Treasures

Well, the Top Ten list is on hold until JB completes the entry for #5, as it is about adventures he had without me, so I cannot write about them. If he does not complete #5 by the weekend, I will pick up with #4, and you may never know what #5 is! Mu-ha-ha!

So this week I got 3 unexpected treasures. Well, one man's trash...

1.) Steamer Trunk
My mom stores all her sewing stuff in an old steamer trunk. I thought that was a pretty clever idea and wanted to do the same myself. For my birthday last year JB got me a steamer trunk for $20. After we got it home we realized how badly it smelled inside. We can't get the smell out. So my sewing stuff has remained in this clear plastic tote, which looks kind of tacky in our dining room.

But this weekend, Marian gave me her old steamer trunk! She had gotten different furniture for a guest bedroom and the trunk was kind of off in the corner, all lonely. It's in much better shape than the other one, and it doesn't stink badly. YAY! Thank you Marian!


2.) We hit up the Allegan Antiques fair on Sunday. There I got this vintage quilt top that the seller had picked up at an Estate Sale. I'm not sure where to put it on my list of quilts to do, but I'll find a place for it. This quilt must have taken someone HOURS to complete (it's a "trip around the world" pattern).



3.) I had admired this serving platter when it Williams Sonoma first advertised it. For $54! A little out of my price range. But on Tuesday when Lizzy and I were shopping the mall, there it was, marked down to $16.99! Agh! I decided to buy it, but before I could get the lady to ring it up, Lizzy bought it for me as a present for taking her shopping. Lizzy is Chris's wife (Top Ten #9) and as a Brit, she isn't used to driving on the right side of the road (well, and it's fun to have a shopping buddy). Thank you Lizzy!

Quilt 2009

So I can FINALLY tell y'all what I've been doing for the past four months! Since January Marian and I have been furiously working on a quilt for Austin and Lauren's wedding. I don't know how many hours we spent deciding on a pattern, creating the layout and measurements, picking out fabric, washing and ironing fabric, cutting, and then finally assembling the quilt. We pieced the quilt, which means we put it together, but we hired a woman to quilt it, which is the part where you sew the top, the batting, and the back together. We don't have a special machine and it would have taken us way too long to quilt it ourselves.

The quilt has the Ohio Star block in it. We used a bunch of Marian's fabric scraps, which she said included a lot of fabric that used to be Aunt Helen's (recognize anything, Aunt Helen?). We also bought some fabric that we wanted featured, including a "Go Green, Go White" print, some horse/riding prints, a snowman one, and some Civil War reproduction fabric, since Lauren is from Tennessee. I LOVE that Civil War fabric and want to buy a bunch more for myself.

It was a load of fun to make it. We wanted to see them open their gift and figured the days around the wedding would be a little too hectic. Well, and basically, we were tired of waiting. :) So we gave it to them Friday night when they were in town.

Obsession

It's all Marian's fault.

Since becoming unemployed I picked up my old pasttime of quilting. I originally intended to make Olivia a twin bed quilt before she was born, to put on the bed in her room. Haha. I never even started it. Here's the fabric I have for it. It's going to be a dutch windmills design, as Olivia is part Dutch:



But now that I have more free time (but not much, mind you, as you stay at home moms know!) I have resurrected this project. Marian has been helping me with my quilting aspirations and now things have gotten a little out of control.

We went to Smith Own fabrics to shop around and we were very restrained and only bought like 10 different fabrics. I spent almost all of my "fun money" that I had been saving. After we paid, Marian said, "Now let's get out of here before we buy anything else." So we did. But then the next day I made JB take me back. There was one fabric that I had forgotten to purchase and I NEEDED it. I don't know WHAT I need it for, but I was desperate to own it because it's so beautiful:



I also picked up a few more things. Fun money = spent:


Last night I was telling JB that I had been looking on the internet for more 30's reproduction fabrics for the Sunbonnet Sue quilt that I want to make.

"You're going to make another quilt?" he asked, incredulous. I guess he thought that Olivia's quilt was enough. And the quilt that I'm making for Krystal.

I told him that I had plans for many quilts, but I did not list them off, as he would think that I am crazy. I did admit to him that I am regularly tempted to go back to the fabric store and just buy whatever I want and put it on our credit card. He forbade me. This was a smart move.

If Marian wasn't such a quilting fanatic I may have stopped at Olivia's quilt. At least for the time being. But she has been teaching me tricks about sewing and planning and my confidence is growing. She has told me about women who will do the quilting part of your project (sewing the top to the inside batting and the bottom fabric) if my quilt is too big for me to do at home. She shows me her quilting magazines. She shows me her massive fabric stashes. She goes with me to various fabric stores.

I am a Jane-of-all-Trades in that I like everything and do lots of things. But I think that the buck may stop at quilting. Or, at least, collecting beautiful fabric. Not sure which is more fun.