Vintage Thingy Thursday: Ashtray or spoon rest?

I am joining Coloradolady this week for Vintage Thingy Thursday.

Time: an afternoon last week
Place: a Goodwill store I haven't visited in a long time
Item: a leaf-shaped plate that I did not immediately recognize as an ashtray. That is how uncommon smoking is among my friends and family.
Markings: Back: Orion China, made in Japan. "Hand Painted"
Front: Sweet pink rose with two buds, gold accented rim. I'm not sure what is hand painted unless it is the wisps of gold on the bottom.
Condition: used, still pretty!

Yes I thought this would be good as a spoon rest for the stove top, and I am using it as that, but the shape is not the best.
It's hard to believe anyone would have such a pretty ashtray, but someone did. The gold accent is worn in some places, and there is a chip or two, but that is OK.

Viridian

Spring 2010 Blogger's Quilt Festival

I am joining the Blogger's Quilt Festival at Amy's Creative Side. See the button on my sidebar.

Amy asks: Share one quilt, and it's story. Why you made it, why it is special to you, what you learned about quilting/yourself while making it. The quilt doesn't have to be brand new, never seen before on your blog - show what you like!

This quilt has been about 10 years in the making, now that I think back upon it. I saw this pattern in a long-ago quilt magazine and fell in love with it. I'd seen vintage quilts in this pattern and wanted to make my own. So, many 2 inch strips of fabric were cut, sewn together, and cross cut. Each finished square is 1.5 inches across, which at the time I considered tiny. Obviously I hadn't started my Baby Jane in the style of Jane Stickle project yet!

This is a full-sized quilt, so there are indeed many little squares of fabric. I included a few vintage fabrics in there, to bring me a smile, and maybe cause a future quilt appraiser to scratch their heads. I used a thin cotton bat for an old-fashioned look, but the problem is that one must quilt lines less that 2 inches apart. I spent much time machine quilting on my home Kenmore, as you can see in the close-up. However the wreaths in the plain blocks are quilted by hand. I still have to put some sort of motif in the middle, or the batting will bunch up when I wash it the first time.

Why special: It represents a lot of my time. It is cheerful and sunny, and will be the summer quilt on my bed.

What did I learn: Patience!

And guess what - it STILL isn't done! I am sewing down the binding this week. I had saved some of the purple fabric used in the plain squares for the binding, but years later, I couldn't find it. So I am using pink bias binding instead.

Viridian

The ultimate DIY from Decor to Adore

I am linking to a post that brought this tough old blogger/mom/educator to near- tears. And I want a semi-permanent link so that I can find this again. Please take a look.

http://decortoadore.blogspot.com/2010/05/ultimate-diymay-you-be-inspired.html

Whirling Stars: 6 blocks done

The progress is slow but sure. I have 6 blocks done, including the applique of the yellow circle in the middle. Here's what they look like right now.

I described the beginning of this project in this post.

It seems like I have been sewing SO many pieces of vintage fabric and unbleached muslin together, and to only have 6 blocks done? Stay the course, quilter!

The block to block setting is the same as in my vintage quilt, and in the pattern I am using, which is in the book Feedsacks! by Edie McGinnis.

To me the blocks look a bit busy put this close together so I may separate then by muslin sashing. I am also thinking of red cornerstones. Then the triangles and cornerstones will make a shoo-fly block. Interesting.

viridian

Vintage Thingy Thursday: DWR Quilt

DWR = Double wedding ring quilt. This one is four rings by five rings, and was purchased off ebay about a year ago.

There is some surface discoloration, but otherwise this quilt is in great shape - no weak fabric or holes. And the fabrics! Just classic depression-era prints.

Most fabrics are dress-making cottons, similar to our quilting cotton fabric today. Only a few pieces are of that coarser weave fabric that says "feedsack". it is hard to see in these photos, but there is dense quilting in an interesting pattern. Someone did a fantastic job.

Please visit Coloradolady and see what other wonderful vintage things people are sharing!

viridian61

time for a change

Hello and welcome to my new look.

I was getting tired of the standard blogger templates, so I spent WAY too much time looking around for other templates for my blog. I do like this one very much.

And after all, according to dictionary.com, viridian means: "a long-lasting, bluish-green pigment, consisting of a hydrated oxide of chromium."

The background is by HotBliggityBlog at http://hotbliggityblog.com/backgrounds.php.

viridian

Vintage Thingy Thursday

Life has gotten pretty strange when you spend a day thrifting - just to get an item for Vintage Thingy Thursdays! But so it was today. Not much luck in Goodwill but in St. Francis I found this Homer Laughlin bowl for 79 cents. Is that a good price? It's about 5 inches across, has some chips and some problems with the glaze, but I love the flowers.
It's sad though because although some items are there because some one did some Spring cleaning, some items are there because someone died, and the house had to be cleaned out.
happy a happy vintage day!



viridian61

Whirling Star: New Project

As if I need a new project. But it's going to be a beautiful quilt.

First, I'll start with a vintage quilt that has seen better days. This was one of my very first purchases from ebay, lo these many years ago.

A somewhat unusual pattern, very energetic, and very bright with the red and green. The red fabric is weak though and is breaking. Certain other fabrics are weak too, wearing so much that there are holes in the top. Doesn't matter, I use this quilt almost every night.

Next: about a year ago, I bought a book on feed sacks (of course!) that also had patterns in it for recreating some classic 30's and 40's quilts.

Feed-sacks! by Edie McGinnis has some good information on feedsacks (not sentimental mishmash) and some projects I didn't care for, but also this:
A detailed pattern for my quilt! I've stared at this for a while now and I have decided that this summer is the time. As with my nosegay quilt (see this post) I have decided to use real feedsack fabric, vintage cotton scraps, whatever I have on hand. It helps that I recently purchased two box lots of mixed scraps of cotton and feedsack off ebay.
I could use reproduction fabric - but somehow the fabrics are too pretty and it wouldn't look right. Actually I am probably buying the pretty fabric, leaving behind the browns, navies, plaids etc.
I am using reproduction red for the corners, keeping with the theme of red in my old quilt. I am using new unbleached muslin, and yellow for the centers, so each block looks like a flower. Here is the first finished block.

This pattern finishes at 12 inches. In my vintage quilt, each block is 9 inches square.
I am excited by how this project is developing. I think I have enough vintage and new fabric to finish a lap quilt for sure, probably a single bed quilt.
So, alas, the nosegay wall hanging, the bunkhouse quilt - they are newly created UFO's (unfinished objects) - for now.
I'll post more as I get more blocks done.
Viridian