Month: April 2021

Old Fabrics and a Cow

We went to Lakewood last weekend and I found a few vintage treasures.

Some delicious homespun fabrics and a cow came home with me.

The definition of homespun fabric is fabric made at home; fibers spun and/or woven at home.  Synonyms include plain, unpolished, unsophisticated, simple, rustic.  Well, those words fit the life I love.

The simplicity of design is part of their appeal, I think.

The wear and the stains in these fabrics speak to me of people who used them in their everyday life.

These homespun fabrics were in Shelby’s collection.  Shelby’s son and daughter-in-law were delighted to sell them to me, seeing that I appreciated these pieces of history as Shelby had.  I didn’t know Shelby, but I like her.

Who else do you know who would delight in finding that the vintage fabric they bought was patched?  I was thrilled to discover this … more stories in the cloth.

And, this worn French tea towel came home with me, too.  Look at those vibrant stripes after washing a gazillion times!

Kristine was not at her booth yet – we were early browsers – but her treasures spoke to me

old clothespins in a BLUE bucket…what’s not to love?

I came home with more than the fabrics I bought, though.  I always find ideas to send my brain spinning…doors, buckets, buttons, even a beekeeper….

I’ve written about visits to Lakewood before: The button lady post is here. Why I love beekeepers is here. And another cow is here.

On the Road Again

Once the Covid vaccines were in our bloodstreams for two weeks, Jim and I headed to an antique mecca.  We went on a weekday, took a picnic lunch, and distanced ourselves from people.  

But we didn’t distance ourselves from the joy of antiquing.  Seeing items like these toys trigger memories and lead to writing forgotten stories for the next generation.  

Seeing color combinations and delicious fabrics always stimulates my quilt design.

Before Covid hit, a favorite old cotton mill filled with antique booths had closed.  We were saddened by that, but delighted to learn that it is now occupied by new owners, filled with upscale decor items and some antiques.  The exterior is spruced up, too, making a visit there a new kind of thrill.

You know I love blue and brown.  You know I love toile.  You know I love nice bows.  Well, who knew I would find them all in one place?

This sweet little train case was waiting for me…a brown case lined in a toile with blue accents, and a beautiful bow.  It had to come home with me.

Now it’s ready to be filled with indigo overdyed fabrics and trims to complement the lining.

School Days

One of my projects completed in 2020 was this School Days quilt made of wool and entirely hand stitched.

I had a delicious length of wool in a subtle plaid (thank you, Mary, for this glorious gift) that I wanted to use for the background.  I love the schoolhouse block, but it’s traditionally a pieced block.  I didn’t want to cut up this wool and sew it back together, I wanted to appliqué.  So I refashioned the traditional pieced block into an appliqué pattern.

The lines in the plaid meant I wouldn’t have to mark anything if I made the schoolhouses the right size to fit within the repeat of the plaids.  So a little measuring and planning, and I was ready.

I selected 20 different wools from my collection and ironed freezer paper templates on to the squares.  From that point on, I had a perfectly portable project needing only needle, thread, and thimble to work anywhere.  

I even laid the houses out on the background to get a pleasing distribution of color and pinned a swatch of fabric in each house’s position so I would know what went where.

I stitched each house to the wool using a whip stitch and thread (usually perle cotton #12) to match the house.  

When that was done, I layered it with a piece of hand-dyed linen on the back, pinned it in place, and began quilting.  I didn’t use batting – I thought the bulk of the wool-on-wool quilt was enough with a lightweight back.  I used 12 wt Aurifil thread for the quilting and found it a delight to pull though the  buttery wool fabric.

Again, I had nothing to mark, just stitched along threads in the plaid. It was sheer delight to have one spool of thread, a pair of scissors, a needle and thimble, and pick up and sew.  Relax, relax, relax.

Having no batting meant no where to hide the knot, and “popping” wasn’t easy either.  So, in another connection to past methods, I left the tails loose as if the quilt were “tied”.  But my ties are on the back, not the front.

When it came time to add a binding, I didn’t.  Add one, that is.  I cut the backing 1” wider than the top, folded over, folded over, stitched down.  That’s the way our grandmothers did it, and now I know why.  It’s lots easier than cutting, pressing, stitching by machine with mitered corners, then hand stitching down.  I will continue the latter process on most quilts, but bringing the back to the front on this one was a pleasure.

This was one of the quilts I carried on our photo trip to Indian Springs.  Some of these photos were made there, some in our front yard.  The finished size is 36” x 48”.

Reflections

Our most recent outing did not involve photographing quilts, but the photographs I took will generate some quilts, I’m sure.  Buildings, reflections off water, birds, and being in the woods bring inspiration.

This little shack made me wish I had brought along a quilt. Next time….

We drove to Juliette, GA, the home of the Whistle Stop Cafe.  The old structures there were quiet early in the morning, and posed for me to capture them without people in the way.

Fog was thick over the still waters of the lake, making for some nice reflections.  A fisherman unknowingly posed for me – the only way it would have been better is if he had been wearing overalls.

The stop in Juliette was to check out reports of swallows and warblers building nests.  We saw some activity, but conditions were not right for photographing them.  On we went to Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge – one of our favorite places to visit and photograph wildflowers.  

Every time we visit this place, I am captivated by the grasses.  They grow so tall here.  They are always different, but always remind me of combinations of embroidery stitches.

A butterfly loves these lilies, too.

We saw some exciting botanical specimens.  A clump of Atamasco lilies captivated me in the sunlight,

newly emerging ferns and their fiddleheads contrasted in bright green against the backdrop of a recent controlled burn at the refuge,

and the dogwoods throughout the woods were stunning!

When we got home, we discovered our own Atamasco lily in the back yard.  We moved it here with us years ago, but it had not bloomed until this year.  There’s more sun in that space in the past year since two big trees came down, so maybe that explains the surprise.

My companions for the day were photographing birds.  I got a couple of lucky shots of the bird they were stalking, but my purpose was to enjoy the glorious day.  That I did.

This little Louisisana Waterthrush was a happy little guy playing in the water.