Monday, June 25, 2012

ALA 2012, part 2

More photos from ALA. The Rock Bottom Remainders' last-ever gig was the ALA ProQuest Scholarship Bash on Saturday.  The band includes Dave Barry, Stephen King, Roy Blount Jr., Mitch Albom, Scott Turow, Amy Tan, and others. ("They've got fifty shades of gray...we've got 100 shades of Tan.") 



 It was a sold-out crowd and Lynn and I were in the third row!

Stephen King andn Amy Tan






Abingdon Press has launched a line of quilt novels.  They had a drawing for a quilt (center-right in the photo). 

I always say I'm not going to get too many books and giveaways.....but how many is too many?
As chair of the ALA Council Orientation Committee I was in charge of the Council Suite, and thus stayed in the bedroom adjacent to this common area.  Nice digs, eh?  (Rack rate posted on the door: $600/day. I'm quite sure ALA paid less.)

Saturday, June 23, 2012

ALA 2012

The unprepossessing exterior gives little clue to the fabric treasures inside!
M&L Fabrics in Anaheim


Hoffman, etc., batiks $5.98!


Lime green and friends

I wanted to restock Christmas fabric....R. Kaufman $2.98


Let the conference begin!



Waiting for the exhibits to open, 5:15 Friday.

Four of the ALA Biblioquilters with our 2012 quilts in the back.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Birthday surprise!

And it was indeed a surprise!  Thanks to all the ZBPL staff and friends.  (The only other surprise party I've ever had was when I was 12.)
The header on the library website!


At the birthday luncheon -- DH managed not to tell!

Monday, June 18, 2012

DWM: disappearing four-patch

At the moment I'm in a holding pattern regarding quilting.  "Must do" projects are finished and I don't need to begin the next commitment projects (such as the Christmas quilts for the library and AAUW).  I leave for ALA this Thursday and I have my take-along hexagons ready to go.  (ALA in Anaheim means a trip to M&L Fabrics and I will be better prepared to shop than I was  the last time.

Still, I want to be working on something! 

These 3" blocks began with four 2.5" squares, sewn as four-patches, then cut and reassembled.  I'm not sure where this project is going....a wall-hanging may be just right.

Check out what other quiltmakers (more ambitious than I) are working on at Judy's Patchwork Times.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Tea leaves and vintage Concord

....no, not beverages!

For many years I've liked Tea Leaf ironstone.  It was produced in enormous quantities in Staffordshire in the late 19th century and it's been a collectible for decades.  Click this link to go to a history and product display.   I suspect it looked very fancy for people who couldn't afford fine china.  It's not very practical today since it can't be put in the dishwasher, partly because of the metallic stripe and tea leaf and also because the glaze is often broached and once water gets into the stoneware it discolors.  Last summer I bought my first piece -- a plate for $2.  Today I bought all of this at a church rummage sale for $5.00!
Different manufacturers
Handpainted -- note different sized flowers on these butterpats


 Here's the vintage Concord!  1980's-era, bought at the same rummage sale as the Tea Leaf.  These 1/2 yard pieces were .50 each. They were still in plastic wrappers.  The green and red on the top are what I think of as Christmas red and green. I wish that these hues would come back in style. (Not the ditsy prints, necessarily. (Ditsy is a real adjective for little bitty flower designs like these.))  [These prepackaged cuts had bad quality control, I found out. There were shapes cut out of the red fabric [I bought the package unopened] and a couple of the pieces were 17", some 19".   Note to self: look up the Kesslers, who designed these prints and many others of that era.]
The back of each package had this picture and craft ideas.  The very last suggestion is "ideal for quilting."  (I guess you turn to quilting after you've made fabric frames for everyone on your guest list. )

I also paid $8 for a set of three Pyrex Autumn Harvest mixing bowls  .   I really like the white-inside Pyrex bowls. My favorites, the primary color set from the 1950's, are too expensive for everyday use!



Monday, June 11, 2012

Winnings!

 I won first prize in the Quilting Gallery
weekly contest several weeks ago. It took a while for the prize to arrive but today it did.  It was well worth waiting for!  32 batik fat 8ths and a pattern designed for them, and a bonus table runner pattern.   Thank you, Picket Fence Fabrics of Brockville, Ontario! 
DH and I went to the beach yesterday.  It was beautiful!


And to complete the reverse-order report, here's a photo from the Chicagoland Magpie meetup on Saturday at Emerson Creek Pottery and Tearoom  in Oswego.  We chat online every day but we don't get together in person often enough!

Friday, June 8, 2012

Estate Sale

Copper enameling was a home craft of some popularity in the 1950's. I remember my dad heating up the little electric kiln  and placing enamel powder on precut copper forms. I still have a little pin in the shape of a butterfly that I put the color on. (And I still wear it!) That's why I had to buy this at the estate sale I went to today.
The estate sale price: $3.75!
There are the instructions, some copper shapes, and powders. Anything liquid is all dried up.  I don't know if the kiln even works, but for $3.75 it's worth trying.

I couldn't pass up a piece of red glazed cotton -- 36" wide, 4-1/3 yards -- for .75.  Also .75 each:  a few pieces of Ultrasuede (of which I have a modest stash), three lengths of pattern transfer web, and a pretty piece of painted silk. 


Never-used linens: two pillowcases edged with cutwork, bedsheets, and a box of 4 men's handkerchiefs (initial W; their last name was Wool).

152 thimbles ($12.50).  Many are tarnished (or were cheap metal that is discolored; I haven't tested them yet).   

Some are very tiny.  Are they intented to be functional or just miniatures? 
A couple had translucent tops. 
148 swizzle sticks!


Estate sales are better than garage sales because the entire house is open. The contents of people's lives are on display (with price tags!).  I speculate about the people who lived there and what the house was like with all the furniture in place, before cupboards and closets were emptied. 
This house was traditional on the outside but 1960's-modern inside and quite spacious. The owners, Dr. W and his wife, have moved to assisted living. They'd lived in the house for more than 40 years.  One bedroom had been turned into a veritable boutique with Mrs. W's clothing and accessories -- a dozen pairs of white gloves; scarves; belts -- and many, many high-heeled shoes -- size 3-1/2!  She was a very petite woman, and probably bought  shoes whenever she could find them.