Out and About with Mona!

I could also title this post “Slim Pickin’s in Greensboro!” 

We went to one of my favorite antique malls, and while there was plenty of glassware and repainted (ugh) furniture and vintage Christmas items (fun to see and I feel the season happily creeping up on me…) there was just NOTHING in the vintage sewing machine department. 

Not a treadle to be found.  No “free the machine!” opportunities at hand.

We did find one 1980s beat up Kenmore but it wasn’t what we were looking for.

Mona needs a machine that does a basic zig zag for making repairs and piecing batting.  I showed her how I did it by butting the edges and letting the zig zag stitches seam them together super flat and now she can see that she HAS to have one.  So we are on the look out.

Her fleet currently consists of 2 featherweights, a 301, a 66 treadle and an electric 15 in a cabinet.  What’s one more when all that she has is straight stitch only?

It was Slim Pickin’s on the quilt front as well.  There just wasn’t a whole lot, but wouldn’t this drunkard’s path comforter be cute wrapped around the base of a Christmas tree?

There were some string star blocks!

I love these –likely 1940s.  The polka-dots are dizzying and that just adds all the more to them.  Oh, maybe there are more string star blocks in my future?

Foundation pieced on scrap fabrics!

The diamonds were very piece-heavy with that fabric foundation, and the corner squares and triangles were lightweight – it was a re-confirmation to myself on why I like to use paper foundations and get the paper out of there before putting the quilt together.  These were precious.

This was a double-knit BEAST!

There must have been a wool blanket used as batting because this thing weighed a ton.  But look at the fun colors!

Mona said “It’s “O” for Oetting – her last name!

If you look at the lavender and green block you can see by the seam lines just how this is pieced.  It also brought to mind my step-grandma and how she always wore double-knit pantsuits and also made quilts out of double-knit.  It will never fade.  It will never disintegrate.  It’s a petroleum product.  LOL.

You might remember seeing me use this quilt as the background for yesterday’s Quiltville Quote!

The 1970s called.  They want their double-knit back!

This was a treasure!

Browns and reds and double pinks and poison greens and that AQUA, oh my!

Love that blue paisley!

I’m guessing 1830-1860

But that aqua has me stumped. I know it's an early fabric.

Another thing that helps with the dating is the style.  Do you see how things are in columns in the full quilt photo above?  Quilters would group “like kinds” together instead of arranging things in a more random fashion.  Today we are “oh, that is too close to this one, move it further away.”  And back in the early days many quilts had all of one kind touching each other.  Interesting, isn’t it?

The aqua is in 3 exacting places, near 3 corners of the quilt – nearly symmetrical, but our maker must have ran out because corner #4 has something else in place of the aqua.

I wish I knew more.  This quilt didn’t come home with me – I am out of room and thinking of downsizing my antique quilt collection, but I sure appreciated being able to touch it and admire it – including all of the points, most of them are spot on and this is hand piecing without a rotary cutter for cutting.

This did come home!

Do you know how hard it is to take a photo of a mirror without catching too much in it?  Like – Sadie was watching on and I caught her hind quarters.  And my knee is also in the photo, on the other side!

I need a mirror above a dresser in the master bedroom at the cabin.  I’ve been looking, but I wanted something interesting and a bit chunky to go with the other big chunky furniture in that room. 

How beautiful is this curved bevel??  Such an interesting shape!

Beautiful detail and mother of pearl.

We checked out every mirror in that huge antique mall, and found this as we were about to give up on ever finding one that suited.  The best part?  I thought the price had to be a mistake, but it wasn’t.

It came home for $45.00.  It is waiting to go up to the cabin when I return from Idaho.  It will be hanging by Thanksgiving.

And that makes me smile.

Quiltville Quote of the Day!

Start by appreciating the little things!

Have a wonderful Tuesday, everyone -