Button Day Is November 16!

Button Day is a fun day to collect, use, and just enjoy buttons. Button come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, colors and designs. There is an amazingly endless variety of buttons for your collection.


But wait a minute... is that the meaning of this day!? Maybe the purpose of this day is to wear buttons. You know, those diverse buttons that send a message for political purposes (according to Macmillan Dictionary, it is in England). Or ones that have funny sayings. Or a button with a smiley face to cheer everyone up.

The origins of this day are unknown. So we can't be certain of the real meaning of this day.


While every day is Button Day at Fran's Button Corner, it's nice to know there is an "official" holiday to acknowledge the wonderfulness of buttons. To celebrate, EVERYTHING in the shop (Clearance too) is 15% OFF until November 16! No secret codes to enter, unless of course, you just want to expound on virtues of buttons. :) Your 15% discount will be promptly refunded via PayPal.

From our friends at Holiday Insights, here are some other ways to celebrate Button Day:

• Button Collecting and Display Day - collect and display clothing buttons

• Button Up Day- 'cuz it's cold outside!
• Pushing Your Buttons Day - you're kidding me, aren't you!?
• Belly Button Day - now, here's one that could be real fun
• Belly Button Fuzz Day - it's amazing what you find in there.
• Wear Buttons Day - skip the political buttons. My favorite is a Smiley button.

To send a free Button Day card to your favorite button enthusiast, go to All-Yours. They have some really cute ones.

 However you choose to celebrate, have a Happy Button Day!

Christmas In October!

As a sequel to last week’s post about thread, I got an early Christmas present: a thread cabinet to put it all in! I’ve outgrown my plastic shoe box method of storage, and was looking for a bona fide spool cabinet. I saw an antique J.P. Coats one online for over a thousand dollars and figured “that ain’t gonna happen.” My favorite antique store to the rescue! Those ladies must love to see the QL Mobile pull up, because I always walk out of there with something.


Here’s my something: an Art Deco dresser from the 1930s with original Bakelite drawer pull inserts, made with real wood and dovetail joints. It’s so beautiful. I know it’s not a thread cabinet, but it will do the job. Plus, there’s extra room for fabric!

Art Deco was a popular international art design movement from 1925 until the 1940s. It was an opulent style, and its lavishness is attributed to reaction to the forced austerity imposed by World War I. The structure of Art Deco is based on mathematical geometric shapes, and was widely considered to be an eclectic form of elegant and stylish modernism. Eventually though, the style was cut short by the austerities of World War II. The dresser has “Denmark Manufacturing Company” stamped on the back, but I couldn’t find any information about the company. If anyone knows anything about this particular dresser and/or the Denmark Manufacturing Company, I would love to know more.

Time to move the thread into their new home!

Another Addiction?

To quote one of my blogging buddies, “I got thread!” 54 new old spools of thread were delivered into my hot little hands today, bringing my spool count up to 267 including an approximately 80 year old French blue variegated from Cartier Bresson (last pic). Is that too many? Perish the thought! Like vintage fabric and buttons, I love vintage thread. I don’t know if it’s the age or the colors; most likely both. I also adore the old label graphics on wooden spools. They’re a treasure all their own. I’ve read that thread degrades in quality as it ages, but I have never (jinx!) found that to be the case. Probably because it has spent decades in Grandma’s dark, temperature controlled sewing box. I’ll seek a 12 step program is thread starts to take over my life, but it’s going to have to get in line behind fabric and buttons!

A Challenging Quilt Label For A Quilt Challenge

One of my regular customers called and asked me to make a label for a quilt she was entering into an Ugly Fabric Challenge. The only parameters she gave me, besides the message to sew onto the label, was “make it creepy and black, and put a spider on it. I trust you.” As much as I appreciate my customers’ trust, I get very nervous when they say that. Sometimes I get a wild “out there” hair and who knows how something will turn out? Plus, this was for a contest! I can hear it now: “You were going to win until we saw that horrific piece of crap sewn to the back.” Are you sure you don’t want to tell me exactly what you want? After I got through whining about it, I got to work and here is the result. I used the Blackadder font which was really challenging to sew given all the loops and flourishes. The customer was very happy with it, and I hope she wins (the crown covers her last name to protect her privacy – another thing I’m a big spaz about).

My Dork-Out Quilt Is Done!

I finally finished the redwork/feedsack quilt I’ve been geeking on about. Hooray! Except I couldn’t call it My Dork-Out Quilt and expect to sell it. So its professional name is Everything Old Is New Again.

