Monday, June 24, 2013

Sunday Sundry 6-23-13

We went thrifting yesterday, more window shopping than anything, as I'm still trying to keep the inflow of stuff to a minimum.  I do keep an eye out for usable fabric, though.  Sometimes I find a bit of this or that, such as these pieces, which came home with me.

So I'm riffling through the remnants when Norm says, "Hey, you've got to come see this."

To which my first thought was, this better be good.  Because, you know, I'm looking at fabric, don't bug me with something dumb.

It was not dumb.  At all.

Looks like a ratty old chest, right?  But wait, there's more.  

Behold, the folding bar!

Isn't that cool?  Made by Rock-ola, which is famous for jukeboxes, but they made other things as well through the years, including the M1 carbine for the U.S. military during WWII.


At a hundred and a half, we left the bar behind, though we did hem and haw about it a little before walking away.

I spied these retro glasses, too.  Wouldn't they be awesome in the folding bar?  Loved 'em, but we left 'em. 

* * * * *
We live in the flight path of the medical helicopter that comes and goes from our local facility to transport critical patients to University Hospital in Madison.  I heard it land shortly before I went for a walk this evening.  My walk takes me right past the landing pad, and I got there just as they were loaded up and ready to lift off.

From an aeronautical standpoint, it is fun to watch.  But my thoughts were also on the family huddled outside the ER as it left with the precious cargo of their loved one.  

Nobody wants to have to ride in this bird, but it's good to know that when it's needed, it's there. 

* * * * *
If I don't paper piece the Flying Swallows block that I talked about in the last post (i.e., machine piece it instead), I may try English paper piecing some diamond shapes as a hand sewing project on vacation.  

I have been looking at vintage tumbling blocks quilts and others in one of my all-time favorite books, Quilts of Illusion by Laura Fisher.  I love optical illusion quilts!

Total quilt eye candy.  These are just a few sample pages.  Many of the photos are black and white, but that doesn't diminish their fascination, in my opinion.

It is mostly traditional quilts made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Amazing how these often scrappy quilts seem to come alive with movement and make me feel like doing a happy dance too.

Well, this was obviously another random brain dump, but that's the way it goes.  I'm dusting off the Sunday Sundry label for this entry.  It's been a while.

May your week be off to a great start!

7 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Hey, you're the second person who posted about finding a folding bar while out thrifting this weekend. Hilarious.

I love those retro glasses, although there were a weird number of them. Five? Coming up on those in a thrift shop would have just about done me in because they are SO cool I would have wanted to take them home, but having only five would have bugged me to no end, so what's an OCD girl to do?

Love your new fabrics! And all of those optical illusion quilts are so cool!

xo -E

Sara said...

Cool looking bar..I was thinking fabric storage maybe;) hehehe

The Quilts of Illusion book looks promising.

Shay said...

Im not sure I could have left the drinks cabinet there . It’s lovely! I can see that in my sewing room full of fabric or something!

The quilt with the pickle dish blocks is making me very happy ...I keep threatening to do a pickle dish and then realise it might get started and never finished ! Perhaps I should set that as another long term project and just go for it?

Sarah Craig said...

Oh, that "ratty old cabinet" would have definitely come home with me! Gorgeous!

MomWaldsPlace said...

Hubby went thrifting with you, and you found a cool "guy thing". Just think, now he will always want to go with you no matter how much fabric you look at!

Michelle said...

Isn't that old bar chest fabulous? But then I'd want to leave it open all the time so I could see the pretty glassware and bottles of alcohol. (I really think liquor stores and bars are pretty with all the different shaped and looted bottles.)

When I worked at a rural hospital, it was always cool to watch the rescue copter do its thing - but yeah the reason it had to be there really sucked.

Kevin the Quilter said...

That bar is amazing! I have a couple of friends that would LOVE it! This book is too cool! Lots of inspiration in it I am sure!