Treasure Hunting

Honey, Stop The Car

I am still not feeling settled in the new house.  Love the house and area - it's just making all the little details comfortable that takes time. My hand sewing spot, desk - the personal spaces.  That will come with time and making adjustments like lighting and re-arranging furniture.
So...Saturday we went treasure hunting.
Sometimes a little fresh air and shopping is inspiring.

We went to a local metro suburb with a real Main Street.  Breakfast at a small diner was lots of fun. Egg, toast and coffee $3 with free parking.

The big decision was, where to start?
A shop we've been in before, or a new one?

A new one (to us) it is...Off we went.

Once in the door we knew there was great potential.

I think we went to five or six shops, or as we sometimes say - "Antique Malls" and ran out of time.  The shops close at 5pm on Saturday.

This shop had much of what we look for; textiles, books, tools and small furniture.

The staff was very friendly and willing to open as many glass cases as we wanted. We didn't have to hunt for anyone and wait for keys.



By now, you might be asking - what did you buy??

see that cheddar and indigo quilt?

I am often asked what does your husband collect?

I think I will leave that to a separate post.

It was fun to find a connection between his collection and sewing.

I did see a few quilts.

This quilt was tempting.

Visually appealing - it was worth a closer look.

I always flinch when I see a quilt folded on a rough ladder. I usually tell the dealer they are diminishing the value of the quilt each time it is scraped across the rungs for viewing...

This shop had quite a few interesting textiles. A paisley shawl that was in such great condition!

I digress, you want to know about the quilt!

The fabric in the piecing is older than the backing and binding. The setting and sashing fabric is an unstable loose weave.

A few of the browns were shot, that doesn't always put me off though.
There were later repairs in two blocks done with polyester double knit!

I am trying not to buy quilts where I make myself believe I have time to do the restoration or conservation work on.

It makes a beautiful 'folding display' for the right person.

I enjoyed seeing it and laying it out for closer examination.  I am sure someone will give it a great home.

I was also tempted by this framed advertisement.

It is kind of disturbing! I decided I couldn't look at it on a regular basis.  Plus, Velma would be so offended.

Hasn't our sense of good, even appropriate advertising changed.

We did break for lunch - yummy pizza.

It was at this point I went back and had a second closer look at the star quilt.

It was still there, but I didn't love it more with a third look.

I did find some treasures.

As a collector, I am always looking for ways to safely display things.

These glass boxes are great to keep things clean and in clear view. I have to be careful with sun so the mirrors don't cook the contents.

The glass door has a small latch, we call it the Velma catch.
Yes, she would open it if she could.

This box is about 24" x 12" and can sit or hang. I will set it on a shelf.







This primitive folk art footstool came home with me.

The plywood box is covered with wood thread spools cut in half.
The wood was stained and varnished.
Under the needlepoint top, "padding" was created with folded newspapers. I cannot see enough of the paper to get a date.

The needle point is primitively stitched in wool.

The top tacks don't match, but I think that adds to the charm.

We also bought this piece of United Nations Kent cloth.

It includes both selvages, clean and over 40" long. I have another piece of it, but I think this one is larger.













This small trunk came home with us too.

The inlaid top is terrific.

It is about 24" long.

The top is hinged but there is no lock.
No interior compartments or tray.

I'm going to use it to store my inking and signature stamps supplies.

I bought other small treasures that I will share on another day. I hope you enjoyed shopping along with me.

While we didn't have time to visit all the shops - we are looking forward to going back someday when we need a break!

Have you been treasure hunting this year?
Dawn

SVBAQ Wreaths

Shona and I have both finished our wreath blocks for the Shenandoah

Valley Botanical Quilt Along

I enjoyed the wild look 

of the flower springs 

popping off the circle

I need to add the finish date

under my 2015 start date

Shona finished hers

with some time to spare - she

must be starting a new project!

See many more blocks in a variety of colors and 

fabric lines on the blog HERE

and on the Facebook page HERE

Happy Stitching!

Dawn

Double Wedding Ring Quilt from Wisconsin

Friends and I have decided to update our quilt collections.  Asking, are we really going to finish, mend, conserve...??  Or, would this be better off enjoyed in a new home?  From time to time I will be showing you some of these quilts and listing them in the Easy Shop. HERE.

This double wedding ring quilt has a great scalloped pink border.

It is hand pieced and hand quilted.

Size: 98" x 77"

It does have a few opportunities!
My plan would be to bind it removing a couple rows of the hand quilting where there is some wear.

The quilt was owned by Lucille Lund, who taught third grade in Chippewa Falls Wisconsin for more than 40 years. It is unknown if she actually made the quilt. She did have quilt tops and other quilts in her linen closet at the time her estate was dissolved.

The quilt is treasured by the family who would prefer to see it restored and not cut up.

We played it on a queen size bed and it does drape over the edge lengthwise. If it were placed the long side the width of the bed, it has a deep drape. Pillows at the head of the bed would take care of any gap. It would also be adorable on a girls twin bed.

I counted about five losses in the pieces.
It appears it might be the same red/brown print.
They are not noticeable and would be fairly simple to conserve or restore.

You can also see the detail in the quilting.
The pink and green four patches have a four petal flower in each square.

The melon shape has five linked circles.
Each nine piece arch has five lines of quilting.

The center has a grid, with the four petal flowers repeated in each corner.

Lovely fine hand quilting in all white thread.

I can imagine the instructions were to clip the curves and turn under the raw edge of the border to finish the edge.

This was done with great care and with the tiniest of hand stitches. However, the clips were a bit deep in many cases and with the stress of use, in several places they have torn.

This is where I thought an applied binding, added about three lines of quilting in, would return it to beautiful condition.
As I write this, I think well...it wouldn't take me THAT long to do.

However...the decision has been made - off to a great new home it should go.

It can even be used as a white whole cloth quilt. The back is beautiful with wonderful tiny hand quilting stitches.

I didn't see any spots or holes, nice quality cotton makes me wonder how she got such time stitches.
In bright light the faintest of pastel colors shows through, including a pale pink shadow where the border was applied on the reverse side.

This quilt inspires me to do a little hand stitching everyday, it adds up.

A great quilt, looking for a new loving home!
Enjoy,

Dawn
UPDATE:  Pending Sale - The Quilt has a New Quilt Loving Home.
Visit our Easy Shop HERE.