Fabric Time Machine

On the front of this vintage quilt block are various patterns in a delightful array of colors:

On the backside is a time machine:

I'm so thankful many quilters used whatever was sitting around them instead of cutting quilt patterns out of plain tracing paper.  By finding quilt blocks with newspaper/magazine pattern pieces affixed to the actual quilt block, it further helps to date the block but it's also an interesting walk down memory lane.

First Farm Auction a Success

Saturday's farm auction was a success!  We rolled out of bed at the ungodly hour of 5 a.m. and headed into northeast Missouri.  For this stuck-in-the-suburbs girl, standing outside under the great big sky and large open expanse of land never grows old.  

The woman's estate contained very nice antiques and vintage items.  If only I had ways of selling larger items, I would have come away with terrific deals on furniture like this chair set that sold for $6.

Can you imagine?

I was fortunate to nab some pretty good deals, myself, that includes an 1800's indigo blues cutter quilt, a 1920's carnival doll, 1940's nautical/Navy charm necklaces, an entire collection of vintage half aprons, scarves, and the really old photograph of the woman in the blog before this one.

Also included at this auction were the contents of Maud Christian Church.  I'm not sure how long it has set unoccupied, but I'm sure for quite awhile.  The proceeds from the auction went to the upkeep and mowing of the church cemetery.

After the auction, Richard and I drove to Maud and found the church.

See the abandoned home beyond the field?  It was cloudy outside and I didn't have my good camera equipment, otherwise we would have taken photos of the abandoned home.  There were plenty of abandonments out that way, so I know we'll be back.

I adore the gingerbread trim.

Here are a few pictures of the church contents at auction:

The lovely altar table went for $85.

This ornate lectern also sold for $85.  Isn't that a steal?

We were able to nab the entire contents on this table as well as the attendance board and numbers on the ground!  Included on the table are the 2 original 1800's church Bibles and the acolyte wand.  Incredible finds!

We'll be listing these items within a few weeks, so please check back here on the blog or on our eBay site.

There are no auctions this upcoming weekend that interest me, unfortunately, however the auction bug has bit and it felt SO good to be back buying at farm auctions, so I'm constantly on the lookout for auction listings!  I can't wait to see what the season will bring!

The Auctions Are Back!

The farm auctions are back!  The farm auctions are back!  I'm so excited that I needed to say that twice!! (And show two exclamation points!)

So, I found an auction Saturday in north-central Missouri.  My husband and I attended an auction in this same vicinity last Fall.  It was a 3+ hour drive one-way and was an incredibly tiring day, but I loved it!  The same auction company is hosting this auction which includes an entire 1895 church's belongings so they can continue to afford the upkeep of the cemetery.  Evidently the church is no longer in service.  So not only is there an entire estate of belongings, but also the contents of an old church!

I'm stoked.



Anyway, I was looking through the photographs listed for the auction and came upon this:

The picture looks like it was taken in the late 1800's. I'm particularly drawn to her adornments including the feather in her hair and the flower on her bodice.  It is easy to look at the fashion trends today and feel like we're on the cutting-edge, but really, life and fashion are all about repetition.

This photo is pinned on one of my Pinterest boards as a tutorial on how to make fabric flowers.

Here's another.

So you see, we're not boldly crafting and adorning where no man has crafted or adorned before.  We're simply following in the footsteps of those who have gone before us. The antique photograph above intrigues me.

I wonder if she crafted her pin and hair piece?

Photographs and Patterns

There are lots of things going on behind the scenes.  This weekend I focused on processing photographs taken of a small northeastern Kansas town.  Here are a few of my favorites:

I normally don't like sepia too much, but somehow these photographs spoke to me in sepia more than color or black and white.  I'm very pleased with the outcome.  One of these days I'll have these printed and listed in the shop.  If you are interested, please drop me a line!

And now I am focusing on listing several vintage clothing patterns.  I have 3 boxes full of vintage patterns, so check the shop frequently for newly-listed patterns!

Cluck Cluck says the Hen!

My newest pillow is in the shop.  Made from a page taken out of a 1963 fabric book, I created the pillow by sewing the page onto 1950's-era feedsack material.  A Kansas State Fair ribbon from 1933 was cut down to size and bias trim added.  At the top of the ribbon, I created a rosette using chiffon fabric and then added a safety pin to attach the piece to the pillow.

The back is done using vintage sheet fabric sewn in an envelope-style.  I edged the opening with green bias tape.  The pillow form inside is a vintage, thrifted feather pillow.

It pairs well with the cow pillow, also listed.

You can find the hen pillow here:

Hen Pillow

Stained Page=YUMMY Recipe

Sometimes weekly menu planning can get overwhelming.  There are stacks of cookbooks in the pie safe cabinet and some also on top of the pantry shelf.  A host of recipe sites can be found on the internet and with Pinterest, well let's just say I sometimes don't know where to start.

Back in the day before the internet, people often took cast-off memo books and created their own cookbook.

With hand-written recipes passed down from generation to generation, the pages were lined with pen and pencil highlighting their favorites.  The more stained the page, the better the recipe, right?

The occasional taped recipe culled from periodicals can be found too, with names like Quick-As-A-Wink Icing and Pineapple Icebox Dessert, who can resist trying out the various recipes floating around in 1950?

If my husband and I weren't on a diet, I think it would be great fun to cook and bake through this cookbook while blogging the process and the results.  Wouldn't that be a kick?

This one is up for grabs here:

1950's Cookbook

New Line of Pillows in the Shop

A new line of pillows is currently being listed in the shop. Made from the pages of vintage fabric children's books and feed sack material, this particular pillow would fit perfectly in a farmhouse decor.

The backing is done in an envelope-style and is trimmed with vintage red and white polka dot bias tape.

You can find the pillow here:

Vintage Cow Pillow

1906 Montgomery Ward Windmill Advertisement Pillow

As an update to this post:

Printing Farm Fabric


I used the 1906 windmill advertisement to finally make a pillow.

After trying to cut out the advertisement so closely to the edge of the next one (ordered one yard with a repeating design), I have learned my lesson to order fat quarters from now on.  With a fat quarter, only one design is printed with plenty of white space between the design and the selvedge.

Because of the nonexistent edges that would have normally provided a seam allowance, I decided to sew the advertisement onto a soft khaki linen.  I just adore the tone-on-tone look to this piece.

Windmills hold such charm.  Notice the star-like design in the center of this particular Clipper windmill.

What a bargain, eh?

Throughout the past year, I've snagged a few boxes of vintage zippers at auctions; both brand new in packaging and used.  For this pillow, I chose a used long cream-colored zipper and sewed it at the bottom of the pillow cover.

I then made a pillow form inside by sewing up a knit fabric with a ticking design (oh how I despise sewing knit!  I really need to take the time to master that technique!) and stuffed it with polyester fiberfill.

What I love about printing antique ephemera on fabric at Spoonflower is the washability factor.  All fabric comes machine washable and dryer safe and I launder everything before I make the pillows.  That way the pillows can be used instead of placed high upon a shelf for safe-keeping.

I just sent this photo I took back in 2008 to Spoonflower because I think turning it into a pillow would make a nice display with the windmill advertisement:

Not everyone has the extra wall space or they don't want to put nails in the walls, but everyone has room for a pillow or two!

I currently have a larger pillow project sitting on the cutting table as I type, so I hope to feature the finished project by the end of the weekend.  Until then, happy shopping!

If you are interested in the windmill advertisement pillow, here's the link:

1906 Windmill Advertisement Pillow