Just for fun

A new treasure came home today:  I got this bookcase for free on our local Nextdoor group.  

I have fantasies about a dollhouse -- we'll see.

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Sunday Thrift Shopping

LEO - Your energy might be a bit off-balance today, but that just means that you need to focus on the past and maybe get a little retail therapy. You might score an antique in a thrift shop, for example.

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So yes: good suggestion! 

I found a teapot, an apron and a dishtowel that will be happy in my kitchen during March.

And also a souvenir spoon rack that is perfect for displaying my hankie collection.

We used to go thrift-shopping often when we lived up in the mountains.  Hadn't started back to it since we moved down here because of Covid, but we're finally feeling like the quarantine crisis is ending and we can start taking nonessential excursions again.  Life rolls on ...

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Saturday

Neighborhood garage sales, a Memorial Day weekend tradition here in Big Bear.

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A desk for Lucci

Last fall we stumbled across a vintage school desk at the thrift store.  Jess had been admiring them on Pinterest, so we instantly snapped it up for Enzo.  We delivered it down to their house last October when we went down to visit the Pumpkin Patch with them.

 Enzo definitely enjoys using it.  

We started seeking a second one for Lucci.  He'd just turned one when we got the first desk, barely walking, so at that time there was no urgency.  But now that he's all over everything, having a second desk for him would be good -- those little guys are pretty territorial.  So we renewed our search this summer.  Last weekend, on our garage sale and thrift shop "treasure" hunt, we stopped at all the antique stores here in Bear Valley, but there were none to be found.  I chatted with Sharon, a long time friend and owner of one of the antique shops, and she said she hadn't seen any for quite a while but that she'd keep an eye out for one while on her buying trips.  

The doorbell rang yesterday morning, and lo and behold: it was Sharon -- with a perfect vintage desk that she'd located for us! A total surprise, plus she was dropping it off here at home rather than phoning us to come down to the shop!  Wow, talk about the perks of living in such a small town!

So we have our second desk, all ready for Lucci's upcoming birthday!  I'm so delighted at how this all worked out, and also had a lovely time chatting with Sharon about our front wildflower garden.

  

Life is good :)

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Garage Sale Treasures

We shopped some garage sales over the extended holiday weekend.  Didn't find as much as we sometimes do, but these items came home with us:

Wood clothing display hanger -- this must have been a retail store accessory 

Rolling pins from two different places.  I didn't know I was collecting red-handled rolling pins, but I guess

 I am now :)

Almost-the-same tins from two different sales, because they are quilty and red.  

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Saturday

We found a vintage school desk for Enzo at Doves thrift shop!

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Stash Report - week 32

We found the third grandchild rocker for the front porch at a garage sale!

Made a back for Square Dance this week, so that's another 4 yards out!

Used this week:        05.00 yards
Used year to date:                      164.75 yards
Added this week:      02.00 yards
Added year to date:                      32.75 yards

NET USED 2018:                                         132.00 yards

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Friday

It's garage sale weekend here in Big Bear.  One of our favorite finds was this child's rocker.  We've been looking for a second one since Luciano's impending arrival was announced more than a year ago.  It'll be painted white and added to our sitting-on-the-front-porch collection. :)

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RSC17: July - blue

This week's swap meet treasure:

2 yards of BLUE vintage Indonesian batik, $2

RSC blue units - toadstools, mountains, Ls

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A new treasure

I came home from the thrift store today with

**A Good Find**. 

This hand pieced quilt top, circa 1900, was only $15!  It's approximately 70" x 82".  The ends are a bit uneven -- I guess those bias-edge diamonds got away from the maker.  But it's in really good condition, no stains and the fabrics are intact and seem strong.  The prints are all very typical turn-of-the-century shirtings.  

When I inquired about the price, the proprieter said "1899" and I asked if that was the price or the year it had been made.  I guess she must have thought I was complaining about it being too expensive.  She said "Oh, the price ... well then how about $15?"  Umm, sold!

I probably won't quilt it ... I think I'll just hang it over the stair railing for the patriotic season.

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Because one can never have too many sewing machines ...

One of the activities we always enjoy over Memorial Day weekend is garage sale shopping.  It's a REALLY big event here in Bear Valley.  We make lots of impulse purchases, and enjoy socializing with our community. 

This year I ran across a vintage sewing machine that had to come home with me. (!)  It is exactly like my Mom's machine from the 1950s, the one I learned to sew on.  I don't know what happened to hers -- it  disappeared after I left home, many many years ago.  But here was another one, in excellent running condition, and at the right price ... and even though I already have **several** sewing machines, I now also have a Singer 15-91 enjoying a place of honor in the bay window in the living room.  The memories it is calling to mind are priceless!

