Quilt Retreat, Family, Missouri Star - a Busy Week!

What a crazy, wonderful, BUSY summer it’s been!  And over too quickly!!

I have been lucky enough to have my granddaughter Lauren over every other Monday this summer. We look forward to our sewing days, and I have shown you some of the cute projects (tote bags, zip pouches, skirts) she has made. 

Our last sewing day was the day before she started school. We had already bought the supplies (pattern, fabric and all necessary hardware and notions) to make her a backpack for school. So, we got busy on it as soon as she got here.  There were a couple things that I did do (sewing the bottom to the sides/front/back). But it needed to be extra secure, so she sewed over it a second time to add stability.  She did 95% of the sewing, but I helped her cut things out (to save time) and read and interpreted the directions for her.  What a great team!  And look at this lovely girl and her lovely backpack!!

There are shoulder straps, a hanging loop, a big central compartment with drawstring, and three roomy exterior pockets.  Even the bottom has sturdy Timtex in the bottom to add support for carrying books. She has been using it for 2-3 weeks now and loves it.

And the best part, besides being cute, is that no one else has one like it!!  Lauren, I love you so much and am so proud of you!!

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OK, so have you ever gotten your dates mixed up? You know, thinking it was one day/date and it really was another? Sure, all of us have. But I have raised Losing Track of Time to an art form.

I just *knew* the Crazy Quilting International 9th annual retreat was August 27-30. I had my plane tickets and plans to visit family all arranged. Almost everything was packed and ready to go. I had planned to arrive on the 24th, early, to visit my 90-year old uncle and family, then to drive to Missouri Star Quilt Co. in Hamilton, MO, and then spend my last 3-4 days at the retreat.

So, Liz Rudder, a CQI moderator and the retreat organizer, called me on Wednesday the 19th and asked me when my flight was landing.  She knew I was coming in early, and I said “Next Monday”..... her reply, “But the retreat starts tomorrow!”  Long story short, I quickly changed my reservations (a $113 mistake, but it could have been much worse), rearranged my schedule, called family, frantically finished packing, etc. Made it there the next afternoon (Thursday), several hours before the retreat started. WHEW! I was hoping that was not an omen of how my week was going to be. It was not.

What a wonderful retreat!  Like last year, it was held at the Heartland Retreat Center in Parkville, MO.  Did I get pictures?  A few, but none worth showing except this one. The grand prize bear that Lauri Burgesser made (she does one every year).

CQ bear made by Lori Burgesser

And it was wonderful to see my friends again, plus all the new ladies who joined us for the first time!!  The food was GREAT (they hired a chef and it was a 180-degree turnaround from last year) and the weather all week was wonderful, mild and not at all humid.

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After the retreat, I rented a car and drove south 3-4 hours to visit my 90-year old Uncle Bela and Aunt Maria, plus Emma, my step-cousin with hydrocephalus and retardation for whom I made this quilt.

Tia Maria and Uncle Bela

My uncle Bela was an opera singer and tailor in Hollywood for quite awhile in the late 1950’s - early 1970’s. He accompanied Bob Hope on a USO tour to Viet Nam to entertain the groups. He performed in the tribute concert to Mario Lanza after his (ML’s) death. I remember going with my family to see Uncle Bela sing once at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles.

Uncle Bela has scores of personalized autographed pictures of him with stars like Lloyd Bridges, Joe DiMaggio, Elton John, Lorne Green, Michael Douglas, Lana Turner, Ronald Reagan and Dick Van Dyke (and lots more). And Jayne Mansfield; he was friends with her husband Mickey Hartigay (also Hungarian). (But he didn`t know their daughter Mariska stars on Law & Order: SVU).  Anyway, many of those stars were lucky enough to have suits made for them by Bela. I can remember visiting his Hollywood tailor shop (on Sunset Boulevard) and seeing suits in the works for Max Baer (Jethro on Beverly Hillbillies) and Lorne Green (Ben Cartwright on Bonanza).

So, enough of the family bragging, LOL!  We went into Branson, Missouri one day for a tour and a ride in a Duck (DUKW) - the former amphibious vehicles of the type that stormed the beaches of Normandy in WWII.

Countryside around Branson, MO

An old Duck (DUKW) land/water vehicle

Oh, and before I forget, I wanted to show you some pictures of this antique tapestry (or wall hanging) that my uncle had (and tried to give me, but I declined). But I would like to find out more about it for him. He says it is a couple hundred years old and European. I know it is at least 150 years, presumably French, but not much beyond that. It is about 60x60” (guesstimate) made of wine colored velvet and backed with a yellowed fabric, likely cotton (?)  No shattering of the fabric anywhere. 

tapestry pictured lying on the carpet...

