evening just to see what has greened up, sprouted out, and bloomed brightly while I was gone!

We have LEAVES!!! This is the most amazing change of all…and I can’t tell you how GOOD it feels. I really miss the color green in the winter time.

You can see the dogwood at the end of my drive still in blossom…the leaves will only get thicker as spring moves toward summer, just tucking my sweet little cottage house in amongst the foliage.

This was one leg of my 3 mile walk….isn’t it a beautiful stretch of road? That hill at the end is quite steep, really gets my heart pounding. ((Yes, I keep telling myself how GOOD it is for me!)) And when I reached the top of that hill, I was greeted by this beautiful sight:

Just look at this mass of gorgeous pink color! There are lots of white azaleas around, and some redder ones too, but it is the pink ones that just make me giddy!

It’s just a MASS of gorgeous blossoms! I also loved seeing the wisteria just dripping purple where it was blooming in the woods around the area too. THIS is what a North Carolina Spring is best at! Color, and smell and ---oh, I love it!

The past few weeks I have received comments on why I would post the pics from “some” classes, but not all. Some are impatient to have their own class pics posted, and on a long journey, I might teach the same class 3 times in a row, as what happened on the TN/NC/AL trip in March. It isn’t that I don’t think all class pics shouldn’t be posted, it is that there is more going on in my life than JUST posting class pics….if I miss a class posting, because I have decided to write on something else going on in my life, please forgive me.

Editing down lots of pics for a slide show takes time that I find myself very short on. I want to post things that I find might be interesting for you to read, and if it is all the same thing, the same class over and over and over, I’m afraid I’m going to lose readers – I’m trying to find balance between posting about life, and the quilting. So I ask for your patience and understanding. There is a lot going on behind the scenes in my life that you don’t see here, that I don’t post here. And finding a place and a way for it all to fit is not always easy.

It’s kind of like the feeling you get when contemplating getting OFF the fast moving train, only knowing that if you do get off, it is moving so fast you’ll never be able to get back on it again.