Out and About ~ Part One: Emerging

As April draws to an end I am thinking back on how excited I was, looking at my calendar notes in late March and planning ahead to April. The weather is pretty awful but the world is stirring, fun things to do and see after winter's hibernation. The big flea opened! Sadly it poured rain, but I am still hopeful for a visit or two this spring.  Instead I have been back to the church flea which has proved interesting.
I've gone on Friday and also on Monday:  is it worth getting there early on Friday?;  do they restock on Mondays?, and so on. (No they don't restock or mark down on Mondays, too bad; it's okay to be early on Friday but not necessary, the ladies unpack all afternoon.)
I am limiting myself to $10.oo budget. Prices are high and they do not allow haggling. Looking for materials for etsy  items mostly. I got the green glass candlestick, for a velvet tomato pin keep.

Very pretty delicate etched glass, 1910-1930s?

And this damaged doily with perfect pansies, for a set of white linen, lavender-filled hearts.

This past week there were no inspiration bitsies. I did get treasures, though. Beautiful blue rustic jug or pitcher, probably Uhl.

The embossed motif is a little obscure or blurry. I think it is an open rose, with buds and leaves?

I have wanted a pitcher like this for many years. Usually they run about $ 75.oo, [though this is unmarked]; this was only 5.oo! I just knew it had to be filled with red tulips!

Off I went hunting for red tulips, found these amazing red parrot tulips, wow!

How fun.

Another find, an overpriced but lovely collectible seashell. A spiny whelk. For me or for the shop, not sure.

And a wonderful papier mache German Easter egg.

Too bad thechurch ladies taped it shut and the tape has damaged the surface, so stupid.

It is a classic style, unusual for its deep shiny chocolate brown color. Darling bunny and classic German storybook red toadstool.

The inside, once pried open, shows that this is a modern, new egg.

Not exactly a repro as it is made in/ by the German holiday resource of Erzgeburge that has made these eggs for over a hundred years.

I have a big collection but have not displayed them in recent years. I still buy though, I love these---full of dear childhood memories.

*****

Another much awaited event was the Quilters Guild biannual show. They discouraged photos so I only got a couple of shots of the display room, not any quilt photos.

The venue was very cool for me, at a rec center in my village! There is no parking there though. I had a friend drop me off. When we got there we found out that the marina had lent its big parking lot and opened a fence to allow access to the rec center. It was expensive to see the show, $10.oo each day, so I only went once. The quilts were very lovely, but very slick and professional looking. Such perfection, oh my! The guild seems small and the ladies older. There were only about 5 small scale vendors and not a single one with Civil War/ 1800s repro fabrics or even much to offer in fun fat quarters. Disappointing because I love to actually get to shop in person, in search of fabric and also small sewing gifts for stocking stuffers for friends. But no. Lots of big buck sewing machines though.

The only display quilt I liked [though not to make!] was this dainty  30s inspired embroidered doll quilt.

The embroidered designs were very cute and much smaller than  original embroideries of that era. The vendor gave me permission to take to photos, she was quite pleasant.

As mentioned it was a small show. I imagine the guild will fade away, and especially this show will; it is not a thing young people do here, make or buy quilts. Both my kids know how to sew,
but they have no interest in my hobby or collections.

******

Off topic: here are some close ups of the purple toile I'm using for Hideous. The toile is by Laura Ashley. I have two remnants, purchased at different times; both could be as much as 20 years old?

The boys look Up to No Good, in my opinion. Look at that slacker on the right. So funny. I guess hthey will be the fussy cut on next month's SG block. It will be published on Wednesday, tomorrow. Yay.

"Thief, thief!"
 purse snatcher on the far right.

Part two of Out and About on Friday, be sure to stop back.

love

lizzy 

gone to the beach...

[other springs, later, with roses, below...]

PS
At the quilt show, there was a set of challenge quilts called By the Sea, which oddly---and to me, offensively, seemed to be promoting the idea of wind farms off our beaches, in our ocean. Shocking to think the natural beauty here may  SOON be ruined by the need for electric power. There is a lot of empty interior space that could be used instead, though the windmills are a huge hazard to migrating birds, killing thousands [millions?]* of birds each year and we are a coastal flight path.
Imagine this view filled with hundreds of enormous wind towers. Disgusting. Makes me cry.

baby piping plovers

*Edit: Lori is correct: many more birds are killed by cell towers than by windmills. Approx 30,000 migratory birds are killed annually by wind turbines; the figure in total for cell and antennas is about 6 million. One of the main recommendations though is not to place the turbines in major flight paths.

Someone else mentioned that we would not even see the turbines. However they would be placed 5 miles from the coast. The ships you so often see in my photos are more than ten miles away, so the towers would be relatively close and very visible.

Chinese Coins Quilt

Hi! I wanted to share this antique/ vintage quilt. It's a flea market find, but not a ''rescue'' as it is in very good condition.

I had it out for my red and white Xmas decor and took some time to photograph it. With  help of course!

I call this pattern Chinese Coins, which may or may not be right but makes it a fun ''good fortune'' themed piece for the new year and upcoming Chinese New Year. Other than in my imagination it is in no way an Asian textile. Instead it's an interesting collection of what I estimate to be late 1800s  dress/ shirt/ apron prints.

I find this quilt interesting because it truly seems to have been made from someone's scrap bag. The prints all have a similar style [and are not exactly beautiful! Utilitarian would be a better word.]

Lots of checks and plaids, and the occasional part of a Nine Patch or sawtooth strip is thrown in.

Paisley, indigo:

A lace print, ticking stripe, ''moon'' or circle prints, turkey red solid:

I'm very fond of little sprig prints, especially warm brown with pink or red leaves or buds:

The scraps form strips, alternating with a cranberry calico that is also used on the back. [This is the type of quilt that is sometimes taken apart, and the antique yardage sold on eBay. I'd never disassemble a good piece though.]

It is actually not a quilt, but a summer coverlet, despite its dark winter-y look. There is a pieced front and a solid back but no batting or quilting. It's held together with simple string tacked knots here and there. It has never been washed so the fabrics look  pristine and pretty.

I always have fun poring over old scrap quilts, wishing, wishing---"Oh that one would be perfect, for...!" And then I find repros, of course---but too often they are modernized and miss the mark, especially color-wise. Do you notice that? Anyway, according to Barbara Brackman, if I understand her recent blog writings correctly, repro fabrics are ''going out of style', and will soon be much less available.
OMG, girls, let's stock up! 
Like Heidi Klum says on Project Runway, ''One day you're in, and the next day--you're out!'' And so it goes with any commodity that is based on the whims of fashion or fad. Once upon a time, circa 1895 these prints were, perhaps, the height of fashion!?

++++

We've had a few beautiful days, the snow has melted! Mo is back in his chair on the deck. He was pretty upset that I didn't want to join him. He does a "Lassie'' thing, comes and gets me and leads me where he wants me, lol.

The blue fabric is out there still. I'm trying to age it so it works better for my favorite blue rescue quilt's someday repairs. So far the blue cotton from Kona  has withstood six months of weather, still looks brand new.

Have a good weekend! Stay in stay cozy... I found these old pictures of pot pie I made! Doesn't that look delish?

And I'm going to make potato soup. How about you?

love

lizzy

gone to the beach.....