Halloween at my sister’s.

Halloween at my sister’s.

Originally uploaded by Q_uilted T_hrifted

This is a shot of inside the trailer behind the tractor.View the hayride here.

We are at my sister’s today to go trick or treating on a haywagon behind a tractor. My sister has been having this gathering for over 6 years now. It is a great time because so many friends and relatives come that we only see one time a year.

My GREATniece Elysia

On the drive here I stopped at a few two antique stores and two quilt shops. I picked up 4 fat quarters of white on white and one bundle of sunflower fabric. YES, for my sunflower quilt. I also purchased a Sun Bonnet Sue quilt that was $32.00 on sale for $20.00. There are 3 blocks that have mold spots on them. I could try replacing the muslin fabric on the blocks or I could reduce the quilt down to a crib quilt size and replace the 3 blocks with the mold. The quilt is currently 4 blocks across and 5 blocks down.

I love this. My nephew just took this photo on his cell phone. Sent it to my yahoo and then we downloaded onto this site. It’s amazing what you can do these days. The video of my GREATniece was done the same way.

This is my nephew. He is also my Godson and the oldest of 10 nieces and nephews. He has his 3rd child on the way. Tomorrow we will celebrate his son’s 9th birthday. His son is a year older than mine…..funny how that works. Pat made the link piece under the chestplate. He has been working on it for a few years and finished it today. It is made of thousands of metal links that he put together with a pliers.  It weighs over 30 lbs. It is really a cool piece.

Vintage Star Quilt

Vintage Star Quilt

Originally uploaded by Q_uilted T_hrifted

This is the before picture. It was just very mildly quilted with a loose stitch. It was not difficult to take it apart. My sister and I were at the cabin last week with our families and my Mommy!!!  Mom scared me with how frail she seemed. She is 81 years old and has slowed down so much these past few years. I get to see her again today at a family reunion on her side. It is near the cities and will be fun because we usually go UP NORTH for most events. This time everyone is coming to a suburb near the cities. We will be at a lake and have sooooooooooo much fun!

Last weekend was wonderful. The week before I met my sister half way between our homes and picked up mom for my son’s preseason football game with the Minnesota Gophers…….Mom had a blast. He played in about every 7th play. He mainly was special teams on the kick offs and kick returns….he is the runner who goes lightning fast down the field. The fourth quarter he played some defense. The next day at practice the head coach asked….. who’s this guy? while they were watching films. They called out my son’s name and he said. “This is what we want to see”. It was great praise because Kyle is a transfer student and walk on to the team. He took the risk to go from D2 to a D1 team. He has to redshirt this year so that game has to hold him over until next year.

Back to quilting! We met at an antique store and went in and looked around. I came upon this pink quilt. I am not much for pink but it fascinated me. It had lumps and bumps all over the inside! I was anxious to take it apart. I love to research old quilts!!!

This is what I found! The wool batting balled up inside. Some of it was stuck to the stitches. The quilt was just so very lighly quilted in loose stitch one time around the stars. My mind keeps saying to me “quilt this in red thread”!

I think red stitches just accent these stars so well! As you can see there is some work that has to be done on this quilt. There is even some sun damage on one side in the pink background……and emboidered poem in the area maybe………

I can’t explain to you how excited I get at these discoveries. At one time this was one big sheet of batting. Maybe it was even home made batting.

It seems there is always one fabric that causes problems in a quilt. This star is probably in the best shape and my favorite of all of them.

Note how this star used two different green fabrics. Ginghams, florals, polka dots …..I would say made in the 60s. What do you think?

The two layers are seperated now. I have loads and loads of batting. In fact I just purchased a roll of batting at the thrift….and more thread….and a small loom….and a bag of fabric with some finished yo yos inside….and another quilt top!!!

This one is very crudely made and I am in desperate need of some vintage fabric to repair some of my other quilts. This one will do the trick. I will post close ups in my next post and photograph it as best I can before I take it apart. The center block has baby fabrics….a definite baby theme going on and then all of a sudden shirtings, ginghams, vintage print fabrics….it’s off the chart!

I am off to get ready for a family reunion today. Our cam-recorder is in the shop getting repaired before the warranty expires. The side view screen hasn’t worked for a long time! I know there will be plenty of cameras. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Comment if you stop by. Love to hear from you. T

Snowball Quilt

Snowball Quilt Waxahatchi #3

Originally uploaded by Q_uilted T_hrifted

Antique Quilt top purchased in Waxahatchi, Texas.

It is too cold to even make a snowball. Not just too cold today. It’s been too cold the entire month. I heard a few years back of people using a spray bottle to make the snow wet enough to stick. If this weather continues that may have to be the method we use.

You can NOT go through winter in Minnesota without building a snowfamily and/or snowfort and/or snowballs. A good snowball in the face is the best. That’s when the snow melts and the water trickles under your turtleneck and down your neck and on to your back. Winter is not complete until you have experienced this at least once a season!!!

