LIberty, NC Antiques Festival!

I played hooky! I mean, I REALLY played hooky!

Thursday afternoon I got a call from my friend Mary in Asheboro asking me to come stay the night, and drive to Liberty with her to see the Liberty Antiques Festival yesterday. One look at the flyer she sent and BAM...I knew had to go! I had no clue what to expect, but felt like I wanted a play day off, so I threw my overnight bag into the car, brought along some quilts to bind (Hey, she said she'd help me bind, so what's not to like about that!?) and off I went.

Asheboro is about an hour's drive from my house. Not bad...and it takes me on back country roads which I love. I love driving past plowed fields and old country houses with front porches, and little country gas stations with general stores and bait. I do HATE seeing the gas prices go up and up and up,but I wasn't going to let that stop me from driving to have some FUN!

The antiques festival started at 8am. I think we got there about 8:30 and the place was PACKED! Rows of tents and booths as far as the eye could see, all placed on this grassy pasture at a 100 acre farm. We were in heaven! I have SO MUCH eye candy and pictures that I can't post them all here. But it will give me blog fodder for a while, and hopefully goodies for you to come back and see what we saw.

Here are my bargains of the day! A saw you ask? Yes! A saw! I wish I could show you Mary's house. She has it decorated up SO cute with little quilts everywhere, and I was admiring the way she displays them. I asked her help in finding things that would give me fun ways to display quilts. She has a saw like this hanging in her kitchen, and a darling quilt draped over the middle rail of the saw with the blade pointing up. It is so rustic looking! So..I bought a beat up antique saw. :c) The blade is still nicely covered with newspaper so I don't shred myself or the other quilty finds...Price of saw? $15.00.


An old wooden bobbin and shuttle! This was a bargain and a half since it came WITH the bobbin in place inside the shuttle. I love stuff like this! Price of shuttle and bobbin? $5.00!


Piece of cutter quilt with incredible cheddar, turquoise (OH MY!) and home dyed brown with a bit of poison green on the edge, and incredible funky quilting in navy thread..perfect for accent piece or table runner, not to mention I LOVE the block pattern! Price of quilt piece? $15.00

Hand woven beat up rag rug runner to go in front of the porch swing on the front porch. Very old, very rustic, very musty, but a must have! A bargain at $20.00.



THE find of the day! Pine Burr Quilt in wonderful blues and reds with some well worn shredding, but still great for display and terrific graphic appeal! Price of pine burr quilt? $10.00!!!






Lovely 1920's beat up country style broken dishes quilt with lots of blue and pink. (Mary's hubby said...oh. That's A LOT of pink. Yep!) Price of quilt? $35.00


Really funky wire egg basket? This is Mary's push. She promised me I will love it to display things in, and have a little quilt tucked inside, and coming out over the edge of the basket. It's a one of a kind, and even the wire has a "dresden plate" pattern in it. I DO love it's rustic wonkiness! This was at the same booth as the broken dishes quilt. Price of funky basket? $35.00

Price of spending a wonderful spring day with a friend walking through a huge antiques festival? PRICELESS!! Thanks Mary, I had a great day and really needed a hooky day off!

So today I'm a bit sunburned....we didn't realize it would be so sunny and hot, the weather has just not been cooperating around here, until YESTERDAY! Next time we will bring our wheelie carts to pull our purchases. You can tell the seasoned shoppers by their carts and wagons! And we will remember sunscreen and a cooler with drinks and snacks, cuz it took all day. Next Festival? September 26th, 2008! I'm putting it on my calendar!

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Boxy Stars Sample..

I finished the lap sized version of Boxy Stars that I need for two workshops coming up! The last one I did went to charity..so...guess who had to make ANOTHER class sample? I like doing that when it's an easy quilt to remake (Ie..no figuring, I already know what to do...no brainer!) and I get to try different colors! This one I did color controlled, where the previous one was completely scrappy.

Pinks and browns....all pieces cut from 2.5" strips! (Yes, this pattern would work great with Jelly Rolls...)

It was a challenge for me to try to use up some outdated fabric as well as the new stuff I was wanting to slice into. I went to the 2.5" strip bins first..pulled everything brown and pink. Then I pulled 2.5" neutral squares from the squares bin. I MADE myself use those pink cutesy heart prints from 1987! And you know what? They don't look half bad when mixed with some of the new wonderful browns and double pinks that are out there. So the next time you make a scrap quilt, dare yourself to mix in some oldies but moldies with your new stuff. Let those old fabrics find a home. Better in a quilt, than still nagging you from the scrap bins!

I quilted this quickly with "Wild At Heart" panto by Willowleaf Studios. I love their designs. I really was never one for the cutesy heart stuff (Even though I still had that pink dotted heart fabric in my stash from 1987!) but THIS I like...I think I'll use the same one on the quilt for my sister's new baby. It will go great with the bright fabrics I used in it.

I've got 5 quilts to bind..and the next one to finish piecing for the book is a denim thing! The ultimate recycle quilt! I've been working very closely with my editor (she is AWESOME!) and I think we make a good team!

I'm thinking of binding this one in pink....but NO PINK HEARTS! In small amounts I can stand..but no pink heart binding, I just can't do it! :cÞ

Buddy had his 2 week post-surgery check up yesterday. He is doing WONDERFUL. His vet is such a nice man, and everyone at the office fawns over buddy. The splint cast came off, and we removed all the staples. I'm sure Buddy was happy to have those out. All seems to be healing just fine. 2 more weeks of splint cast, and he should be good to go. He may be limpy for quite a while after this, and I can tell there is some muscle atrophy in the leg,but that is to be expected. I'm just glad he is doing so well!

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Log Cabin Love....

What's not to love about this 1800's beauty??

This is a quilt that we found in the antique mall in MD. What I love about it...is that the "light" side of each courthouse steps block isn't really light at all...it's striped, with a medium or dark, and a muslin alternating...usually we think of log cabins as being light on one side and dark on the other...but this one is so striking the way the light sides are striped.

And aren't the fabrics just fabulous?? The price on this baby? over $900.00..so all I could do was pet it and drool and take pictures. Maybe someday I'll be inspired enough to recreate this quilt.


I'd really like to! It had the double print black/greens, and madders...purples...double pinks, it is just awesome!

Things are plugging along here. I've got 3 quilts to bind...a couple more samples to make. Instructions to finish writing, my nose is to the grindstone! I'm home until the 28th when I head off to St Petersburg, Florida!

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24 Hours of Booty!

Raising Booty for Cancer, that is!

Each year my husband Dave participates in cycling events to raise money for MS, Diabetes, or cancer research. Since moving to North Carolina a couple months ago, he has accepted the challenge of participating in "24 Hours of Booty". 24 Hours of Booty conducts annual 24 hour cycling events , which increase public awareness for cancer support and programs while raising funds to support the LANCE ARMSTRONG FOUNDATION and local cancer organizations.

I am asking you to help by supporting our fundraising efforts with a donation. Your tax deductible gift will make a real difference in the cancer community. It is faster and easier than ever to support us as a 24 Hours of Booty participant- you can make your donation online by simply clicking this link!

Click here to visit team Bootylicious! Here's to wishing Steve, Gene, Dave, Stephanie & Will a successful ride in 2008!

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