Antiquing in Decatur...

Sharon J and I spent last Wednesday after the guild meeting taking my quilt bags to Fex Ex to be shipped home...and, out antiquing!

The antique mall was a large refurbished train station, and at first glance, we weren't sure we were going to find ANYTHING..it was quite "prissy" for lack of a better word. Lots of depression glass and fancy dust catchers, not much of the stuff I love such as old tins with cool labels, beat up housewares, crocks, chamber pots, baskets...the stuff that "daily life" was made of.

I did fall in love with this Brunswick Treadle machine....at a really reasonable price! But alas, it would not fit in my carry on and my other baggage was already over weight limits..lol!

But upstairs in one corner of the antique mall...we found:

It's made with 30's 40's prints and solids...and what I love about it is the purple background! I also love how not all the kite shapes are string pieced in the same way and direction, but several are more crumby!

It's a youth size...for a whopping...$40. :cD And the hand quilting stitches in the purple areas are minuscule!! Who ever made this was not a haphazard quilter by any means.

And because I'm a contrasting binding girl (rarely do I ever do a binding the same fabric as the border, it just disappears) i love that she bound this with that pea green. It's seen a lot of use. I wonder who used to drag this around, make forts with it, play superman with it...or cops and robbers, cowboys or indians...

I'm packing up for the NC Symposium, and gathering samples for my two classes. I'm teaching string spiderweb, and crumbs, so all the samples I can grab of how different quilters did different things, then and now..are being packed in the car.

I almost feel like I'm getting off easy because I don't have to do a trunk show at this venue..just relax with a couple classes, and enjoy the symposium with everyone else!

Sharon also found a goodie! on this trip! (Look close, you can see my purple string quilt hanging on the cabinet door behind her!)



This churndash variation (I think they call this Grecian Cross?) is all shirtings and indigoes and in GREAT shape! Not only that...HERS was 50% off, and my purple string star wasn't! And, I probably would have snatched this one up too if she hadn't been quicker than I was! *LOL*

Here is a detail shot of the fabrics:


Of course, we had to follow up our antiquing adventures with the ultimate refreshement...Culvers ice cream! I have to hit Culvers every time I visit the midwest. And this time did not disappoint...the flavor of the day? JUST DRUMMY! It was like those drum stick frozen ice cream cones (waffle cone, chocolate, nuts) all crunched up into vanilla custard...unbelievable!


I also took some pics of quilts that did NOT come home with us, but that will have to wait for another post.


The studio awaits. It's time to clean it again, some how over the past few days my muse has been quite reckless! Time to clean it up again....it never ends!

PS..Dropped Buddy back off at the vet this morning. He had a really rough whimpery night. He's not eating, he's hardly drinking (this worries me the most, dehydration)and so we wait while they do more tests. Fingers are crossed..he still thumps his tail. I've read all I can on the internet about dogs surviving snake bites.. :c/