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!