The Waiting Game

I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning... 

J. B. Priestley

I'm sure you are tired of waiting on me to tell you more about the quilts I found on my trip.  I have had a busy week so I am finally able to get another post written.  Thank you for you patience and nice comments.  The thing about waiting for something is you may also get a few surprises along the way.

Our family is awaiting the birth of a new grandchild.  My daughter called me Thursday and invited me to go with her to what is probably her last ultra sound appointment.  So I haven't seen the baby yet but I've seen fingers and toes and a cute little nose.  She is at 38 weeks so it won't be long now.  There have been showers for the Mom and Baby and I will share the pictures of some of those in another post.

Now back to the Antique Malls and a few of the more interesting quilts that DID NOT come home with me.  I don't want to disparage another quilter's work but I would like to hear your thoughts and comments on some of these.

This one was hanging in the entrance of the first Mall we went into.  The name of it was Satin Girls because all of the hair was made of shiny fabric.  It looked more like poly lining than satin to me.  The quilt was hand quilted and applique.  The borders were at least 14 inches wide.  You can see the close up below.

The dresses were in a wide range of fabrics.  The orange plaid for example was a double knit from the 60s or 70s.  The pink apron above had metallic threads running through it.  The embroidery work was well done and neat but the eyes ,,,  I can't decide if they remind me of clowns or the Chucky doll from the movies.  It was prices at $450 and if you would like to buy it I'll send you the name of the Antique Mall where it is probably still hanging.

This was a block I hadn't seen before.  It has a nine patch center and then a Churn Dash variation around it.  I want to draft it in EQ7 and play around with it some.  I think it has possibilities. The quilt was quite scrappy with a large variety of prints.  I love the navy polka dot.

This one has me stumped.  I'll have to draft it on graph paper.  The blue squares were solid and inset so it is hard to tell where the block is.  Anyone know the name of it?

This one intrigued me also.  It was made of different colorways of some of the same prints.  It was used under an attractive display so it was hard to get a full shot of it.  It was a strippy with rows of diamonds alternating with plain strips of the prints.  I thought it was interesting and modern looking.

I've played with this one in EQ before I think but I need to look up the name.  The blocks were framed with different prints.  The contrast between the light and dark prints gave it a positive and negative effect.

The side border was just odd rectangles added to make it big enough for the bed.  I've seen that before for sure.

I've never seen a kaleidoscope center in a pineapple block before.  The blocks must have been over 20 inches.  It is filling a chair seat.  This could make an interesting quilt I think.

Red and White quilts look great even with great holes in them.  So simple and stunning.

This was the oddest color combo for Sunbonnet Sue I've seen.  Acid chrome yellow on a purple background.  I know it reads gray in the picture but it was purple.  It was in good shape and just a top.  Wonder why that one wasn't quilted?  What do you think?

This blue and white block just sang out in this quilt.  I don't think it was because of the other fabrics fading.  The low contrast used was soft and pretty.  I still need to look the block up, it looks like and easy one.

The sashing and cornerstones are almost a big as the blocks.  That's one way to keep from making so many blocks.  LOL  It works well in this one I think.

So what came home with me?  Some of you guessed in my comments.

This lovely nine patch with the cheerful red centers.  I love the points on the edge.

It's full of 30s prints that I'll never get tired of looking at.  See the thimble?

There is a boy rolling a hoop. Little ginghams and flower prints.

Scissors and buttons and polka dots too.  The blocks measure about 3 1/8" across.  The quilting is finely done.  There is an X in the nine patch blocks and a grid in the plain ones.

Here is a view of the back.  It is in great shape.

I bought this top.  The piecing is neatly done and I loved the scallopy edges.

The stripes go in all directions which adds a lot of movement to the top.  Here is a view of the back side.

Here is a view of the edge.  Two corners look like this:

The other two look like this:

Let me know what you think about these 'quilt gems' from my trip.  Which ones do you like the most and which ones did you have other opinions of.  I can't wait to read your comments!

More Old Quilts

The road of life can only reveal itself as it is traveled; each turn in the road reveals a surprise. Man's future is hidden. 

Unknown

I never know what I will find when I head into an Antique Mall.  Some of them are kind of junky and full of things that you would find at a yard sale.  Others are full of true antiques and the booths are neat and all items carefully staged and displayed.  It's possible to find treasures in all of these places.  One must just look carefully because you never know what is just waiting to be discovered.

So here are some more of the quilts that I saw.  There were even more but I didn't take a picture of all of them.  Shopping with a camera can save you a lot of money!  LOL

I loaded this picture sideways so you could see the butterflies.  I liked this shape a lot.  I couldn't decide if the white butterflies were intentional or if the fabric used had faded.