There is intricate gold work bordering 3 sides of the piece and beautiful gold metallic trim surrounding the inner panel and outer edges (as well as comprising the hanging tabs). The gold work is tarnished, but in excellent condition.

Below:  One of the side medallions. The other side had an identical one. 

The back. Notice how the tassels are buttoned to the backing. And the gold bullion fringe...

Close-up of one of the tassels.

Can anyone give me any information about this type of piece in general? Or suggest a place I might go online (or call, or visit) that can help me with an appraisal of this piece?

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Finally, after I tearfully left my uncle and family (and Bruce and I do plan to go back and visit them next year), I had a delightful drive through the beautiful Missouri countryside.  After about 4 hours, I arrived in Hamilton, home of Missouri Star Quilt Company, and the hometown of James Cash Penney (JCPenney).

The building murals recently added (this spring/summer) were delightful, but my pictures turned out badly, so you will just have to take my word for it).  The town was picturesque, and the fabric shopping was sublime. I managed to (cough, cough) boost the local economy quite impressively.

All in all, it was a great week, full of laughter, fun, hugs and tears, sunshine, fabric and memories. But the very best part was coming home!

Art Nouveau Block for HIdeko

I’m planning to get some pictures up on my blog from the CQI Retreat last week in Colorado.  Although I didn’t take any myself, I did get a disk full of pictures from Ingrid, who said I could use them.   Watch for those next week...

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I finished my Art Nouveau block for Hideko in the car on the way home from the retreat.  But I had to wait two days for the air soluble marker to dissolve.  Grrrr...  I knew it would, because I had tested it and already used it in other areas on the block.

Anyway, I loved the picture of the woman playing the samisen.  It was part of a series from a Japanese artist that Hideko had found in a book. For some reason, Maya Angelou’s book "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" had been on my mind, and I felt as though a bird would be the perfect musical accompaniment.  So, I made a bird in a cage singing to the music.  He’s dreaming of his freedom.


At the Retreat, I had asked Hideko if those were raindrops or falling leaves in the picture, and she told me cherry blossoms.  Of course!  So I bought the button with the cherry blossoms in Niwot, Colorado when we went to this great shop called Berry Patch.  Tons of ribbons, laces, buttons, beads.... OMG.... an embellisher’s Heaven on Earth....  But I digress...  Hideko was actually in the shop with me (there were 8 of us, to be exact), so I had to be discreet, LOL.   

I had fits with the silver thread (blending filament) that I borrowed at the retreat and ended up having to re-stitch most of the cage with Kreinik cord on the way home..  I thought a birdcage would be as easy as a spider web, but for some reason, the lines would NOT stay straight!  I guess we will have to use our imaginations!



These are the four blocks in this round robin for Hideko (Art Nouveau I at Crazy Quilting International).  Aren’t they beautiful??

Now I’m off to update my Etsy shop and begin my fall listing frenzy on Ebay.  So if you’re in the market for some vintage lace, golden dyed (with potassium permanganate) lace, or some vintage fabrics, look me up.  I’ll be adding more over the next week - along with as many other vintage goodies as I can get photographed and written up.  So much to do, so little time!  :-)


Take care,

What a Weekend!

... and I'm not even talking about the FAMILY part of it!  On Friday we drove past a yard sale in the neighborhood, on Saturday we visited the Salt Lake Farmers Market (scouting a good location for my booth next week), and then that afternoon we went to a GREAT estate sale.  And I have the treasures to prove it.

I've been busy sewing aprons (among other things.  I'll have pictures later this week).   For now, take a look at my studio.  

It looks like a cyclone hit it  like a creative mess, doesn't it??  Which is why I was not going anywhere near the "Where Bloggers Create" thingy this last weekend.  Heck, I would've been run out of Blogland!   There are over 40 aprons, adult and child, matched fabric and denim bibs, ready to sew.  And here is my furson Boomer, who "helps" me by sleeping in a box of old quilt pieces.  Better there than on my work-in-process piles!

