Saying Good Bye To an Old Quilt

In case you haven't realized, textiles is my love and passion.  I love historical textiles.  I love the color.  I love the feel.  I love the ways it can be manipulated to make window curtains or special occasion clothing.  I love the sense of history across a century stitched together by someone no longer remembered.

Always on the lookout for something special I purchased the sun and shadow log cabin quilt at auction in the late 1980s.  I used it as a decorative wall piece over the years.  NEVER on a bed.  Recently I washed in the 21st century washing machine on hand wash.  Line dried it over two lines and left it there until last week.

It is 100% hand stitched using a sew and flip method attaching the top to the backing.  This is the work of an advanced seamstress because the corners are met and the rows are straight along with very even stitches.  

There is no fill.  There are some pieces that are worn through and the edge binding is worn out.  But... surprisingly in good shape.  The backing / basecloth is without damage. No bug, no mice bites, no puppy rips. 

This quilt was well taken care of by the previous owner and by your's truly.

The retirement house has a mouse problem (that may or may not be under control with the help of an exterminator), and shortage of wall space out of the sunlight to display this specimen of late 19th early 20th century bedding.  I could not protect it from the mice who have been stowing acorns in the linen closet, closet shelves and chewing off the fuzz where ever they found it.  There are often little fuzz balls all over the house from the mice searching for nesting material at the expense of my rugs and quilts..  This last month I've been organizing and fall cleaning and finding chewed acorns in spots as I've been moving things.  

The quilt was put on a table at last week's yard sale with a $150 sign on it.

There it sat until half an hour before the end of the sale and an old geezer walked up to it and started asking questions.   He was good at his trade and I had been woken up from a nap by my Y chromosome.  The exchange had him treating the blanket as if it were something common.  That was until I agreed to let him have it for $5.  Yes... $5.  

At that point he began treating the blanket as special as I thought it was.  He gently wrapped it in his arms and quickly carried it to his car.  

I had handed my beloved aged quilt over to a dealer.  It was the work of a talented seamstress of another time.  Who probably never saw a car.  Never comprehended the internet.  Probably would not have believed how dear it was to someone a century later..  

It will be safe for a little while longer in the care of someone who understood he is not an owner, but guardian of something very special.

I went inside the house and cried. 

 

 

Leave It To The Pros

There were a few volunteer trees under the power cable in the yard across the street. The power company sent out a contractor to trim the branches away from the cable.  The standing dead trees were left in place.

Basis the neighborhood grapevine, over the next couple of weeks the neighbors who own the property decided to make the removal a DYI project.  When that became beyond their skills they hired two guys who showed up in a rental truck.  

 I was unloading from a trip out of town when I noticed what was going on and grabbed my cell phone for photos.  On the up side, no one was hurt.

The photo story starts with a branch from one of the trees caught in some power cables to the next door neighbor's house.  This required leaning a ladder onto the neighbor's house and cutting the branch from the cable.

I've seen stunts like this on YouTube.  I thought they were faked.  Maybe not.

This morning the trees were down and the truck was gone and I caught up with the guy who owns the house in the photos.

Rag Rugs in Overshot

Rag Rugs in Overshot

I had warp left on the loom and scraps left from graduation blankets along with a stash of 1970's fabrics gifted to me.  This is the same warp set up as the green rugs woven in rose path, summer 2019.  Below is the result.  

The loom has been dismantled.  Ready to be transported to Wausaukee.  The hope is to add a sun room to that house with room for my floor loom and a sleeping swing.  The thought of weaving in the winter, watching the deer browse by is something to look forward to.

 The above is how the rugs came off the loom. Remember, all the same warp. 

Below is woven in tabby using cut up sweatshirts and leggings (burgundy) with the sheer insert.  Note how the warp shifted between the lycra and sheer of legging fabrics.  Lesson learned.

The rug below shows both sides because I used a modified rosepath treadling.  Each side will be different.  The materials used were scraps from my stash cut to about 1.5" wide strips for the overshot, and yardage of a fabric gifted to me for the tabbly.  It twinkles in the subtle color changes.  

The tabby is a beautiful pima cotton print from the 70's given to me by a woman who worked at Mary Lester's fabric store back in the 70's.   Her daughters do not sew.  I was the lucky recipient of her fabrics.  (I gave some to a craft group in Crivitz.  Some went to my daughter.  The rest has been added to my collection.)   It was printed with dyes that are no longer used due to their carcinogenic nature.  No longer something I would consider to wear.  But, there will be much enjoyment from it as a rug.

Below is a rug, also woven in a modified rosepath.  This time is scrap jersey and sweatshirt fabric cut to 1' width.  Turquoise, teal and grey.  Scraps from sewing projects for my children and a worn out running shirt Larry loved to rags. Notice how nicely the pattern flows.  Tabby was also done in the jersey.

The grey and black sweat shirt filler was cut to 1" wide and woven in a tabby pattern.  There is something satisfying in a traditional weave.

Leftover sweat fabrics from Auburn and UWM graduation blankets.  The patch strips were narrowed from 6" to 1" and sewn together.  The lengths were divided in half so the rug would be mirror image without having to count rows.  

I wove a modified rosepath in the edges and tabby in the main portion of the rug.  It works.  A bit outside of my color preferences.  In the right room it will blend to perfection.

I did enjoy watching the colors interact with the warp and each filler chosen.  The warp is prominent in tabby.  Overshot dominates visually.  Much more to explore.

Winter Amaryllis

A received an amaryllis bulb as a Christmas gift.  It is now in decline to the point I will not show it.  below is bulb to full bloom. 

Larry's Bonfire Birthday Celebration

Larry's First Annual Birthday Bonfire

Snow, Fire, Fuel and good company.  Happy Birthday Larry!!