New Acquisition

Just got a new quilt for my collection.  Not sure what the pattern is, I will have to do some research on it.  I really like this pattern!  The fabrics are so pretty and soft.  It is probably from the mid to late 1800's.  The fabrics are really soft and pretty, everything is in shades of blues, tans and reds. Some of the tans were probably green when the quilt was first made and have faded over time.  The only problem is that the binding is starting to fray but not badly.

Inner order of red and white triangles.  Love the little baby triangle shown above.

Close up of one of the blocks.

New "old" quilt

I don't know where the last few weeks have gone.  There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done that I need to.  I was  out of town for our spring break helping my mom out with various projects around her house.  Needless to say I was exhausted when I came back and needed really needed another week off to recover.  This has also been an incredibly busy week at school this week, we are getting ready to start our state testing next week.  This year I actually have to administer the test, it has been years since I have done that.  I usually just proctor for another teacher, not this year.  I am giving the test to a small group, really small one student.

I have also been incredibly busy dyeing wool.  I am really excited that my wool business is taking off like it has.  I am looking forward to the summer when I can concentrate more on it.  I have done  very little sewing, but the borders on Snowbound, (which I will show later) and did some mending for my hubby.  I have obtained one new/old quilt.  I am trying to build up my collection of old quilts.  This one is from Pennsylvania the late 1880's.  The colors are absolutely beautiful.  I has never been washed and it looks like it has never been used.  The backing fabric is really nice.  It doesn't have any batting between the layers so it is very thin.  I would love to recreate this one in different fabrics. 

Retreat fun

Last weekend was the Silver Thimble retreat in Ellijay.  It was my first time and did I have an adventure.  The sewing was wodnerful.  I meet some wonderful new firends from Alabama, North Carolina, and Florida.  It is great to see what other people are making and get ideas from them.  The pillow below was  made by Maxine from North Carolina using yoyo's and precrocheted flowers.  I definitely see one of these in  my future.  It was too cute. 

This cute selvage bag was made by (teacher) Linda.  There were three Linda's in our group.  She made her own pattern and had all of the selvages color coordinated.  Another really cute idea.

I have been trying to move all of the photos around, I give up, you will have to get a mixed up recap of the trip. 

A little snow was predicted on Saturday, maybe an inch.  This is what we got, about 5 inches.  Several of us left on Saturday  morning to go to the quilt shop in Blue Ridge, while there it started snowing.  After leaving the quilt shop we headed to Starbucks, after a fabric fix we had to have a coffee fix.  Little did we realize that it would come a blizzard while we were getting coffee.  By the time we were on the road back to the lodge the roads had become iced over and were undriveable.  Jane was driving, and boy did she do a great job of trying to get us back.  However the ice and snow was too much.  Carla and I decided to get out and walk since our cell phones weren't working.  After we left, Jane decided to try to get up the hill one more time and ended up in a ditch.  Luckily her car is ok and everyone made it back in one piece, even the fabric.



More Snow, loved these snow covered chairs.



This is an antique quilt that Bonnie brought with her.  It was gorgeous, made of of all silks, and silk velvets. 

Kristie in the sewing room.  We are really going to miss Kristie, she is moving to West Monroe, LA next week.

Surprise find

Last week while at home with my mom I was surprised to find a quilt top made by my great grandmother.  The blocks were hand stitched in the 1930's by my great grandmother and stitched together in the 50's on the machine by my mom.  I had no idea that my mom had this.  It was really neat to listen to her tell me about all of the fabrics that were used in the quilt.  Each block was made from fabric that originally had been used in clothing or was left over from making a piece of clothing.  After seeing this I asked my mom if there were any other quilts and she brought out a huge stack of blocks.  There were about 50 blocks, you can see the stacks below.  I asked my mom why she didn't sew them together, but she said she wasn't going to waste her time.  I then asked if I could have them and she said of course she wasn't going to do anything with them.  How lucky!!  I did leave them at her house, to pick up the next time I go home.  I made sure to wrap them in tissue and put them in a box with my name on it, just in case something happens. 



I love the plaid and floral fabric in the block on the right.  There were about 10 from that same fabric.