Vintage Quilt Tops

I don't think that I ever posted about a stack of quilt tops that I found at Goodwill.

It was after Christmas and I was wondering Goodwill looking for clothes to use for fabric in quilts.  I always look by the linens because sometimes they have good quilt fabric. I didn't see anything.  So, I walked around the rest of the store and looked toward the linens again....and a lady was hanging up a bunch of quilt tops!!!  I made my way there and there were 8 unfinished tops.  Some were actually summer tops with the edges sewn under but no backing or batting.  I grabbed them all.. Lydia was with me and we checked out.

When we got home we started laying them out so that I could photograph them. They were all hand pieced!!  I was floored!  Who gives these to Goodwill?? Many were scrappy and my favorite and of course, Lydia picked out her favorite and I had mine.



A good friend of mine told me that her sister was a quilt appraiser and wanted to see pictures.  She estimated them to be from mid last century to 20 years old.  I plan on quilting them and ,of course, giving Lydia her favorite.  Since going to the same Goodwill, I have found several pieces of 5-8 yards of fabric and another unfinished  piece about the size of a table runner that looks like it was pieced by the same quilter.  All by hand.

This is my favorite

This is Lydia's Favorite

Stash busting

I am on a mission to use up my fabric stash.... ok, maybe not all of it and I don't think I'll really deplete the whole thing...I mean I am still adding to it, so it will never really be "gone"   Recently I've had 2 fellow quilters give me parts of or all of their stash.  One is an old friend that I haven't talked to in years, she called me to see if I would like her fabric (and patterns and books) since she was not longer quilting.  The other was a lady thinning out her stash.  Both of them blessed me with an abundance of fabric.  God is good!!

The trick is finding a pattern that I like, and can make quickly.  I settled on 3 patterns.  Two are from  www.Quitedtwins.com and the other is from a free McCalls e-book.  All three patterns are scrappy and so cutting the fabric and sewing is easy. The QuiltedTwins patterns use 2 inch strips, and the McCalls pattern uses 1.5 inch strips.

I hate cutting fabric. I never really liked it, but if I am going to make quilts, then it must be done.   I have a Sizzix from my scrapbooking days and I purchased a few quilting dies to go with it.  I use them often.  Well, for these 3 quilts I splurged and bought a June Taylor Shape Cut Ruler. Of course I used a 50% off at Joann's.  Oh my goodness, how did I ever get along without this!!!  I've used my Sizzix to cut strips before, but this allowed me to cut 4 strips at 2 inches and 2 strips at 1.5 inches.  And I always cut about 6 layers of fabric at a time.  It made cutting through the "scraps" so easy.  I was able to breeze through the fabric that was given to me and make quite a dent in my stash.

I just need to cut some more grey half square triangles and I can use these quilts as leaders and enders while I finish Aaron's quilt.  His takes a bit more thought while sewing.  But it is going to look great in the end.  I sure hope he still likes those colors when it is finished...LOL

Milestones

The next few years are going to be quite emotional for me.  It all started last year with Aaron graduating...actually it started when he turned 16 and it's pretty much gone downhill since then..LOL

This year is full of fun activities.  Zane had his Jr Prom.  I love the way our school does Prom. It is a banquet for the Sr's with the parents and Headmaster pronouncing a blessing over each senior.  The whole high school is invited and after they all have a dance with a mom/son father/daughter Sr dance kicking it off.  This year being Zane's Jr year we didn't have to go.  He took his friend Abby and they had a great time.

He was also in the FCA's Production of OKLAHOMA!  playing Jud Fry.  This was so out of his character but Ms Mimi wanted him to stretch himself.  Not bragging, but he nailed it.  His solo was amazing and many people talked about how awesome he was.  His dedication and commitment to everything that he does is amazing.





Lydia turnes 16 today... 16.. I can't believe it!  Lydia has always been a little behind maturity wise and I have gotten a bit used to it. But last night, when we picked her up from her schools graduation, I realized just how much she has grown and matured during this past year.  Our original plan was to wait until she was 17 for her to get her learner's permit, but we decided to go ahead and get one for her this year. She really wants a job and so she will need to drive herself there since we live out in the boonies.  She is also taking art this year and had a fabulous display at the Art Fair.