I L-O-V-E winter. That is why I live here. I am so excited to get the coldest month of the year behind us! ONE MORE DAY!!!

This quilt top was such a great find. Sometimes you see the same fabrics appear in numerous quilts but this one has such unique ones. It makes it very special.

Here is one for Jude. She is creating a new quilt called COMA this year and doing a lot of study with dots.

I like fabrics that are directional with lines. The first here is sewn together kitty wompus (sp?) the second is planned and forms an X

Two more pleasing blocks. The colors are spectacular!

This quilt has a lot of stripe and plaid fabrics ! It’s great.

I have to say this is just about my MOST FAVORITE-EST fabric ever…..Safety Pins!!!

In my retirement I will have plenty of tops to quilt to keep me busy!

Merry Christmas Everyone!/Dresden Plate

 

I woke up this morning with a very nice memo…

 

Schmap: Houston Photo Short-list

Hi Theresa,I am writing to let you know that one of your photos has been short-listed for inclusion in the sixth edition of our Schmap Houston Guide, to be published mid-January 2009.www.schmap.com/shortlist/p=27565576N02/c=SJ20191735Clicking this link will take you to a page where you can: i) See which of your photos has been short-listed. ii) Submit or withdraw your photo from our final selection phase. iii) Learn how we credit photos in our Schmap Guides. iv) Browse online or download the fifth edition of our Schmap Houston Guide.While we offer no payment for publication, many photographers are pleased to submit their photos, as Schmap Guides give their work recognition and wide exposure, and are free of charge to readers. Photos are published at a maximum width of 150 pixels, are clearly attributed, and link to high-resolution originals at Flickr.Our submission deadline is Tuesday, December 30. If you happen to be reading this message after this date, please still click on the link above (our Schmap Guides are updated frequently – photos submitted after this deadline will be considered for later releases).Best regards,Emma Williams, Managing Editor, Schmap Guides www.schmap.me/emma.williams

Has anyone heard of this company and have any words of wisdom as far as giving permission for them to use my photo below.

 

It is a very nice photo. I love seeing the back side of an antique quilt.
There is such a story in each stitch  and possibly in each fabric.

We had Christmas brunch with a sister-in-law and her two daughters. Mara is doing a report on Oprah Winfrey and she said that her Grandmother made dresses out of potato sacks. These fabrics could easily be feed sack fabrics….or a potato sack fabric. I explained to her how women chose the grain and potato sacks often by the fabrics that pleased them or were needed for a dress or apron they were sewing.  That most likely would have been the 30s or 40s. Here is a little history and pattern on the Dresden Plate.

      When I was young in the 60s I remember the potato sacks were gunny sacks made of burlap they would hold 100 pounds of potatoes.  We used them for gunny sack races at birthday parties and family reunions!

Waxahatchi Quilt Top #1

Full shot of Dresden Plate purchased at a quilt shop in Waxahatchi, TX while attending the Houston International Quilt Festival a few years ago.  I purchased four antique quilts during the trip.  Three of them including this one are tops. The fourth is a full finished quilt.

Originally uploaded by Q_uilted T_hrifted

Sunbonnet Sam

purchased at an antique store in northern Minnesota.

These are some of my favorite blocks

I love this quilt. It is probably the maximum my budget has ever allowed me to pay for a quilt. It was an “I gotta have!” I have passed up many a quilt at antique stores due to the price….now that I have been in Flickr I think I will carry a camera and see if I will be allowed to photograph the quilts that I see and that I am drawn to but can’t afford. I have to draw the line somewhere…but a photo…just one little photo to preserve the memory!

there is history in this quilt…to me it means this quilt NEEDED to be used and the user sewed up the layers in order to keep the back from fraying any more. It was being utilized even in its beauty. A lot of work went into making this top….a lot. This is a “Should I, Would I, Could I”. Should I take the stitches out? Would I even think of removing the back and replacing it with stronger fabric? Could I find that large of a piece of replacement backing of the same vintage? This will remain just the way it is at this time. I have many other projects I am working on. I enjoy it just the way it is!

I really like this cat fabric.

The back of this quilt is shredding. The previous owner machine sewed through all layers to prevent the back from shredding even more.

In need of repair.

Price Tag is still on the quilt

Originally uploaded by Q_uilted T_hrifted

Price Tag is still on the quilt

I like how many ties are in this quilt. Many tied quilts have just one tie in each corner. This one has 4 ties on each side of the block. The blue ties coordinate very well with the  blue borders. I think originally this quilt had no machine sewing on it.

Q_uilted T_hrifted

My most recent quilt purchase. I like going to antique stores and walking around. Occasionally I find a quilt I just have to have. It usually speaks to me in some way. This one had an orange fabric in it that kept calling out to me.

 

 

Summer 2008