The blog is little early this week. There’s a good reason for this.
I have jury duty tomorrow.
Well, that’s not quite entirely true. I think I have jury duty. I will know for sure tonight after 6 p.m. when I call the pre-recorded line and see if my number is up is called. Have I mentioned this is the ninth jury summons I’ve received since I moved to Guilford County in 1983? I’ve only been excused for one – I had just given birth to my son. And they saw my daughter’s recent cancer surgery was in no way, shape, or form a “necessary excuse” to have this one postponed. Gotta love those tax dollars at work, folks.
Since I’m working on an abbreviated time frame, and have no idea if I will have to serve in jury duty or be sat on a jury (God forbid), this week is lots of pretty pictures and lots of show and tell.
First, I want to share with you a few completely non-quilty pictures. My mother, who you may remember is a stained-glass artist, made me something. A little history on this. Each Christmas my mother displays a beautiful stained-glass church she made several years ago. She runs white lights in it and surrounds it with glass angels. It is beautiful, as is everything she makes. She and a friend of hers, Cheryl, made me one. It’s displayed in my dining room and I’m also going to surround mine with angels at Christmas. Isn’t it gorgeous?
I’ve also been gifted a couple of antique quilts. This sweet Sunbonnet Sue is from my friend, Susan.
And Matt and Anna found this quilt for me.
Both are hand-pieced or appliqued and hand quilted.
Now that you are well aware of my affinity for Feed Sacks, these next two quilts should come as no surprise. I found both of these at the Asheboro Antique Mall. They need a good cleaning, but both are in really good condition. The Grandmother’s Flower Garde (a popular pattern during the 1930’s) is hand-pieced and hand quilted.
I think this one is a type of Dresden Plate. It is busy quilt, but the thing about this quilt that tugged at my heart strings is that backing and batting for this quilt is a heavy blanket – just like my great-grandmother’s quilt. This also probably puts this quilt as being constructed locally (this seems to be a Piedmont North Carolina trend) and in the 1930’s (because during the Depression you just made do).
And after all the discussion on Stash Usage, I did have to replace some of mine. I was running out of gray, so I purchased one yard each of these….
My landscape fabrics were also nearly depleted, so I ordered these.
And I found these Feed Sacks on Ebay at a reasonable price. The dealer threw in the solid blue to match the red, blue, and green floral print next to it.
Finally, I received a thank you note in the mail from a former student. I sent her a couple of baby gifts, as a new, little one is due soon. April is one of those students no teacher ever forgets. She excelled in her studies and could literally do anything from bake bread to build a car from the frame up (which she did do, by the way). Somewhere along the way, she taught me to knit and I’ve offered her quilting advice. In the note, she talks about a quilt she’s working on and that we need to get together via phone or visit before she finishes it. Pay it forward, quilters. Teach someone else so the craft does not die.
Until Next Week…Quilt with Excellence!
Love and Stitches,
Sherri and Sam