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A big smile!

 

Today was an EXCELLENT package-delivery day!

Two rolls of batting AND

 

a dear little Featherweight machine!

 

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Winner!

 

Woohoo -- look what came in today's mail!

 

I won this book last month at Starwood Quilters Book Club, and then during the holiday hubbub I forgot that it was on its way.  I can't wait to settle into my chair after supper tonight and start browsing.  Thank you, Susan, for running the Book Club, and for offering opportunities 

to win great prizes!

 

If you enjoy reading AND quilting, click over and

join the fun!

 

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Winner!

I'm so tickled!  Last night at our monthly Historical Society meeting, I won the door prize -- this set of Christmas dishes!!  My house is RED, I live in the middle of a PINE FOREST and I love CHRISTMAS, so these are just perfect :)

 

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New-old quilt tops

A very successful day garage-sale-ing ... these vintage 30's tops were only $10 each!  All three are hand pieced and are in clean/excellent condition.  The Dresden Plate may have been washed at some point, but the other two are "never used."   I'm absolutely delighted to have run across this trifecta of 30's quilt designs, all bundled together in a carton, tangled with some unravelling crochet yarn, next to tools and odd vases and mugs!!!  

Double Wedding Ring  82 x 82

Dresden Plate  72 x 85

Grandmother's Flower Garden  80 x 97

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Garage sale discovery!

Today I came home with this Depression-era summer quilt.  It's 82" x 96", backed with muslin but has no batting.  It was made by the seller's grandmother, but "nobody wants it."

The baskets were hand pieced, then appliqued to muslin squares with black running stitch.  The edges are also finished with a line of black running stitch all the way around.

There are some age spots and stains, but no tears or fraying -- the fabric seems to have good integrity.  The muslin still feels like it has sizing, so I'd bet this quilt has never been washed.

I paid $6 for this beauty, and feel like I got a wonderful treasure!  I'll press it and get a better photo soon.

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Thrift shopping again

Our dining room has really high ceilings and big empty walls.  While we were out hunting for interesting storage pieces for the bathrooms, we happened to run across this big fun old mirror that looked like it would work nicely in the dining room.

It's VERY heavy and hung very high up.  I like the way it starts to fill that big sloping empty space up there.

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Thursday

We made the rounds to several of our local thrift shops this morning, in search of an **interesting**  framed mirror to use in the downstairs powder room after it has been redecorated.  Didn't find the right thing yet for that, but I did come home with this $10 treasure:

Schoolgirl's Puzzle

The fabrics in this quilt appear to be circa 1900 - 1920.  It's hand pieced and hand quilted.  Some of the fabrics show age deterioration, but there are no gaping holes.  The binding has frayed away most of the way around.  It's about 72" x 80".  If you look carefully, you'll notice that the block in the center of the top row, and also the one on the lower right corner are turned the wrong way.  Also, two of the red blocks have the small triangles facing 'the other' way.

This is just the kind of quilt I try to create when I'm making a vintage/repro quilt project!  It's scrappy, with random color placement.  The pieces and the backgrounds fabrics include a wide variety of prints, and some are repeated while others are not.  The workmanship is good, but not perfect -- the maker was a real person, not a machine!

I hope someone will enjoy one of my quilts someday as much as I'm going to enjoy owning this one!

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GRATITUDES

1.  Got the museum newsletter finished up early this month!
2.  Gulls circling over the lake
3.  Date night -- fish tacos and horchata for supper, and then Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close at the movies

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Black Friday, Big Bear Style

I'm NOT a **shopper**, and anyway the only big store we have up here is K-Mart, so no real Black Friday action ... but I did take a bag of stuff over to the thrift shop yesterday, and came home with this very nice quilt!!

It's wool and velveteen, and in perfect condition, and was only $5.  If you notice along the left-hand edge, there are partial blocks, so I bet it was originally larger, and was cut down and rebound.

So that's my Deal of the Weekend :)

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Saturday

I had good luck with books from the thrift shop today -- this pile was only $2.50

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Finished up the quilting and binding on the rusty 9ps, and it's already on the couch being enjoyed by the dogs :)  It was hard to get an OK photo because it's pretty big.  I clipped it up to the porch outside, but then I got those branch shadows ... anyway, this is the best I could do with it today.

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I'm especially enjoying using Night Flight in the sunroom this month.  This is a hand quilted pineapple-style log cabin quilt I made more than 5 years ago.

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