Sunday, June 26, 2011

Starry Night BOM done?? It's been a YEAR already???

It's hard to believe. A year has gone by, right before my very eyes. How do I know? I bought and finished my 12th block for the Starry Night BOM quilt I started forever ago.

Here is my 12th block, and I can see a huge difference between my first and my 12th. Both my sewing skills and my quilting skills have come a long, long way in the last year.











Here are the only filler blocks I've managed to make. 2 of 13. Ouch. But I have started to cut for them, and I do think they will go quickly because I can do them "assembly line" style. Yet another technique I've learned this year.













I think the next one is my favorite block, and it was the 3rd one we made. I really love the diamond placement.





This is the photo that they gave us when we started. I'm really looking forward to getting mine all together because I think it will look so much better. The colors are so much brighter in real life.



Which one is your favorite?

After a long dry spell...vintage sewing goodies!

It feels so good to have something fun to share again! I have been working on some larger projects (still....boring!) and then just not sewing as much as I'd like. But last weekend I was lucky enough to have a great estate sale to go to, and I got lots of great vintage sewing "stuff". The ad had said "hundreds of yards of vintage fabric". Of course, when I got there, a huge portion of it was polyester, and not very old...but there was plenty for me to take home, and I only paid $1 for each "piece".

In this first picture, there's some nice cottons, but the black is a gorgeous light, almost georgette fabric. And there's enough to make a small dress. The colors are fabulous.



In the next photo the floral on the left is from Mexico. A lot of the fabric was still in bags, with tags attached, purchased in the 60's. As I was pawing through the boxes and boxes of fabric I thought "I'd better get sewing or someone will find fabric still bagged and tagged at MY house!" The small print on the far right has the prettiest gold in it.



The blue red and white, second from the left is great. One of my favorite things about vintage fabric is the color combinations.

The dark blue is a heavier, almost home dec weight. That may become my daughter's dance bag for next school year.



These are basic cottons, but they are large pieces...each about 3 yards, and remember that price? $1/piece? How's 33 cents a yard grab you?? Many of the cottons say "Concord Fabrics". I think the company may now be part of Springs Industries. Anyone know for sure?



There were only about 50 patterns, but these that I chose (got all four for $1!) are all uncut, and actually things I would wear. I especially love the cape, which I am seeing in fall fashion previews already. Best of all, I got some great wools that I could make one in (next photo down).



The left two are wools, 3 yard pieces, no smells at all, and nice quality. At least one of these will become a skirt. I seriously LOVE plaid skirts and boots in the fall.

The floral is linen...not very old, but I liked the pattern. It reminded me of my grandmother, so I took it.



I foolishly didn't take the large bags of buttons they had. There were 4 or 5 of them, but they had really new looking buttons. Of course I wished I'd taken them when I got home. I did take these though.



Last but not least I got two great vintage tablecloths. The one with the ADORABLE deer is in perfect condition, so that will get used this year. The other is a Wilendur that has seen better days, so that will become some cloth napkins for my Etsy shop (someday).



And what may you ask did I pay for this haul? A whopping $18. I didn't even get pictures of ALL of the fabric, and I also got an adorable white wicker purse. Serious bargains for seriously great vintage stuff! One of the great benefits of living in New England.