Thanks to my dear friend Gerry, who gave me a great denim-bibbed apron last fall, I made lots of these aprons for the Christmas gift and boutique season.  (See posts here and here).  She also gave me a lot of floral home decorator fabrics last February (witnesseth it here).    So, when Bruce & I stopped at the yard sale on Friday after dinner (on our way to our favorite "Date Night" locale - the grocery store, LOL), I couldn't resist digging through a box of home decorator fabrics.  And I kept finding more and more that would make great aprons.  $5 later the box was mine.  And I also got a box of 100 pairs (or is pair the plural of pair?) of plastic gloves.   Lifetime supply of dyeing gloves!

Above is just a sampling of some of the fabrics from the box.  I spent a good part of the weekend washing and ironing them.

These shabby florals and toiles just make me swoon!  The hydrangea print at the bottom is a Laura Ashley.

Some of these (like the bottom one) I'm not so crazy about, but they'll all get used or passed on to my DIL, who is sewing her brains out for the Farmers Market, too.

And speaking of the Farmers Market, Bruce and I did go on Saturday morning and we were SO disappointed.  I must rant.  The (Salt Lake) Downtown Alliance, who organizes the Farmers Market has always been a choosy about who they let into the Market.  THAT is good.  In addition to the farmers and natural product booths, they've always included crafters whose products are handmade.  That, too is good; I hate the resellers of imported crap.  Those vendors who either weren't juried in to the Market, or who (like me) never tried and only have a Sidewalk Vendor permit, were allowed to set up booths at the south end of the park, where the regular Market traffic would visit.  The rules for Sidewalk Vendors were the same; items must be handmade.  Unfortunately, it was never monitored or enforced, so in past years, junky dealers and resellers gave them a black eye.

This year, an Enforcement Officer was hired full-time to be at the Market.  And since the area formerly designated for the Sidewalk Vendors was taken by a performance stage, all Market activities were spread out all over the park.  This disjointed set-up takes away a lot of the atmosphere of a community market.  And to top it off, although there are lots of empty areas in the park, they moved the Sidewalk Vendors a block away from the Market in spite of the enforcement, and the now-equal quality of the Sidewalk Vendors.   Those poor vendors were not doing well; their only foot traffic being those of us who parked in the free parking garage nearby.

It'll probably be an exercise in futility to set up there next week, but I do want to try it once.  In the meantime, I'm going to check out the local Murray City Farmers Market and probably participate in the Wheeler Farm boutiques, too.

But, I did find a wonderful booth called Twisted Spiders.  I had seen them before at Wheeler Farm, and there, like at the SL Farmers Market, their booth caused a sensation.  This is what I bought:

Check out her website for more of her lovely creations - pins (brooches), magnets and more.

Tomorrow, I'll show you my estate sale finds.  Tonight, I'm taking a rest from the sewing machine and reading more of my current favorite book:

See you tomorrow!

Recent Sale-ing Finds

As regular readers know, I love to go sale-ing.  Estate sales are my favorites, but I'm also a regular yard sale and thrift store visitor.   It's impossible hard for me to steer by an antique store without dropping in.  Here in Utah, we don't have the "flea markets" that are common in the east and midwest.  Here in the west and intermountain areas, we have Swap Meets.  I think it's basically the same thing.  

Anyway, last Friday afternoon, my daughter Megan and I had some time time to spend together.  So, after my Weight Watchers meeting and lunch together at a little Chinese restaurant we found, we visited a couple sales.  The first was an estate sale up in the Avenues area of Salt Lake and the second was a 200+ family church "rummage sale" with proceeds to benefit their Bell Ringers.

I've never seen so much furniture at one sale as I did at the church rummage sale!  Almost a city block's worth out on their front lawn area.  The only furniture I bought was a $15 solid oak rocking chair  (no picture) - it's all that would fit in the back of my Prius.  I bought it for London's mom Heather, but she's already found one for herself since the last time we'd talked.  But Bruce loved it, and is going to clean it up and use it.  Happy ending.

I have a weakness for vintage embroidered linens, and found several pair of them at the estate sale.  The embroidery was impeccable, so I bought a pair of each of the following patterns.  And what a steal of a deal it was!   Some of these will likely be turned into little girl dresses for my booth at the Farmers Market this summer.

I thought these simple silver-plated bowls were interesting, and since I got them for a total of $3, why resist?  They look wonderfully shabby as-is, so I may leave them tarnished or may clean them up.  Who knows.  Probably will sell them and let someone else decide.

And then there's the silverplate.  I was telling Bruce the other day that I'd seen (and added to my idea files) several cute projects done with vintage silverware.  I mentioned that I may watch for a good coupon to get a metal stamping set on sale, and he replied "No!"  Then he ran to his laBORatory, rummaged around for a few minutes, and emerged proudly displaying not one, not two, but THREE different metal stamping alphabet sets.    The man is a true packrat gem, and boy do I love him!!