Here’s some history for those who aren’t familiar with redwork or feedsacks. I got the inspiration for this quilt from two of my favorite mediums: redwork and feedsacks. Redwork is a style of embroidery that was popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It's called redwork because of the colorfast Turkey red thread that was used at the time. The redwork patterns used are authentic 1890s motifs which I hand embroidered. One of the design themes in turn-of-the-century redwork was nature which is where I took my cue for this quilt. Peaches, strawberries, leaves, roses and cherries fill the 5 embroidered squares.

Feedsacks that formerly held flour, sugar and feed were a popular quilt material during the Depression and World War II. Through the shortages of money during the Depression, and of cloth during the war years, feedsacks filled the needs of thousands of women for fabric to create the things they could not otherwise buy. Recycling at its best! Nine 3” squares of mostly cotton 1930s feedsacks with some viscose and cotton scraps were hand sewn together to form each block. I got these blocks already sewn together at an antiques store and instantly fell in love with them. Each one is still gorgeous and the seams strong even after all these years.

There are red frames around the embroidery, and around the center is a border of black and red paisley print from this century. The border has a double cable quilt stitch, while the smaller 9 patches are quilted with a half moon pattern. The quilt stitches are hidden in the seams around the redwork so as not to distract from the embroidery. The backing fabric is a white on cream tiny floral design. To keep all this red from becoming too overpowering, cadet blue thread was used in the quilting, and blue and cream plaid binding was used to finish off the quilt. Its finished size is 34” x 34”, and is available for sale on the Quilted Lovelies website and the Quilted Lovelies Etsy shop. If you would like to see all the embroidered redwork and 9 patch squares, please see my portfolio on Flickr.

To keep the antique theme going, I just got in a 45 year old Flower Garden quilt to restore. More on that later!

Diva Moments

Inside my businesswoman body beats the heart of an artist. And sometimes that artiste gets pretty darn uppity, wanting nothing more than to cut up whatever I’ve been working on. The kids started calling these episodes Diva Moments, and the name stuck.


Diva Moments occur when a quilt I’m sewing is not meeting expectations. This is a bane to my perfectionist tendencies. Why can’t everything I do be perfect the first time? Instead of realizing I’m not perfect and trying a different approach (perish the thought), my prissy little diva starts ranting.

“This is swill! Why can I not create anything but garbage? I’m going to put this in the fireplace and burn it!” Sometimes, on the way to the fireplace, a reasonable facsimile of sanity returns. Or my husband brings the matches, and I am dismayed that he agrees with me.

Methods of destruction and expletives vary according to how high my frustration level is (much like the ever worsening rings of hell in Dante’s Inferno):

• Small seam ripper: mutter, mumble, big sigh
• Large seam ripper: How hard can it be to sew two pieces of fabric together in a straight line?
• Big honkin’ seam ripper: If this weren’t for a customer, I’d cut it up right now.
• Big sharp scissors: This looks like crap! Prepare to say hello to your new friends in the scrap bag! (see picture)

Other destinations where my projects have ended up are:
• The fireplace after being cut up.
• The dog’s mouth (Merle’s new chew toy).
• The shredder (bad idea – had to buy a new one).

You’d think after the shredder incident, I’d learn to control my little fits of pique, but no. Take this post for instance. It’s almost been to the new shredder three times.

I’m getting a little better as I get older though, and my Diva Moments can’t be heard by the neighbors anymore. I realize I can’t be perfect all the time, and try to be more patient with myself. But I did buy my own personal heavy duty shredder just in case…

Two Dork-Outs In One

I’ve been wanting to make a redwork quilt ever since I restored the 1907 redwork quilt last year (see first post). But I wanted to do it with authentic patterns, so the hunt was on! During my quest, I came across nine patch squares from the thirties at my fave antique store. Shortly thereafter, I located the aforementioned redwork patterns. Two, two, two dork-outs in one! Redwork embroidery and antique fabric!


The nine patch squares were filthy dirty and stapled together (just put a staple through my heart why dontcha), but after I surgically removed the staples, I was able to move on. After a good long soak, most of the grime came off and I could get a good look at what I had. Nine 3” squares of mostly cotton with some viscose were hand sewn together to form each block. All are still gorgeous even after the indignities they’ve suffered.

I thought it would be cool to pair the redwork and nine patches together since there was a lot of red in the 9 patches. Fortunately, the reds complement each other and a new quilt will soon be born.

