I can look at this for a LONG time

I've made a good dent in cleaning things out of our house. Now I've moved to the basement where many quilts are stored. I am finding ones I have not show you yet. Here's one.

Where block corners meet

Isn't it spectacular? It's a scrappy crazy quilt, made primarily of silks, with lovely embroidery of many colors around every piece. And ornamental stitching on a few of the blocks - especially where corners meet.

The pieces really are small - larger pieces measure only 5" x 3". I think you can see the quilt was assembled in blocks - they measure 10" - 11" square. The entire quilt measures 62" x 62". I do think the current back (a quilted synthetic fabric) was added later. The edges of it come forward to make the binding, roughly stitched in place using a feather stitch. It is tacked to the new backing through all the pieces in just a few spots.

Some of the wool is shattered, leaving only the stitching at the edges. And notice how the use of black gives the quilt some nice drama and depth. Wich I knew the story on this one.

Defying definition

Brave members of my stitch group helped me brainstorm names for this quilt today. Drumstick Dan, Lacross Larry, Rugbeater Ronnie, Jai alia Harry, all good. However, we are fortunate to be surrounded by ukelele players here in Lawrence, Kansas. This quilt could also be Sam Gives Up the Ukelele for Good, don't you think?

Not only are the figures mysterious, strange and slightly menacing, but they are all different. I've included details of a few. Some have claw-like figures extending from the one armed creature, some do not. Some have an odd bit of embroidery on the torso (pocket?) others do not. All are arranged slightly differently. The pattern is definitely not in the Encyclopedia.

Quilt details: it measures 65" x 79". The blocks are stitched together by machine, it is hand quilted in straight rows. Each figure is appliqued with a blanket stitch. The maker meant this to be viewed from several directions (from the foot of the bed and from the person in the bed) but it has barely been used, perhaps because the little person in the bed was too frightened by it to sleep.....

I found this quilt at a garage sale last summer. I actually left it behind when I first saw it, but when I came upon it at a garage sale at the same residence a few weeks later, I figured it must be fate and took it home with me.....

Garage Sale #1 Report

Having your own garage sale is a lot of work. But on this Monday after sale #1, I can report it was worth it. What you need to do (and what I have NOT been doing for years), is look at your stuff in this light - do I want to move it? That helps me. Things with limited sentiment that I have not used for a while went on to new uses.

The people who came by were so nice! And they seemed quite happy to carry away our stuff, we loved them. Guitars, a treadle sewing machine, a canoe, my entire collection of Quilters Newsletter Magazine - they are gone.
We enjoyed visiting with people who stopped by. A little girl arrived in mid-morning and I declared she had on the best outfit of the day - a pink sundress and PINK boots! Turns out she/shy Celia and her mom Theresa were people I'd been on the lookout for. Gillian, who reads my blog, emailed them from Sydney, AUSTRALIA about the sale (after she read it here).

Here's my textile tip from the sale. Take a yard sign left behind by a politician or a contractor and make a fabric envelope to slip over it. I like to put signs at each end of our block to point the way to the SALE. This did the trick AND we can use them in upcoming sales too. I stitched the letters and arrows in place so we can use them for a while....

Looking ahead: we plan to have a TEXTILES garage sale in September when it is cooler. We'll have quilts, fabric, more books from the bookshelf, ephemera..... now you know what I will be doing the rest of the summer!

Deaccessioning

I have a big basement. That is how I got to collect so many thrift shop quilts.

This summer, i'll be deaccessioning some of my textiles. I'm moving! To another house - in the same town - that I like very much. But the basement is smaller.

Which is probably a good thing. My collection will need to shrink accordingly. We'll enjoy seeing some of my things together as they leave the house.

Like this. I love little tea towels with inanimate objects that become alive. Mr and Mrs. Pot and Pan with their friends, the old Potatoe Head twins. Who thinks these things up?

We ARE having a garage sale. This Saturday. It will be the first of several. There will be some textiles.....come by! Look in the local newspaper for the ad that says Collectors downsizing/moving....