I followed Deb Rowden's "Thrift Shop Quilts" blog for a couple years, then there were no more posts. I imagine some health issue suddenly befell her. I have continued to visit her blog for inspiration. About a week and a half ago, I looked at her blog and discovered these interesting heart blocks, that were certainly easy to duplicate. I made two of them to go in the Black and White Mostly quilt I am working on now. I made one in December, but this is yet another one, as I am going to use up every bit of that b&w scrap fabric. Yes, I said it would be the back for the December one, but no. It is so lovely; it is another quilt top. My next post will be about it, and you will see these lovely heart blocks are a crucial part of the design.
Meanwhile, I have been cleaning out some old craft stuff that I no longer use. I took two boxes of tole painting magazines, counted cross-stitch materials, kits, and frames to the Re-use Market on Chinden Blvd. I had never been in there, so I had to have a look. Oh my! They have quilt magazines, record albums, buckets of chop sticks, paint brushes, crayons, and markers. They have (uh oh) fabric, PVC pipe, yarn, sewing machines, pinecones, books, etc. You get the idea. I was lucky to get out of there alive. I was quite restrained.
I bought Quilter's Newsletter Magazine from 2003, which is chock full of amazing photos and ideas, for twenty-five cents. I bought two rolls of yarn, some metalic ancient looking woven material (I am refraining from saying the F word), a retro pillow case with hand-made buttons (see those tiny things on the right?) and a "kit". This "kit" was $1.00. I could not resist the little pleated doll dress that I discovered there.This is Astrid, one of my 18-inch dolls that is a quilter on my doll quilt blog. She is modeling the adorable. pleated dress. I will launder and press it, and it will go into her wardrobe, as she always likes to look stylish, especially when she is posing with one of her quilts.Here is the kit, I purchased. I liked the pale blue fishy fabric that you can see on the back of the package. I already have a buzzilion buttons, from my great-grandma Hutch, my grandma Willis, and my mother. Naturally, I have my own as well. That is four generations of buttons. Here I come with some more! Just what I need is more buttons. Let's see what is in this baby!I am amazed at how much 'material' is in this little packet. These two fabrics will work great with my wonky houses stash. I will be starting a wonky house quilt next week. I have a friend coming over, who wishes to learn how to make wonky house blocks. The farmers and children are the perfect size. I love these dogs in train cars! I can use them, too.This is all of the 'material' that was in that packet. I love the big swirls. The royal blue square is polyester. This could be the beginning of a polyester quilt! I can certainly make a child's quilt out of these other fabrics: cars, Thomas the Tank Engine, fire trucks, law enforcement, and the little fish. I have decided to look in my stash and refill this little kit and donate it back to the Re-use Market.This is the little pillowcase that has the crocheted buttons as closures on the other side. It would make a great mattress cover for a doll, or a pillow for an old-fashioned doll like Patsy Ann. My friend, Julie, has just such a sized doll, but I don't know it's name. I could make a pillow to fit inside, then give it as a gift. [If you click on the photos, they become full screen, so you can see the details]I laid this 'material' across both my cutting mats, so you can see that it is transparent. It will pick up the colors from whatever fabric is placed behind it. This could be fun to play with!Thank you to Deb Rowden, who has inspired me and now, I hope I can inspire others.
Near the top of my blog page, in the left margin, is a link to Deb Rowden's Thrift Shop Quilts blog. Check it out! If that is too inconvenient, here is the link: Deb Rowden's Thrift Shop Quilts