The hand embroidery took 27 hours to complete, and was a joy to follow patterns over 100 years old. There are 1” frames around the redwork to make all the blocks the same size. Around the center is a 6” border of black and red paisley print. The blues in the squares plus the cream in the redwork balance out all the red fabric. I’m almost done quilting it, and haven’t decided on a binding fabric yet. Maybe a blue and cream print? Any ideas?

Meet The Teacher Night

For maximum embarrassment to your teenager, be sure to try these tips at the next Meet the Teacher or Open House night. They really work!

 

1. Wait patiently for your turn to speak with every teacher.
2. Tell every teacher that your child has “special needs”
3. Speak French to the French teacher (or foreign language of your choice). The worse you speak it, the more embarrassed your teenager becomes. It’s amazing!
4. Give all the teachers permission to hand out extra homework to your middle schooler in order to get her/him “ready for college”.
5. Ask all the members of the opposite sex who say hi to your teenager to fill out a health questionnaire.
6. Make sure the P.E. teacher knows it’s OK to give your child extra laps/pushups every day.

Use these little tidbits, and I guarantee you at least 3 eye rolls and a couple of huge sighs.  Maybe even a "Mother!" or two! ;)

 

"New" Antique Textiles

I went on a bender the other day and bought a ton (OK, a little less) of antique textiles.  It’s a good thing my affinity for old stuff runs in less expensive areas than let’s say furniture or jewelry.  OK, on to the “booty”.

First are 3 linen hankies, which are hand embroidered in the corners and around the edges. The needlework is exquisite, and its perfection is what drew me. Ditto for the 2 hand sewn picot trimmed doilies. They’re cotton, also hand embroidered and 11” x 8”. Both items are in excellent condition for being over 60 years old.


I also found a set of 8 colored damask rose napkins from the 50s. They had never been used or even unfolded. What a shame since they are so gorgeous. When put in the light, the white on white design radiates like sunbeams. After I got the napkins home, I was afraid they would fall apart because they were stiff at the fold lines from disuse. But no worries, after a little soak, they were as good as new. I don’t know what I’m going to do with them yet – I may just put them to their original use as napkins!


The piece de resistance is a twin size quilt top made from 2” feedsack squares from the 30s. Each square is hand sewn, and the points match up perfectly. The seams haven’t come apart anywhere even after all this time. I wonder how long it took to make – probably years. I did my best not to let my spazziness out in public, but it was hard. I think my inner fabric nerd fainted. I’m certainly going to finish quilting and binding it, but whether the quilt goes on the website is another matter. I don’t know if I’ll be able to part with such a labor of love.

Pros & Cons Of Working Alone

I run a one woman shop, so I work by myself during the day. I never get lonely though because I have our Golden Retriever, Merle, to keep me company. I’ve had people ask me if it bothers me to be by myself all day, and after working in the corporate world for over 15 years, I can answer: H E double hockey sticks no! But to be fair, I wrote myself a list of the plusses and minuses of working solo:


1. No more tyrannical, ego-maniacal bosses to put up with.  However, I am now my own tyrannical, ego-maniacal boss.


2. No commute.  However, I'm responsible for all the daily household minutiae because I’m home all day “doing nothing”.


3. Don’t have to listen to co-workers’ drama, but now I have to make up my own gossip.


4. Don’t have to stress over the rumor mill, but one day, I may have tell myself I’m laid off (awkward).


5. Peace and quiet rule!  However, Merle doesn’t like my singing.


6. Don’t have to complete “personal goals” on my section of my performance review. They never liked seeing, “Save my money to open a quilt business.” Or “Retire by 58.”  On the minus side, how the heck do you write a business plan?


7. My artsy-fartsy creative side can finally breathe.  The CYA, watch your back, don’t trust anyone side can retire.


Since the plus list is longer than the minus list, I guess I’m where I’m supposed to be. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to see if I’m achieving my business goals, and complete Merle’s performance review.

I Learned Something New Today

Always make sure your parking brake is off before driving. I had just dropped my daughter off at school and was heading home. A school bus was in front of me. After I passed 25 m.p.h., this horrible screech was heard all around. “That bus needs to get its brakes fixed!” I grumbled. I slowed down because the bus was slowing down to turn. The horrible screech began again. “What is that noise?” I grumbled some more. “And what’s that smell?” Turns out I had been driving with the parking brake on for a good half mile. Here’s another tip (a twofer weekend!): never assume the one making the horrible racket isn’t you.

