I NEED TO BE CLONED!!!

Well.....I've really been neglecting this blog......for good reason.....as practially every waking moment has been devoted to getting my friend's treasures unpacked, sorted and onto new homes.  Yet, I've hardly made a dent....you can NOT imagine....our house looks like a quilt shop.

However, today I enjoyed time with my PTA friends.  We were invited to stroll and enjoy the gardens of a mutual friend of one of our members.  She's turned their 11-12 acres into a private arboretum.....so beautiful.  I'll let the photos speak for themselves with few words.

 View from the porch

 Artwork everywhere, including this piece over an outside fireplace

 Custom railings along the walking paths

 Private studio

 One of 4 ponds

Circle garden

I'm a sucker for yard art....loved these iron/stone swans

HERE'S WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING

A long time friend of mine has tasked me with helping to dispose of her lifetime of quilting treasures.  Believe me she has a lot.  This 7' x 7' POD came all the way from Illinois....and it was filled!

Among the goodies is around 50-60 boxes of fabric (no big box fabrics here, all quilt shop quality and otherwise very special!) each weighing about 30+ pounds.  80-100 completed quilts, 25+ vintage quilt tops, 10 bins with vintage 1930's bocks/scraps, yardage, quilt tops that need love & fixing,  20+ boxes of books, several huge boxes of batting....plus the usual array of needles, thread (190 of Mettler to be exact), rulers, scissors, should I go on??

I'm honored that she's entrusting me with her wish to see that her love of quilting can be passed along to those who will treasure it as much as she does.  My studio and guest room may give the appearance of a hoarder living here now.  These photos are after 3 weeks + of steady (doing nothing but this) work of unpacking/sorting/organizing/researching/photographing. Happily, I'm beginning to find homes for some of it.

If you are a collector of 1930's vintage quilt tops or quilts....I'm your gal.  I haven't photographed them yet...but they are here looking for new homes.  Drop me a note if you'd like to see some.  I'll be back doing my own creations once I have a better handle on all this....it's sure been an honor to view and handle these treasures.

Why not check out what other artists have been working on:  Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday, Sarah's Whoop, Whoop Friday, Crazy Mom Quilts.

A NOVEL TOWEL SYSTEM

Yes...it's been awhile....will explain in detail with photos soon, but even these pictures won't quite tell the complete story about my absence from posting here....this is such a tease isn't it....soon, I promise...

In the meantime.....my jaw dropped when visiting a restaurant's restroom in Marshall, NC.  I've never seen anything like this.....should have asked if it was their idea or vintage.....next time I will.

Look at the system they have for drying one's hands.....

Clean smaller than washcloth size towels are stacked on a shelf in this clever system. Each has a grommet on one end which a chain goes through. The user simply picks up one cloth, dries their hands....and allows it to drop down into the bin below....  Sure must be a lot of extra work for the staff but I was smitten with this system!!

KEEPING 'THE HUSBAND BUSY'

Again, this is off topic....but probably not if you live the areas where BBQ is king. Personally, I don't care for it all that much, but 'the husband' is making it his mission, now that he has a big boy smoker.....to learn to make excellent BBQ brisket. 

  Here's his first attempt....complete with what they call 'bark'

Then the 'smoke ring'....the reddish layer just below the bark...oh he was a happy camper.  Although it was a bit too overcooked....after being on the smoker for 8-9 hrs. - that's not a surprise!  This is a completed process with many steps....he's ready to try again!!

NEED THREAD???

MUST CLEAR OUT - Selling as 1 lot - 180 spools of Mettler thread @  $150.   Most still in cellophane wrapper, some have been slightly used. Pretty much split between sizes/styles: * Quilting cotton 40/3 (164 yd. spools), *Silk finish cotton merc.50/3 (164 yd. spools), and Cotton Embroidery 60/2 (219 yds.) Comes out to less than $.83 cents a spool for GREAT quality sewing thread!  

Selling as 1 lot. Billing via Paypal Ships via USPS flat rate priority @ $13.65...a totally stuffed heavy box. Ships the next day if possible. Smoke free home.

JUST OVERCOMMITTED & FEEDSACK SALE

I've been tasked with disposing of a lifetime of quilting supplies for an elderly longtime friend.  It's the GOOD stuff.  Lot's of vintage 1930's bocks, tons of scraps, 3 tops all needing love or could be used as cutter quilts, 1 finished yo-yo quilt that has a backing which needs to be removed....cause it's pink!!!  Also have a dozen real good resource books, including the original Barbara Brackman Encyclodeia of Pieced Quilt Patterns....it's signed in loose leaf binder weighs nearly 5 pounds...new runs about $126!!  Selling this one for $40, plus #13.65 USPS priority shipping. (Because it's a binder, it doesn't qualify for media rate.)

So....you can see why I've been silent...it's taking hours and hours to go through bins, separating and organzing into sensible amounts and putting the same style blocks as a bundle, along with fabric to completed them if necessary.  Then there's the photographing, creating the text, posting them, figuring out postage, packing, sending.  I'm sure my friend has no idea the time commitment involved....after all she lives with these treasures.....and to her the amount might not be overwhelming but with over 50 boxes of fabric 8 huge bins, 80-100 quilts, 20 boxes of books, plus, plus, plus....yikes....

