Help Me Name This

I just finished this mini-quilt for our upcoming guild quilt show. We have a silent auction at the show, with the proceeds going to local charities. Mine will benefit the Douglas County Aids Project.

It's an interpretation of a weaving by Helga Barry. There was a picture of her work in Fiberarts magazine several years ago and I saved it. Sarah of our local fabric shop, Sarahs Fabrics, provided an extra challenge. She gave out fat eighths of fabric for us to use. This quilt uses 2 pieces from Barbara Brackman's latest reproduction line, Old Fashioned Calicoes. I had a good time pawing through my scraps for the rest. There are some vintage pieces - the border is leftover from some outfit we made in the '70s. And you'll note that the wavy pieces are snipped-off hem pieces from old men's shirts.

Sarah will display the challenge quilts in her window during the upcoming shop hop at the end of March. And then the mini-quilts will be auctioned at the show, April 21-22.

I need a snappy name for this. Hmmmm - the death of Davy Jones reminds me of what a big-time Monkees fan I was in the 1960's (but Micky was my favorite because of his naturally curly hair)......Another Pleasant Valley Sunday? Daydream Believer? What do you think?

Seen at our local thrift shop

I've gotta share. This is the dumpster outside my favorite local thrift shop, our Social Service League. A hangout for local artists is right down the alley (The Percolator) and that is our Arts Center on the right side of the photo. How I would have loved to have seen the artist toss paint onto this dumpster. It made my day, the vibrant colors splashed across what is ordinarily a rather grim object.


Look at this one too - it appeared last summer. I heard a tablecloth was spray painted there - look at the loveliness left behind.....

Thrift is IN

Our booth

I used to work as a newspaper reporter. I am saddened that the daily newspaper at my doorstep is continuing to shrink. I value it being there, but miss the extra reporting we used to enjoy.

So I'll report on a local trend. The local antique mall, on our main street downtown, is a bustling place. My brother and I rented a small booth there last month, in an effort to continue to recycle our stuff. Larry the owner said business was booming. He and Gwen, his co-owner/spouse have a theory. People still want to SHOP - they just don't want to spend as much money. So they come to the antique mall and carry home a very affordable and unique item, instead of heading for the big-box stores and dropping more cash.

We've had the booth for 6 weeks now and we've made more than expenses AND have enjoyed seeing what sells. Gwen and Larry think practical items are popular, along with kitsch....

I put some good quilts there, and they have not sold. But a few less-than-perfect, i.e. THRIFTY quilts sold quickly.

AND - as of today, the mall is FULL, meaning there is no booth space. Larry has run the mall for 20 years now - this is the fullest he has ever seen it. AND - last Saturday was their biggest day EVER.

I'm heading there soon, to leave more things. Times are good to be in the thrift business.....

Searching for Frances Fisher

Here's what we know: my friend Merikay became the owner of a bag of stitched items. She knew they came from Indiana. A set of placemats was among the items. They all have a label on them, saying they were stitched by Frances Fisher.

So of course we googled Frances Fisher Indiana.
This photo was there, showing a 1940 graduate of Rockville High School in Indiana.

That time frame could be right.
Here's another clue: a pattern piece inside:

It sure would be fun to know more about Frances. I love her style, she made each of these placemats different. They are so funky!

Orange

Get a load of this! Can you imagine this as a full-size quilt? I can. But it's not, it is a placemat, vintage 1960s. It has no lining but look at the backing, below.....

It has a label.

The hunt for information about that will take another blog to explain, trust me. Stay tuned.

Happy Jan. 15

An email from blogreaderA jolted me out of my Happy 2012 revery today.

"You know, if you have a blog, your duty is to update it regularly.  :)  I'm sure that is implied in the contract or something," she wrote.

Ahem! Well - we HAVE been busy here.

Admiring sunsets (and that they are getting later and later every day now).....

Enjoying a little downtime with the kitty.....

 

My life has changed. I got a Nook Tablet for Christmas. Now when I am reading a normal book, I find myself tapping on words (on the nook, you can look them up that way....).....

And tomorrow my life will change even more. I'm getting a booth at the local antique mall. Still downsizing, downsizing.....

More soon!

A Scrappy Thing

You might remember a quilt we made this fall, the Crossroads quilt that went to the local AIDS project auction.....

Well, thoughtful stitcher A scooped up all the silky tie scraps after we finished putting the blocks together and put them in a bag for me to take home. You might remember I love scraps and proclaim there are no scraps too small to save.

I like to make little gifts for my friends this time of year. I stitched together the scraps and made a coaster for everyone in our stitch group, so we would have a little remembrance of a very good quilt.

I will give them out today - here is one I am keeping. It measures 5" square and is backed with a bit of upholstery fabric.

Ho Ho HO!