Time Flies

Wow, it seems like forever since I posted last, and I have too many things to show and tell about!

Last week I wandered into an antique shop with nothing in particular in mind. Way back in a corner, I found this antique quilt! It was marked $30 and I had a long discussion with myself as to whether or not this needed to come home with me. In the end, I settled for a couple of pictures! Cheaper and easier. I just couldn't justify the purchase with all that fabric sitting at home. I (theoretically) can make my own "antique" indigo quilt.

It looks to me like an Irish Chain or variation thereof, and done in a scrappy manner. There were a few squares that have disintegrated into almost nothing, and those look like they weren't indigo fabric. (You can just see one in the upper right in the photo below.) The quilting is done in straight lines, which I think is kind of unusual in an antique.

WARNING!! SPOILER ALERT!! To my sister: if you are reading this, STOP NOW!! DO NOT SCROLL DOWN!!

Ok, the rest of you are good to continue. *grin*

I checked a book out of the library recently, and it really excited me. I thought these projects looked like a lot of fun.

As I was reading this book, the author mentioned seeing a well-known quilter on a TV show, demonstrating her little fabric books. She mentioned no names. But it dawned on me that she must have been talking about Gwen Marston. And I remembered I had Gwen's book about this! So I had to go find it.

Here it is!

Then, I had the brilliant thought "It's almost my sister's birthday. Hmm, could I somehow combine these two ideas?!"

So, the secret project idea was born and is now in process! I've just gotten started, and I can't wait to get back at it. (I had to take a couple of days off for other things, darn it!) I think this is gonna be fun, and I think/hope my sister will like this. She's also a quilter, so it figures that she would. We usually like the same things. *fingers crossed*

I bought some batiks the other day. The one on the left (purple) is going to be the quilt studio curtains and sewing machine cover, the green one was just because I fell in love with it.

I went to the Alliance for American Quilts web site with the Gwen Marston interview and looked around. You can search the interviews based on the interviewee, and there's more people on there than I've heard of! I found the interview with Roberta Horton, who's been as big an influence on my quilting as Gwen Marston. You can read it here. It's interesting to me that, essentially, both women are telling quilters "Make your OWN quilt". I hadn't realized that that was the true common thread until I read both interviews. Don't copy someone else's quilt, make one that reflects you and your life. Both of these quilters are basing this advice on their studies of antique quilts. And the quilt that Ms. Horton brought to the interview, "Frau Horton Frau Horton", was free-pieced figures! I've seen photos of the quilt, (you can see it here - scroll down about 1/2 way down the page) and hadn't realized that it was free-pieced. How cool! Another link between her and Gwen Marston. I love finding these common threads to the things that have influenced me.

A little side note here. My daughter plays classical Spanish guitar. She lives in another state now, and I really miss listening to her play. She sent me this link to You Tube. You can hear Andante Largo's beautiful classical guitar playing. The song my daughter plays that I miss is called "Jeux Interdits or Romance". I think it's beautiful, and I hope you enjoy it too!