Saturday, October 27, 2012

Declutter Report No. 2 - Finding Grandma's Quilt

Good news:  More things went "Out the Door" this past week, including the two remaining vintage typewriters, the Hermes and the Olympia, sold to a nice gentleman who sent me two prepaid FedEx shipping labels, which made my life that much easier.

And bonus, all the materials required to properly pack them cleaned out a nice space in the basement.  I also have the table from the previous post now listed on Craigslist.  We'll see what happens there.

More eBay sales, shipped out this past week:

As far as the basement sewing room, progress has been slow, but I did get that laundry basket and futon full of prewashed fabric pressed and folded, another pile of fabric bagged for donation (mostly poly/cotton blouse weight fabric with small florals, and other stuff not suitable for quilting), and some other miscellaneous tasks.  The problem is where to go with everything.

I got a bit distracted when I found this quilt top in a big plastic tote that I was getting ready to move out of the way.  It was made by my Grandma Lillian, probably in the late '60s or early '70s, I'm guessing. 

There are so many different weight/quality fabrics in it, and some of the green color from the sashing has transferred to the white.  I won't be trying to finish it.

Still, I love the pattern and love looking at the vintage fabrics and remembering my dear grandma.

This block is my favorite.  Love that funky tan swirly print with the orange!

Does anyone know the name of this block?  I'm going to try to find a pattern and make a block just to see what it's like to sew all those curves and seams.  Looks like a fun challenge.

Back to the basement cleaning, soon after repacking the quilt top back into its box, I was distracted by something shiny (literally).

One thing led to another and soon I was pulling fabric and cutting and sewing.  But beyond this little sneak, I really shouldn't say anymore because...Christmas is coming!


I have been very good about avoiding the thrift stores lately, but I did find a deal at Walmart that came "in the door" — a new pair of quilting gloves!

Yeah, so they are actually football receiver gloves, but let me tell you, they are wonderful for quilting with all that tacky palm surface, and more style than my Machingers. Put these babies on and you feel like you're ready for anything that might be thrown your way!

9 comments:

Vicki @ DottyJane said...

The fabrics from the quilt sure bring back some memories. Very familiar looking!

I do appreciate a little Jimmy:)

Elizabeth said...

Wow. That is certainly an interesting quilt. What will you do with it if not assemble it?

And yay for more clutter turned into cash! I love that leather jacket!

And I'd forgotten you do stylish for quilting gloves. The machingers pick up lint and transfer ink so easily that new pair looks old and abused in no time at all. I'm going to have to remember to look for something cooler, like football receiver gloves.

That little sneak peek you showed is very intriguing. And that off-white fabric looks very familiar ;).

Fun post!

xo -E

P.S. I did not listen to the Led Zeppelin. My speakers quit on me and the new ones haven't been installed yet.

MomWaldsPlace said...

Rit Dye makes a color stabilizer that I am told will set the color on anything even batiks. It would be a a shame to leave your vintage blocks apart. They are FABULOUS!

Kinda wondering how you packed those sewing machines. Talk about heavy!

Karen said...

Love that block design by your grandma! I have an old quilt with a block and will try to copy it for paper piecing. You went out the door with another great pile of stuff!

Anonymous said...

I just love finding old quilts - they seem so much more interesting! I looked through my Quilter's Album of Patchwork Patterns and couldn't find that exact block. Because I am a total freak, I drew it up in EQ7. If you'd like, I could send you a PDF of the templates.

Sarah Craig said...

Had you thought of making pillow covers with your vintage blocks? They really are very very cool - just like those quilting gloves!!!

Shay said...

Woah! Holy 70's fabrics Batman. Im partial to a little retro myself and I think those fabrics are wonderful!

Cyndi said...

"Ramble On" is MY favorite Led Zeppelin song, and it's not for the fretwork by Jimmy Page. My ears found, and fell in love with, the bass background theme by John Paul Jones. I've been hearing it that way for decades. Now I'll have to listen to it for Page!

Lynette said...

What an awesome find! Your grandmother's quilt top is a gem, green bleed and all. :D Did you ever decide to quilt it up, after all?