There was this pile of vintage fabrics at the rummage sale, and I grabbed it up.  Correction:  The retro floral print on the left came from the thrift store last week.  Three wonderful yards of heavier-weight cotton.  I may use one yard to do an apron (picture it with coordinating modern polka-dots...) and will probably sell the other two yards (contact me if interested).   The other three are yummy, and of various textures.  See the brown and gray print in front?  It's a 36" cotton (?? must do a burn test) from the sixties and has the most glorious soft hand to it.  There are just over two yards, and along the selvage is printed "Everfast Fabrics, Inc.".  I've been doing some research - they're still in business in the PA area.  Anyway, once I touched it, I fell in love....

Finally, some vintage in-package napkins, loop braid trim and some millinery leaves.  PINK  (are you drooling, Pam??)

Tomorrow is Wednesday, and that means Seniors (55 or over) get a 20% discount at the local Savers thrift store.  I haven't been there for two weeks, so I'm due for a visit.   And I'll be happy to take my discount - a small consolation for getting older.   Luckily, I still have to ask for it because they always think I'm younger!  HA!  I used to hate that when I was 21.....

First Steps in Fashioning "I Love Paris"

I am not an expert in purse making, but I thought it might be fun to share with you my process in creating  “I Love Paris” - my purse (see previous post) that placed second in the Crazy Quilting International Annual Purse Contest.  It became a personal design challenge for me, as I had decided that this was the third and final time I would enter the contest.  

The first time I entered, in 2008, I won first place with Deco Diva.  It featured lots of “glam” in dusty pink and gold, and was crazy quilted on both sides.  It sported a simple cord handle, which always bothered me.  Last year I came in second with my Purple Purse (it never really had a name).  That purse was CQ’ed on one side only; the back was the inspiration fabric from which the color scheme was derived.  Again, the handle was plain cording, and it was lined in silk and featured A LOT of vintage lace. 

This year I knew I wanted pink and green colors, a better shape and a different style of handle.  The pink and green colors came about when I decided to use some yummy vintage French trim I’d purchased some time ago in an antique shop.  The hobo shape made for a simple, workable style, and ANYTHING was better than a plain cord handle. 

In going through my pink and green fabrics, I found a green taffeta with embroidered fleur-de-lis, a pink and green harlequin check, and two vintage pink fabrics – one with pink scrolls on it that reminded me of French wrought ironwork seen on lampposts, bistro sets and balconies.   The French theme hit me like a brick, and gave a real purpose and direction for all the elements that would follow.

With these general ideas in mind, I drew out a basic purse shape in pencil on muslin.  I felt the simple curves of a hobo shape, plus the Paris theme, called for curved (read: feminine) piecing.   Once I was satisfied with the design, I traced over it in marker.   The second side was done in the same manner, but with larger, simpler shapes; I knew that there would be an Eiffel Tower in there somewhere!  A seam allowance was added around the edge, and the pieces were numbered A, B, C, etc.     

To help me in piecing, I knew I’d need a way to reconstruct the pieces once traced and cut, so I wrote out a stitching order.   For example,  (1) A to B,  (2) C to D, (3) AB to CD, etc.   (See the first picture to follow that...)   Then I just matched the pieces to the fabric I wanted, adding a ¼” seam allowance around each piece, and cut the pieces.  With the help of my stitching order, piecing was a cinch. 

There was no backing at this point, so I cut out two pieces of muslin to match and basted them around the edges to the pieced sides.  I knew that once I started stitching seams and adding embellishments, it would end up having the same support properties as piecing directly onto the muslin.  

My next step was to madly being gathering any potential components and specific ideas, which I'll talk about in my next post, along with the beginning motifs and placement issues.  


Until then,

Estate Sale Finds

These are the treasures I found at the estate sale I went to last weekend. I wanted to get these posted to share with you for a couple reasons. First is that I hope that besides having a wonderful Thanksgiving with family or friends, that you have some "down time" or "me time" and are able to relax and read blogs for awhile. I consider this wonderful eye candy for those of us who love fabrics, linens, and all things related. :-) Secondly, as I've mentioned before, I want to start reselling most of my estate sale treasures in my Etsy and Art-Fire Shops, which are both just skeleton shops right now. These pictures were taken for the blog, and they are not artfully staged. The items have not been washed and pressed as they will need to be before being listed for sale in those shops. However, if you see something you might be interested in, or if you'd like more information, please contact me by email. And alot of the items I've shown (and some of you have drooled over) in recent posts (over the last several months even) will be put up for sale in those shops. That green needlepoint purse comes to mind. So ask questions or make me an offer.

