One Two Buckle my Shoe

      I recently attended a week long Writer's Conference in Green Lake, Wisconsin. I was tired as I set out for the six hour drive home, alone. My book on tape was putting me to sleep.  I had to stop often to stay awake. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I pulled over to stretch my legs near any antique shop or book store.
     Some time ago I decided not to add any more vintage quilts to my collection. Avoiding antique stores makes that easier but you guessed it. I found a quilt I had to buy. My 'rule' has a few exceptions - one being finding something I like that is so inexpensive that I can't pass it up.
       A dusty, cluttered little shop inhabited by an elderly lady reading a book in the middle of the floor, her little dog beside her, didn't look too promising. I scanned the room and wondered if I could politely make a quick exit. But then I thought, "As long as I'm here... you never know"....
       Up a rickety flight of stairs, the ceiling so low I had to crouch, I found a little crib quilt, not too clean, binding gone on one side and the rest faded and frayed. A tiny blank piece of paper about 1" x 1/2" was attached to the bottom of one corner with a straight pin.

 I couldn't read the price; she couldn't either. I waited.

"How about four dollars?" she said looking up at me.

I brought it home, worked on a couple of spots, and pushed it into the washing machine. Much better!

Binding Removed 

I took off the binding and found a good blue in my stash of solids. I trimmed the rough edges a bit and applied the new binding.










     My sister noticed that the animals were outlined in cross-stitch and thought that was unusual. That detail had escaped me and when I checked my other embroidered crib quilts I found she was right. None are outlined with cross-stitch. (I'll talk more about that and show my other examples in my next post)

The embroidery is done on a pre-quilted white cotton background as were many kits. Some work at hiding the threads in the batting layer.
This maker just left the ends of the threads showing on the back.







Here it is, rebound and refreshed ....

33" X 44"

Very sweet, don't you think?

ETC.

Here's a pair of pillowcases I also was unable to pass up on a different road trip. I do have a lot - I swore I would buy no more - but kitties? I didn't have kitties!

Rules are made to be broken.

Agreed?

State Birds and Flowers Revisited

Recently I received two emails that revived my interest in continuing to write this blog.
 In May of 2011 I wrote a blog on a state birds and flowers quilt. Can that be?
Stop. That was FIVE years ago!
I need a minute.
Okay. I'm back. Phew.
Click on the link above to read about a quilt I saw displayed at an interstate rest stop. I knew it was a vintage pattern or kit.  That led me to research the pattern and write a blog about it. Now, years later, the information was of help to two women at about the same time. Both had some parts and pieces they were trying to make sense of.

Jenne Scigo sent me photos of her box of pieces and the progress she's now making on completing the top.

Coming along!












Linda Miller found a set of embroidered state blocks her mother had embroidered. She put the top together and wondered how it should be quilted. She did some research. The photos in my blog helped her see what the pattern recommended.
Both were grateful to be able to move forward on these projects that got interrupted for one reason or another. It's satisfying and rewarding work.
(Linda, if you are still reading my blog I can't find the photo you sent via email. If you'd send it to me again I'd love to add it to this space!)

How many partially done projects do you have in boxes, bags, drawers and cupboards? Isn't it lovely to think that someone, sometime in the future, will make the effort Linda and Jenne did to finish something you started with all the best intentions?

So I'll continue to post quilty things having been reminded that things on the internet are there forever and people are researching things every day.

Next: Recent addition to my crib quilt collection