College Life

Talked to my son yesterday for the first time since he left for college. Classes start today, so I wanted to call and wish him good luck. He said everything I didn’t want to hear, everything that sets my Mama Grizzly Bear /DEFCON alarm off. Fortunately, by sheer force of will, I kept my side of the conversation upbeat, positive and encouraging (at least I hope so). Here’s how portions of our talk went:



Me: How’s the food?
Him: I haven’t tried the dining hall for dinner yet, I’m still eating that pizza Dad and I got Sunday.
Mama Grizzly Bear: Sunday?! Today is Wednesday! Is it still good? There wasn’t that much left over. What’s he eating? Half a slice of moldy unhealthy pizza for dinner? He’s not eating right, he’s going to make himself sick. AND classes haven’t even started yet!
Me: You might want to try out the dining hall at least one meal a day so you can get enough healthy stuff to eat.


Me: You sound tired. Watching too much TV (said jokingly)?
Him: The bed is like a rock and my roommate snores. Plus I think everyone on this floor just came here to party.
MGB: ACK! ACK! Not sleeping AND not eating right! That’s a recipe for disaster right there! And what does he mean by “party”?
Me: I’m so sorry to hear that. Maybe we can bring some more egg crate foam with us in October. Would you like me to mail you a white noise maker to block out your roommate’s snoring? I know it’s hard now, but it will get better. A big change like this takes some getting used to. What do you mean everyone’s there to party?
Him: There’s loud music every night, and this morning, two thirds of the stalls in the bathroom were taken up with guys puking their guts out. I’m looking into switching to an intense study or substance free floor.
MGB: OMG! DEFCON 4! DEFCON 4! What kind of riff-raff is he living with? However, that’s my son making a wise decision. Look at him, all out on his own, and making very mature decisions. He takes after me that way.
Me: That’s an excellent idea. I hope there’s a room available for you.


Me: Have you made any new friends?
Him: No, there’s nothing to do.
Me: I thought there were meet and greet activities this whole week.
Him: Yeah, if you’re rushing a fraternity.
MGB: Stupid fraternities.
Me: You need to check things out a little better – I’m sure there are other non-Greek things to do. Have a good first day of school tomorrow!
MGB: Hey! Remind him to eat better and get more sleep and stay away from the riff-raff and wash his hands and stay away from bad girls and study hard and go to class and... !
Me: Bye-bye!

Man, I gotta figure out a way to quiet that bear down.  She's going to get out and cause trouble again.

Sunbonnet Sue Quilt

This quilt was made by my mom and one of her sisters at least 45 years ago. When asked the exact date, my mom said, “A hundred years ago.” My aunt’s memory was a little better. Her reply was, “After you were born.”


They made a 12 patch Sunbonnet Sue quilt, with each block being 18”. There are 2” sashings between each block, and a 2” gingham border around the Sues for a total size of 62” x 82”. Each Sue is different with a pretty dress and coordinating bonnet. I love all the old fabrics that were used. I remember as a kid wishing I had Barbie clothes that matched that nicely (even then - fabric, fabric, fabric).  Most of the material is from the 40s and 50s, and had been in the scrap bag a good while. All the embroidery was hand sewn, as well as the appliqué, the quilting and the binding. The batting is real cotton and thin, but I don’t know if that was the original design or has become thin from years of love.

Double spaz for me because not only was this an antique quilt, but one I had adored as a child.  I never knew Sue's story until I was asked to restore her.  Some days it's a good thing that only our Golden Retriever, Merle, is around to see me in action (ha).

Poor Sue had around 4’ of binding at the top that had come loose. Additionally, all the quilt stitching at the top had come out. I repaired the binding and the quilting, and gave Sue a nice long soak. She looks as good as new, and is ready for another 45 years of memories.

To see all the Sues up close and personal, please go to my Flickr page.

Secret Sale At Fran's Button Corner

In honor of my daughter's big 1-3 birthday, all mixes with purple buttons (her fave color) are 20% off at Fran's Button Corner now until August 26.  Happy Birthday!

The Creative Process

I had just purchased some scrumptious red, white and black fabric, and was sitting down to figure out what to make with it when my brother called.


“Can’t talk now – I’m designing a quilt.”

“How do you manage that? By…”


No, it does not involve pulling ideas out of my posterior. Since you want to know, Bubba, here it is. But I’m warning you, it ain’t pretty (or even sane).


