Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Antique Quilt Find!

Horrible, stressful, dreadful day at work. A 4pm phone call put me over the edge, and I left (with a huge headache) before I could start to take hostages - just awful. What you need at those times is Retail Therapy and Fabric - oh yea, same thing, huh? Hee hee -- but this time I wandered into an antique store. There's not many in this county, and they're not full of great finds, but I was thinking about a couple of bone china teacups/saucers for my collection. Instead, I found this:

Oh my my, it is luscious! Clearly old, in mint condition, very well made. The lavendar and peach are classic 30's colors, as is the brilliant daffodil yellow on the back. A LOT of different fabrics, a lot of feedsacks. (The colors in the pictures were pretty accurate when it left my Picasa program, don't know how they'll publish. Click on them for a better look!)
I spread it out over an old sofa and checked it out, then folded it up and put it under my arm, tightly. I was half afraid someone would snatch it away, or say "Ooops - that's not the right price on that!" but I was the lone only customer. I've never felt so much like a thief. What a prize, to me anyway. I would have paid twice the price. It's about twin sized, hand pieced, (very nicely, too) and hand quilted. The quilting is not teeny tiny stitches, but it's straight and even, and there's a lot of it. The batting is that dense rather heavy sort you sometimes see in old quilts. Heavy and flat.
It's is perfect condition - no frays, no fading or staining, no repairs. If it had heavy fold lines I'd think it's been folded in a cedar chest for 60 years, but not even fold lines. It has a funny little row of individual fan squares along one side, not enough to make the bigger blocks for a whole row, but too dear not to use. I like that alot - no orphan blocks in this lady's bag! For all it's wonderful attributes, what really got to me was the size of the fan blocks -- 3 1/2 inches. Every last one of them! A lot of old quilts I've seen aren't too particular about how things fit or lay, but these are all just so, and the whole is nice and square.
I may even take it to work tomorrow, and when things get nasty again, I'll wrap up in it while I talk things over with the Divisional Vice Prez. Yeah, that's what I'll do!

12 comments:

Kim said...

What a neat find! I'm not big on 30s fabrics, and peach and lavendar aren't typically "my" colors, but that quilt sure does look great! I don't suppose there were any others just laying around that you didn't buy?! Since I'm in Sacramento, and you're in "Northern California" I'm sure I could drive wherever it is--LOL! Actually, I popped into an antique mall the other day and was disappointed at the few textiles they had. Some people have all the luck! But after a bad day, I guess you deserved it!

Anne Ida said...

Wow! What a find! I love fans! -and that is soooo pretty! Enjoy! Especially after a bad day, you deserve something like this :o)

Michele Bilyeu said...

This is absolutely awesome! Bless your lucky stars that I wasn't in that antique store while you were there. I would have dialed 911 and elbowed it away from you in the resulting melee. You would never have seen me coming...or going...and I would now have the most lovely antique quilt top to help out all of my bad days! The universe sure has a magical way of balancing out, doesn't she? Hope the rest of the week goes well. Power to the quilts!

Quilts And Pieces said...

Oh my gosh - what a find! I love it! I really like the colors! And they are so small! It is marvelous!

Feeling Simply Quilty said...

OMG! what a find. If only it had a label and history of the quilt and maker. It makes me a little sad someone didn't take the time to do that.

CONNIE W said...

Great luck...happy for you! It's gorgeous! :)

Fabricfaire said...

You done good girl!!! You do deserve such a "great find"! Don't ya just "love it" when the unexpected good thing happens! Can't wait to see it "close up and personel"!

Leslie said...

Wowie-zow! And right here in River City, who wudda thunk??

Paula, the quilter said...

What a wonderful find! I love old quilts like that -- the evidence is on my blog.

Finn said...

Hi Su Bee, you have really found a treasure!!! To have all the thing you describe is incrediable. They usually suffer from age and lack of care. I can see why you'd feel someone might grab it away from you.
Great compensation for a bad day at work!! Do keep bargain hunting, you did a great job of finding this treasure. Hugs, Finn

Jenni said...

What a lucky find. It's great - heaps of fabrics to look at.

Melzie said...

wow that is an AWESOME find its beautiful :) congrats! xoxo melzie