Secret Santa Christmas Swap 2011....!

Hello everyone!  Merry Christmas! I hope you are enjoying a pleasant holiday celebration.

I would like to share with you the rest of my gifts from the SSCS 2011 swap.  Here are the rest of the goodies I received from Lurline.

Thank you Lurline for the wonderful gifts and thank you Donna from Chookyblue for hosting such a wonderful swap.

Prim Swap

I so enjoy belonging to swaps during the holiday time.  There's something about exchanging a hand made gift with another quilter that just makes my heart sing.

Another swap that I enjoy is one from a Primitive Folk Art quilting Group.  It was organized by Debbie of Woolensails.

My secret swap partner was Barbara and here is what I received from her.

Sweet hey?! ;o)

When I first saw that table topper I thought "that sure looks familiar!" Come to find out, it's from the very first issue of the Primitive Quilts and Project magazine. The pattern is call Cold Days by Lynda and Rebecca Hall.

I also received these two little guys. Aren't they cute! Now if that wasn't enough...

Barbara made this very nice framed prim cross stitched.  I just love how it looks old, something I have yet to master.

Thank you again Barbara for the wonderful goodies you sent me!  Cheers!

Secret Santa Christmas Swap ....!

Every year Donna from Chookyblue Blog Spot organized a swap known as SSCS and ... I haven't missed one yet!

When my parcel arrived from Australia, I was all excited to see what my ornament would be. This is what I received from Lurline.

Isn't she just the cutest?

I love dolls!

She makes a cute addition to my growing collection for ornaments from Blog Land!

Thank you again Lurline for the ornament! I love it!

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!

Antique Quilts .... another treat!

As of late, I have been racking my brain in an attempt to figure out why it is that I seem to continuously be rushing here and there and everywhere.  Even staying up till 2 in the morning does not give me the time I require to do the things I want to do.  Yes, I am exhausted!

I am also starting to sound like a broken record with "It's been so busy" and "Just playing catch up here". At last, it has occurred to me this very morning, while writing my standard broken record phrases on blog land, to do a bit of math regarding where I spend my time.  Well....... I found the culprit!

The ICE RINK!

Yes indeed, I spend on the average 12 hours a week at an ice rink, give or take a couple of hours.  All for the love of my daughter.  Oh.. and I do love her dearly!

Now that I know the culprit, will I do something about it?  Not a chance, but it does make me feel better to know that I am not inappropriately managing my time.  Do you think the rink manager would let me set up a sewing area?  It would be a tad cold thought! Br.....

Here is the other antique quilt from Barbara Stadnicki's collection that I promised you.

This little gem is actually foundation pieced.

The block pattern is a variation of courthouse steps, however Barbara said that is is also called Chinese Lanterns. Can you see the lanterns?

It's construction is quite particular as it does not have batting in between the layers. The maker merely finished the quilt by sewing on a binding.

Look at that tiny binding. It is not more than a quarter inch.

A block showing the various fabrics used.

Another block.

Just so you get to see a variety of fabrics, and we quilters do like fabric! ;o)

Thank you again Barbara for allowing me to share your treasures.

I hope you have enjoyed this little treat. Thank you for stopping by my little corner in cyber space! Cheers!

Antique Quilts ..... what a treat....!

Being an owner of a quilt Shoppe that specialized in 19 century reproduction has it's fringe benefits!  I would like to share with you two beautiful antique quilts that I had the privilege of admiring, for the first time, last Summer.

A few post ago, I shared with you an historical club that I organize called Prairie Women Sewing Circle Club.   I am fortunate to have a participant who not only collects antique quilts, but is presently working towards becoming an appraiser. Her name is Barbara Stadnicki, and she has allowed me to share with you a couple of beautiful quilts she brought to our last meet for other club members to experience.

Those of you who love antique quilts, you are in for a treat!

The first quilt I want to share with you is a doll quilt. Doll quilts are a rare find. As you can imagine, they are loved to pieces by the child who was privileged to have one.

This little gem is a unique piece and is quite valuable. Barbara had it appraised when she acquired it.

It's increase in value, aside from being a doll quilt, is due to having the bed post cut outs.

I am told that this is very rare for a doll quilt.

The bed post cut out provides a clue that this doll quilts most probably comes from the New England area.

According to Barbara, judging from the fabrics, it dates anywhere between 1825 to 1850.

A block from the quilt!

If you look closely at the bottom right square, you will see that two pieces of fabrics were sewn together to make a bigger block.

I purposely left the picture size large so that you could admire its construction.

Here you have the side of the quilt.

Notice the same technique of adding/sewing an extra piece of fabric in order to create the proper size block. That is one small piece of fabric.

They truly did not waste fabric. I'm sure our fore-mothers would be outraged at what we throw out as "useless scraps!" lol

They were also not afraid to work with directional prints! And.... they matched the pattern to the sewn piece! Wow!

The back of the quilt!

A pieced back, three panels plus a side strip.

The quilt is hand pieced and hand quilted. Most probably made by a 9-10 year old girl. Unfortunately, it does not have a label.

Words cannot accurately explain the feelings I experience when I am admiring this quilt.

To touch a time in history!

If the maker only knew what joy her creation would bring to another quilter centuries later!

Thank you for allowing me to sharing this beautiful creation with you.  Stay tune for the second quilt.

Cheers!