Process I: Bolt From The Blue (my favorite). This involves standing around, minding my own business, when – BOOM! – inspiration strikes. The downside is that it usually occurs when I am unable to write down my perfect bolt of blueness: I’m asleep, in the shower, standing in line at the store with an armload of groceries, or at the bank, so when I excitedly pull my notebook and pencil from my purse, it looks like I’m pulling out my Handy Dandy Bank Robbin’ Kit. I had no idea that bank employees were so skittish.


Process II: Sit Down & Doodle (this has steps!)


1. Get paper, pencil and fabric for inspiration.
2. Sit down at desk and stare at fabric.
3. Draw a blank.

This is where the ugliness (insanity?) starts.


Internal Voice (alter personality?): C’mon get going!
Me: I got nothing.
IV: Just start doodling for cryin’ out loud!
Me: Sounds good. Doodle, doodle, doooo :-( 
IV: What are you doing?
Me: Huh? I’m doodling. What does it look like I’m doing?
IV: Not designing a quilt.
Me: Would you quiet down so I can think?

Next, I put my elbows on the desk, and cover my eyes with my hands. This blocks out the distractions, plus makes it look like I’m weeping. Other family members steer clear, thus further reducing distractions.


Me: Hmm, should I do a variation on the Log Cabin pattern?
IV: No, everyone’s done that twice.
Me: Hawaiian appliqué?
IV: Remember the Diva Moment you had last time? Took the scissors to it?
Me: Yyyeahhh. I’m looking at blackness here. Utter and complete blackness, just like my career.
IV: Oh criminy! Here we go again. Would you please quit feeling sorry for yourself and get on with it?
Me: Zzzzz
IV: Wake up loser and get going!
Me: What to make? What to make? How about chicken for dinner?
IV: Stay on track! I’m going to leave if you don’t stop this.
Me: Mission accomplished!


If nothing comes from that exercise, I stand up and start swaying from side to side, like I’m comforting a baby. This usually unclutters my mind, but is not successful all the time.


IV: What are you doing?
Me: Shut up! I’m trying to design here!
IV: Whatever. How about some appliqué? Throw in a bright color just to mix things up?
Me: That might just work. Maybe yellow.


Then I pull out some more fabric, start drawing, and everyone lives happily ever after. But sometimes, nothing comes from the ol’ Creative Department, and no one lives happily ever after. Next comes pacing or putting my forehead against a wall. Bad news either way.


Me: This isn’t working. I’m going to do something else, and maybe I’ll get a Bolt From The Blue.
IV: That won’t happen. You’ll start doing laundry or errands or surfin’ the Web, and forget all about it until you need something new for the site. Then you’ll be running around, squawking about how you’re always pushed for time and never have a creative moment to yourself. Like you’re some special diva who has special needs. Blah, blah, blah.
Me: Would you shut up so I can think??!!


Husband: Why are you arguing with yourself? You’re scaring the dog. How many of you are in there anyway?
IV: *crickets chirping*
Me: Just having artistic differences with myself, dear.
Husband: *crickets chirping*, one eyebrow up in the air.


Then he leaves, I’m sure to measure the guest room for padding. By this time all’s quiet in the Design Department, so I can now get a little work done. First, I get out a piece of paper, a pencil and the fabric for inspiration…


The next time you're stuck for an idea, try these tips.  They really work! ;-D

Off To College

Back at Christmastime, I ordered a fleece Texas Tech blanket for my son from Auntie Mac’s at Etsy. I jokingly told her that I’d probably need to order a security blanket for me since he was the first chick to leave the nest. Bless her, she made a small blanket for me and folded it up his blanket. What a kind and thoughtful surprise! Well, the security blanket was put to the test today as I bid good-bye to my oldest. I swear I just took him to kindergarten a few years ago. Please visit Auntie Mac’s shop. She’s a sweet lady who sews beautiful things, and not just fleece blankets either!



I couldn’t go to Lubbock and help my son unpack (how sad – not!) because school starts tomorrow, and we have another chick to deliver to the fine halls of public education. My husband is taking my van, aka the Quilted Lovelies Mobile. Can you believe he and his son took the magnetic signs off the doors simply because they look girlie? Hmph. The QL Mobile is now naked but looks as manly as a van can look. They did clean it inside and out as compensation so I guess I can’t complain too much (but I probably will for form’s sake).