This was a nice Grandmother's Flower Garden.  When I first saw it I thought it was just a top.  Upon closer inspection I saw it was made as a Summer Quilt.  There didn't seem to be any batting but it was quilted in the ditch by hand.  The edge did not have a binding but it had a line of top-stitching by machine.  I don't think I had seen orange used as a center color before but it look nice.

This was a delightful little LeMoyne Star.  The blocks were probably about 6 inches.  It didn't have a lot of quilting but just look at those tiny even stitches.  I loved the little print used for binding too.

I love Yellow and try to use it in my quilts often.  This basket quilt was delightful.  I couldn't get a good look at the whole thing because it was hanging behind this huge mirrored hall bench.  The blue border was a bit faded looking and there were a few age spots but I just loved the yellow.  

I couldn't see all of this one  because there were other things on top of it.  I loved the simplicity of the block.  See how one petal was pieced?  The sashings and cornerstones were wide but the border was narrow.  Don't you wonder why?

This was a nice Cactus Basket with a nice happy pink alternate block.  Many of the fabrics were faded and the binding was frayed.  I loved all the angles in the shirting where the pieces were cut because the shape fit there not because the grain was straight.  The points didn't all survive the piecing either.  This didn't stop it from being loved and used.  Your quilts don't have to be perfect either.

Would you think to set tan and blue four patches with a double pink?  There were more colors used too but mostly the blue and tan.  I really liked this one even though pink is not one of my favorite colors.

What do you see here on the massive leather couch?  Can it be a quilt top?  Gotta take a closer look at this one.  I got my handy quilt holder to help out.

The stripes add so much movement to this top.  They go this way and that.  The solids are not consistently placed in the same direction either.  Don't you think this gives it a modern feel?  I wonder why it was never quilted.

I have a few more to share that were remarkable but for different reasons.  If you didn't read my previous post Home Again you will find more old quilts there.  I'll share the rest later and show you which ones came home with me.  Can you stand to wait another day or two?

So what do you think about these treasures?  Do you think I brought one of them home?  Which one do you like best?  

Linking with:  Let's Bee Social and Freemotion by the River

Home Again

By and large, mothers and housewives are the only workers who do not have regular time off. They are the great vacationless class. 

Anne Morrow Lindbergh

I have been back from vacation for a week and just got around to loading the pictures from the camera.  It seems that it takes me a week to get things ready to go and a week to recover when I get home.  Add that to the 10 days we were gone and it takes up most of a month.

Now I am trying to get back in the groove of quilting and blogging.  I had a few things I had wanted to share with you before I left but I ran out of time.

Here is what has been on my design wall since before I left.  I need to get 5 rows sewn together so I can fit the rest on the design wall.  I am really liking it.  Do you think it will need a border?

So what do we do on vacation?  We drove to Missouri and stayed at a resort about 45 miles south of St. Louis.  It was quiet and about 10 miles from the nearest town.  We did drive into St. Louis one day and visited the Art Museum which was wonderful.  I will have more to share about that in another post.

As I've shared before one of the things we like to do when we travel is to visit Antique Malls.  There were a lot of nice ones in the area.  I took pictures of a lot of the quilts and handcrafts that I saw.  I thought I'd share some of them with you today.  I'll have more to share another day.  I hope you enjoy them!

A crazy quilt with velvets and stitching.

I really loved the green in the alternate blocks in this nine patch quilt.

This little squirrel was up to a different adventure for each day of the week on a set of tea towels.

I saw a lot of embroidery kit quilts.  I don't see these hardly ever in the south.

 I really thought that this Maple Leaf quilt was lovely.  I would have never thought to set is with pink blocks because my mind goes to Fall colors when I think of this block.  It was very well made all the points were nice and sharp and the quilting was well done also.

This one made me think of Bonnie Hunter.  The fabrics were all over the place in color.  The diamonds alternated between string pieced and one fabric in all the stars.  The purple plaid for sashing and a pastel calico for the border.  It was just a top.  I think it was priced at $85.

This one really caught my eye!  I love the red center in all the nine patches.  Most of the other fabrics are 30s prints and it is set on point.

The binding was put on by machine but the points were left giving it a nice edge.

 I saw so many delightful doileys, tea towels and various other linens but I have enough of those from my family members.  Of course I have enough quilts too but I still want more.  LOL

So do you think any of these came home with me?  Which one(s) do you like best?  I'll share more later about some other treasures that followed me home.

Linking with:  Patchwork Times and Anything Goes Monday