For The Sake of Nostalgia -

On the receiving of the "Sticker of Shame" day earlier this week I STILL had to do all of the things one does when one drives 40 minutes to town -

We don't waste gas out here - there were errands to run.  Groceries, Dollar Tree for cleaning supplies and holiday décor items for the inn, and of course a run through Goodwill to see if there were any more irons that could be put to good use at the pressing stations -

Goodwill had nothing.  But as I walked past the bedding aisle, a certain fabric caught my eye.

Back around 1976 my grandparents became snowbirds from Minnesota to Rio Verde, Arizona. The 1970s was an interesting era for home décor, and I knew this fabric instantly when I saw it.  It took me back in time to when I was 15 and visiting for the first time.

(Small Rant: I won't tell you what it smells like when a retreating Oliso iron owner leaves a standard iron face down on the pressing table long enough to not only scorch its way through the protective layer of freezer paper covering the station, but deep into the canvas fabric and batting beneath - and in the process completely melt the Teflon coating on the iron soleplate killing the iron. Oliso irons make me crazy for this reason.  Bad habits when it comes to using standard irons!)

There was no mistaking that print!

But as I got closer, and inspected further -

My goodness!  Those fans are hand quilted!

Someone purchased the home dec fabric and made their own bedspread!

And once again I am presented with the opportunity to show you - whole cloth style - how Baptist fans are quilted around the outside edge of the quilt first, worked in toward the center and filled in however they fill in.

Filling in the center -

In this case there wasn't enough room to do another row of fans, so random lines about the same width apart as the fan arcs just fill in the area.

The maker stopped the stitches about 3/4'' away from the edge of the quilt, giving enough room to turn both the front and back toward the inside - the same knife-edge kind of finish I used on my hexagon quilts.

I will need to tighten up some stitching -

But this also gives more of an idea for binding in the knife edge way.  It might be the perfect finish for something that just doesn't work with traditionally applied binding.

The front and backing are each a polyester blend with poly batting as that is what was widely available in that era.

And yes - I couldn't leave this behind.  It's 50 years young, and still has a lot of life left, so I brought it home.

But before I did - Lola had to get her 2 cents in -

Yea, it's a good one!

I feel so connected to this piece of fabric - isn't that crazy?  Are there prints that you remember from your earlier life that still speak to you and take you back in time?

Oh, and speaking of cat approval - I want you to meet someone.

This one we have named "Tula."

(Because she has all the colors!)

Tula has been around for the past few months and maybe longer because there have been glimpses of "stray cats" ever since we purchased the house. I "KNOW" she comes across from the Christmas tree farm worker's housing across the street and up aways.

The other day three of us watched her saunter down the drive and come back over to beg for snacks.

The previous retreat, someone tried to adopt her and take her home, but you can't pick her up without getting mauled, so that didn't work.

We've decided if she wants to stay as an outside porch kitty that there is plenty of love to go around here.  It comes weekly with each new batch of retreaters who will shower her with with pets and scritches.  (But don't pick her up!)

My hope is that eventually we WILL be able to get her into a carrier and get her seen at the vet.  

The house across the street is migrant oriented, and I don't know if she has even been to a vet - she seems partly feral.  It looks like she has a healing back foot from some sort of injury.  I want to have her checked to see if she has been spayed? Last thing we need is a kitty family under the porch.

Right now her favorite perch is the old rocking chair by the kitchen door at the inn - and she is welcome to stay there as long as she wants, and help with the mouse/vole population as she sees fit.

Because we "technically" think she belongs to the house across the street, up the hill - I really shouldn't adopt her out to anyone.  That's what we are thinking anyway.

The March Quiltvillians are currently in residence and quilting up a storm - more photos and fun to come!

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Every word matters.

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Speak kindly and give encouragement!

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Vintage and Anvil quilt found in North Carolina.

Love that pink background!