Lots of wonderful hankies in very nice condition, two crocheted potholders (I love to add those to tea towels or aprons) and a wonderful needlepoint glasses case.

Look at that yummy embroidered pink batiste pillow casing! And that tablecloth with 4 napkins is beautiful. My favorites, though, are those two silk hankies. I've got detail shots of the hankies & tablecloth set below.

The hankies below are not only hand painted silk, but the edges are burned. Burning silk is part of our November Challenge on Crazy Quilting International, so I was especially pleased to find these vintage examples of the technique.

I couldn't resist the screen-printed farm scene on the napkin in the grouping below, although it probably only dates back to the fifties. There's another potholder in there, plus lots of interesting embroidered pieces.
Check out that very Thirties-looking woman holding the flowers!

Here's a close-up of the embroidered lady.

I don't know why I found this dress interesting, because it is in pretty shabby shape. But I can tell it was once beautiful, and the embroidery is so feminine. The front skirt is actually a little apron that is attached over a layer of the same fabric underneath.

The tablecloths in this picture are probably cutters (stained and holey), but the embroidered images are so sweet and ready for picking to embellish crazy quilting, aprons & pillows.

And you know me and aprons..... couldn't pass these beauties up! There are seven half-aprons, and the four nylon/chiffon ones on the bottom row all appear to be unworn.

The red one still has a Christmas tag on it that says "To Margaret From Aunt Hazel".

Next, here are the pillowcases. There are a pair of the pink rose design, a pair of the orange floral, and the other two are singles.

Again, there is some lovely embroidery!

The woman whose estate was being sold was the Margaret from the red apron. She had several porcelain plate collections. My favorite was the birds from Lennox. I purchased two of the dozen or more that she had, and each one was exquisite. They are gold edged, numbered and limited edition plates and they remind me of my friend Gerry K who taught us to paint these very birds (cardinals and goldfinches) at the CQI Retreat in September.

Surprisingly, for me, I was thoroughly enchanted by some of the vintage baby clothing that Margaret had saved from her children. I would judge it to be from the late 1940's to the mid 1950's.

The above picture shows a brushed nylon kimono, my least favorite piece. The three back sweaters are wool; one is badly stained (haven't tried cleaning it yet), another has been shrunk (shrunken?), and the third is very nice. The front lacy crocheted one is probably a wool blend.

These sweet kimono (pictured above and detail below) are my favorites. They are a soft nylon, which is what my own christening gown was made of. The "baby" embroidered piece on the top left is actually a linen baby pillow case.

For lovers of ephemera, I found two unopened rice paper napkin packages, probably from the sixties. They sold then for $4.50 each (imagine what the same thing would cost today!). The framed embroidered picture will be one of the items in the embroidery category of my giveaway (more about that later in the post).

These are sooooo Fifties! Those little birds (and flowers) are candle holders. Those plus the Alice in Wonderland napkins will be part of the ephemera giveaway.

ARE YOU STILL WITH ME???? WE'RE ALMOST DONE!!! lol

And who doesn't love vintage Christmas ornaments?? These are probably from the sixties, possibly the fifties. They're not mercury glass, but they're definitely vintage. I even found the red gift box charming!

I'm developing such a passion for soft pink. It must be that I'm getting older - pink goes so well with gray hair, I hear. LOL (not that I'd know anything about that!) And the chippy, timeworn look adds to their charm.

And finally, we have beaded fruit, birds (probably from the sixties. I have some great Christmas birds from the fifties in my personal collection; these are newer). The bell is probably forties or fifties, the clip bird about the same.

Whew! Quite a haul, eh?? DH got some tools, too, so he was happy (but then, he's always happy! He's such a sweetheart!)

Finally, I will announce the "Something for Everyone Giveaway" by Saturday. There will be 6 (yes, six!!) prizes in these categories (but I reserve the right to "tweak" them a bit): Crocheted, Christmas Fabrics, Sane Quilter Package, Ephemera/Collage, Vintage Fabrics & Scraps, and Vintage Trims & Lace. And I'll probably stuff a few hankies in somewhere, too.

So, I'm off to pull and group the Giveaway items. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I'll see you back here this weekend!!

Hugs,