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!

Mint Green Beauty

I have been editing photos for an hour or so this afternoon, and my head is all swimmy.  In a good way, though, like when you've had a nap and woken up in that calm, semi-dreamy state, and now all you want to do is stand in front of the refrigerator and eat a few grapes.

Hey, what do you say I snap out of it and write a blog post already?

So here is the object of my affection, the heaviest thing I put into my cart at Goodwill a couple days ago (but don't hold that against it).

When I saw it, I had that rush of instant happy recognition, like when you run into a childhood friend you haven't seen in a couple decades.  Your entire countenance changes.  Bells ring.

I took a brief moment to moon over it there in the store aisle with my husband.  He knew it was a great find too (super clean, no nicks or scratches, complete with original manual and brushes!).  

Very soon, however, that giddy feeling dissolved into the next:  This is too good to be true; let's load this baby up, pay, and haul ass!  Fellow thrifter Vonlipi has a phrase for this kind of moment:  Start the car! 

Friends, allow me to introduce you to the Hermes 3000 typewriter from probably the mid-1960s.  Mint green, mint condition.

I know this machine.  I learned to type on this machine, i.e., one exactly like it.  (I had thought all along it was an Olivetti, but when I saw this one, I recognized it instantly.)  I know where everything is and how it all works.  This is the one!

Okay, so I'm a bit of a dweeb.  I taught myself to type one summer when I was in middle/junior high school (the things we did before the internet...).  I set this baby up on my study desk in the corner of the bedroom, propped up my mom's 1950s typing manual, the kind that's hardbound at the top, and pounded away.

f f f space, j j j space...

I typed up stuff like these recipe cards.  Dweeby and domestic.  Qualities every middle schooler wants to cultivate.

Please forgive the typos (chortening?).

In high school, my guidance counselor asked what I wanted to be.  Answer:  A secretary.  He thought I was aiming awfully low.  Perhaps he was right.  So I went to college, partied, and got a BA in Psychology with a minor in Office Administration.  Then I went to work as a secretary.

My best friends are secretaries (admin assistants, legal assistants, paralegals, whatevs).  They are some of the smartest people I know.

The Hermes 3000 is a Swiss-made typewriter.  It weighs probably close to 30 pounds.  I think the word "portable" is applied loosely.  You wouldn't want to be lugging this baby up the Alps.  Though if you did and managed to reach your secluded cabin without herniating a disc, you could type your novel with it, like Jack Keruoac did.  His Hermes 3000 sold at auction for $22,500.

I mentioned yesterday that this makes the third vintage typewriter I've bought in a year.  I think that makes it an official collection, at least until I decide to sell one or more of them.  Here are the other machines I thrifted in 2010, each of which I love only slightly less than the aforementioned.

This is a Royal typewriter, and the model is called Parade.  Made in the 1960s, I believe, in Holland.  

Such a pretty blue.  Well-made, solid, yet substantially lighter in weight.

If I were in the habit of naming typewriters, I might name this one Kate, after the woman who will have her own royal parade when she marries Prince William. Quite photogenic too, no?

Don't judge the next one by its cover.

The Olympia is a German-built tank of a typewriter.  And yet it is a thing of beauty, in an Arnold Schwarzenegger kind of way.

Slightly intimidating, what with the military green metal and spit-shiny black keys.  

Not to mention the upper body strength needed to heft it up onto the desk.  Bench press this machine regularly and you can probably drop your gym membership.  You will no longer be a girly-man.

You can read more about the Hermes 3000 and the Olympia HERE and HERE.  I don't pretend to be an expert on typewriters.

I just think they're sexy.