1907 Redwork Signature Quilt, Part II

I had an opportunity to turn a 101 year old redwork signature coverlet into a quilt. It was time to quit hyperventilating and get to work. The coverlet had been in storage for many years, which explained its excellent condition, but after a century of service, everything needs a little work. The main problem was that the red herringbone stitches that decoratively tied the squares together were coming undone.



But first a little history (no, no, don’t skip, it’s not long or boring). Each contributor embroidered a muslin square with a picture (usually domestically oriented), the date, her name, and the town where she resided. This is why it’s called a signature coverlet. The thread color most often used was called Turkey Red, which is where the term “redwork” draws its name. Redwork was very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. See? Was that so bad?


Each square was sewn together, then a red herringbone stitch was sewn over the seams to tie it all together. Later, a ruffle was added to turn the coverlet into a bedspread. This coverlet’s third incarnation would be as a quilted wall hanging. My mantra was “don’t screw up, don’t screw up...”

The first order of business was to repair the seams. After further inspection, it wasn’t so much that the thread had come out of the needle holes, but that the fabric was pulling apart from the thread. There just wasn’t any fabric left at some of the seams to sew them back together. Yikes! Fusible webbing to the rescue! I sewed where I could sew, zig-zagged stitched where I had to (all by hand), then applied fusible webbing to the back of all the seams to make the whole quilt top stronger for quilting and hanging. Next I had to fix some herringbone stitches and completely redo others. It was so cool to find the needle holes in order to duplicate the stitches. It was like following a trail of bread crumbs left by another woman a century ago. Cooler still to know that I was the first person in a hundred years to sew on that fabric. I was really being a big spaz now, but only the dog was around to see.

Here are some of my favorite squares: (1) This is my favorite, because the sentiment is so punny: “I wish you joy from the bottom of my soul” AR AR

(2) This is my second fave. The temperance movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries was an organized effort to encourage moderation in the consumption of liquor or press for complete abstinence. A temperance drink was one that did not have alcohol. A political statement to be sure, but it seems Mrs. Hull thought very little of temperance drinks, comparing them to a donkey drinking from a water trough.



(3) This is a bow wrapped around the violin before the embroidery was repaired. The blue pattern line is still visible after 101 years.


(4) This was a popular redwork pattern at the end of the 19th century. In various pattern catalogs, it was mistakenly labeled a moose. The needlewoman, Mrs. E. Bessey, correctly named the animal on her square (you can tell it's a reindeer because of the antlers). The repair in the upper left corner was done hastily, and consumes all of the herringbone stitch.
 
(5) Here's Mr. Reindeer after the bad repair was removed.
 
(6) Here he is after the seam was resewn, and a new herringbone stitch was applied. It was so cool to figure out how the decorative stitches were sewn in order to duplicate them. Even more amazing to know that I was the first person in a hundred years to sew on that fabric.



(7) After all the squares were repaired, it was time to quilt and bind. Piece o’ cake after all the other drama. Here’s what it looked like (a close up anyway) after I was finished.


(8 & 9) The finished product, ready for another 101 years.  The last picture is of the back with the hanging sleeve attached.  The client was extremely happy with her new quilt/wall hanging, which was good, because I think I would have busted down bawling if she hadn’t liked it.
 
If you would like to see all the squares, and the history behind them, please go to my Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/quilted_lovelies/.

1907 Redwork Signature Quilt, Part I

One of the things I’m ga-ga for is antique textiles. I love old quilts, hankies, napkins, fabric, you name it. I wish they could talk to me and tell me their story. Last year my wish was granted (sorry, no talking fabric). I received a call from a nice lady asking me to turn her bedspread into a wall hanging. “It’s been in the family for years, and I want it out where everyone can see it.” Sure, says I, and since she was local, I went to her house to see the bedspread. I was thunderstruck when she brought out a perfect example of early 20th century redwork. I was awestruck by how well preserved it was, and it was a signature quilt to boot! My mouth fell open and I couldn’t speak. I heard angels singing. Then I heard my little voice tell me, “Shut your mouth and straighten up! Be a professional for crying out loud!”

The bedspread, without the ruffle, measures 62” x 80”, and has 10 rows of 8 blocks each. The client told me it was a wedding gift to a great-great aunt, and had started life as a coverlet. The ruffle was added some time later, but she didn't know when. I had been commissioned to repair split seams and embroidery, and turn it into a quilted wall hanging so it could be displayed. What a career highlight! Then after my head quit buzzing, I realized everything had to go off without a hitch. ACK! ACK! Where’s my paper bag to breathe into? Why did I say yes?!