Yesterday I ran across a small bin of feedsack material....some whole, some smaller cuts, and two units of blocks that had been rescued from a quilt or quilt top.  I'm attaching a photo where you can see the measurements.  If anyone is interested contact me directly.  Fits very snuggly in a $13.65 medium size flat rate Priority box, usually ships the next day after payment if possible. Pay Pal, I know this fabric can go for big money, but my friend really wants her treasures to be used and wants to be pratical about the cost.....so this is being sold as 1 bundle for $75.

 Largest piece - 70"  x 78"

Click on photo to enlarge to see text - top row left to right # 3 & 4 are TWO pieces each.

FEEDSACK FANS

Is anyone looking for authentic feedsack fabric?  I have quite a bunch....one very large piece 70" x 78", can see original seam impressions.  Photo below.....also have other large pieces and some smalls as well.  Selling as one bundle.  Contact me if you are interested.

FIBER JUNKIES - APRIL

Along with coffee & some scrumptious goodies Denny brought.....we began with our usual show and tell while rapidly gasping over Denny's new direction working with collage.

 She finished adding 'goose poop' triangles (left overs from trimming half-square triangles) to this spiral collage.  Next she'll do her magic with major free motion quilting which will add more design while serving to hold all the glued raw edge pieces in place.

 When I said we gasped....I wasn't kidding.  Next Denny pulled out her project for this meeting.  Clever doesn't cover it!!!  She's collaged various surface design pieces to a plain cotton background...which included a lot of garment tissue paper pieces.  Then, she's drawn a dress form onto heavy plastic as her pattern....

 ....which was transferred to another piece of muslin.  Now her fun really begins....she's cutting scraps using her GO-Pro fitted with flower templates.  They are glued onto the muslin, overlapping as she goes. The shape will eventually be covered with bright happy flower shapes.....so 60's....., cut along the outside of the dress form sharpe and applied to her tissue paper covered background. Honestly we all could hardly work on our projects as we kept drifting over to Denny's work area to see how she was progressing.

 Judy came up with a novel idea after unearthing a polar bear fabric scene from her stash.  She's using a nearly transparent piece of pattern 'paper', somewhat like an interfacing to pin various colors/patterns of fabrics to help guide her as she auditions various fabrics for the trees she'll be adding. 

It was taking longer than she hoped but the work paid off as she found the right combo of fabrics that will be turned into trees.....providing the 3-D affect she desired.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of Gen's small bird.....and dear Kate wasn't feeling well so she skipped the meeting.  I didn't accomplish a ton, but the decisions/designs shapes were made, which is often more time consuming than the making!!  Here's a peek:

 I brought a piece of National Non-wovens WoolFelt that I foiled during at recent FJ meeting (thanks to a stack of foil gifted to me by reader Princess Bubbles!).  

The sun material has some mottling and wonderful texture....it's dyed cotton batting!!  Gen dyed squares of batting in a whole range of colors a couple of years ago and gave them to me. (How many times do I have to rave about what great pals these gals are?!?)  Thought, because it's not a super sturdy material.....it needs to be used for just the right purposes....and it sure worked here.

My plan is to add rows of trees....then either machine or hand embroider branches.  Everything was cut before I departed for home.....hopefully I can find time to work on it this week.  We are in the midst of a big home project....and that has to come before any studio play time.  Stay tuned, won't you??  And thank you for visiting!!!

In the meantime, check out these blogs to see what others have been working on this week:  Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday, Sarah's Whoop Whoop Friday, Crazy Mom Quilts.

NEW RULER

A short time ago I asked for recommendations for rulers that don't slip.  Thank you all for responding.  The brand that came up most often was Quilters Select

Prices seem higher than other options and can't be found on Amazon....which is too bad as the shipping for this one was $10...price of ruler $25.  A hefty investment (though it was a birthday gift...thank you Christopher).  Yet for a tool that is used as often as we use this kind, it's worth it.  

It truly did not slip and I really liked the marking measurement system.  At first I was a bit skeptical about the rather 'frosted' look....as I was used to clear plastic rulers.  However, it actually helped removed glare which I experience because of the overhead lights above my cutting table.

Now I'm going to want a few other sizes that I use the most such as a big square!

PLAYING WITH WOOL FIBERS

The tourist season is about to begin here in the mountains where the spring foliage is beginning to bloom.  The folks at Woolworth Walk just reminded all their artists to stock up on their products.

.....So, I've been felting.  It's been awhile so it's been fun getting my fingers all wrinkled again.  My stash of felting supplies contains quite a lot of merino cross- cut batts which are supposed to shorten the felting time over soley using wool roving.

I've avoided using the batts because they seemed more difficult to work with.  But on the positive side, I can achieve finished pieces that are thicker and stronger, like this embellished vessel and these shallow bowls.

This was a piece I reworked because it wasn't felled enough the first time....however I still don't like the shape or color.

This one is still a bit damp, meaning I need to wait before it's totally finished.  Sometimes 'curls' felt right in and other times they refuse to do so and needle felting those little buggers into the wool becomes necessary.

Check out these sites to see what other artists have worked on this week:  Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday, Sarah's Whoop Whoop Friday, and Crazy Mom Quilts.