Shelf of the Week - Red and Purple

I have deduced that red and purple must not have been popular colors for fabrics in the 30s, 40s, and 50s.  I would have bought red and purple as readily as I did any other color, yet I don't have a lot of red and purple vintage fabrics.  They occupy almost the shortest shelf of my vintage fabrics... but there are some goodies.  (Note to my sister:  time to yawn and switch to one of your foodie blogs.  Fabric pictures coming.)

Here's the red/purple shelf before.

Here's the red/purple shelf after.  Not much purple at all.

But still, there were some goodies.

Not much barkcloth,

but here's a nicely textured Oriental themed oldie from probably the 30s.

I get the feeling this juvenile print is really old.

I find the bunnies disturbing in a "Chuckie" sort of way.

Love this border print yardage... about 34" wide.

A beautiful damask.

Some fun tablecloths with red motifs.

Gotta love the lobster tablecloth!

Can't forget our purples.

This is a beautiful border print and judging from the ripped out stitching,

I think this was actually a feed sack.

I know this is just a sheet,

but take a look at those gorgeous medallions and that tatting.

Next week's shelf:  black or yellow.

Fabric Addict?

OK, well after last week's shelf of the week blog post, my sister commented that I sure put a lot of pictures of fabric on my blog and to her point of view, they were just "ok" fabrics.   She also commented that she thought I really, really liked fabric.  I agreed that yes, I sure did.   And then to emphasize what she meant by "really, really," she said, "You've got sooo much fabric.  You have to admit that you like fabric more than anything else.  You are just really, really into fabric."   It wasn't what she said, it was how she said it.   To me it sounded like, "You really, really like toenail clippings. You've got sooo many in that jar on your mantle.  You have to admit that you like toenail clippings more than anything else. You are just really, really into toenail clippings."

I started to feel weird.   Maybe I have a problem. I do have a sewing room spilling over with fabric.  I've got thousands of buttons and heaven knows I have too many zippers now.   Maybe I am an addict.  Maybe Oprah and the hoarding therapist will soon be knocking on my door.   I did have a stray thought the other day as I was sorting through sewing notions and considering that I needed a second drawer for blanket binding, rick rack, and bias tapes ordered by color.  My stray thought was that when I die, an estate sale person would be brought in and exclaim, "Eureka, we have found the mother lode of vintage fabric here!"

Oh well. I'm going to have to deal with my thoughts of fabric addiction, but in the meantime, I don't want to mislead readers who might stumble upon my blog, so I updated the description in red over there ---> ---> 

It's in writing now.

Be warned. I yam what I yam.

p.s.  You can find a picture of just about anything on Google images...

Granted... These Quilts are Old (1 of 2)

I was born in Texas and while my family lived there in Fort Worth, my parents became good friends with some older neighbors -- the Beards.  I still remember relaxing on the Beard's front porch glider finding relief from those hot Texas summer days while feeling the cool concrete under my bare feet.  Claude and Jimmie Lee were wonderful, kind, funny, generous people.  On one of our annual visits back to Texas after we moved to Wisconsin, the Beards, who knew my mother loved quilting, gave her two family quilts.  My mother gave them to me during my parents' last move.  This is one of the quilts.

I don't know the exact pattern name of this patchwork,

but it has a bit of a "churn dash" look.

Each section of the quilt is made up of 25 squares

and each of those squares are made up of more pieces.

The fabrics vary, but overall, there is a red, white and blue theme.

The pieces are hand stitched together and hand quilted.

This quilt was made in Shiloh, Georgia by Mrs. Beard's grandmother, Epsi Addaline Grant, who was born in 1849 and lived to be 90 years old.  Epsi was the first cousin of our 18th president, Ulysses S. Grant.

I don't know the exact age of the quilt, although I'm sure it could be pinpointed by someone with more knowledge than I have... but I'm guessing it was made in the late 1800s.  If anyone has a better guess, I'd be happy to hear from you.

One more thing:  When folding it, I noticed something on the back of the quilt and realized it was writing and was backwards.  Holding it up to the mirror, I read three lines with a capital letter "G" underneath.  The three lines said, "WORTH STANDARD SHEETING."  Perhaps that's another clue to the age of the quilt.  Worth must have been a company that manufactured muslin.  Google didn't provide me any answers.  It's still a mystery.  The second Grant quilt soon.

Expulsions

The school board conducted two expulsions last night.

I can't get them out of my mind.  

Expulsions are quite formal affairs with attorneys, court reporter, swearing in, and careful scripting in order to meet official state statutes.   We school board members are judge and jury.  Expulsions are usually very difficult experiences... for the student, the parent(s), the administration and us.  Nobody wants to disconnect a student from learning, from friends, from structure.  One very bad choice can reap consequences that will affect a student for years.  The needs of the student up for expulsion have to be weighed against the well-being of the rest of the students.  At expulsions there are frequently tears on all sides.  The worst, heart-sinking moment is when realization dawns and one of the parents asks, "If he's not allowed to be on the school grounds, how is he going to finish his work and take the finals?"  Expulsion severs immediately.  There is no longer an obligation by the school district to educate that student.

I am told by our attorney that most school districts expel and send the student on their way without much consideration or compassion.  I am thankful that our school district is different.  We don't live and die by "zero tolerance."  Every case is unique and the demands of each expulsion are tailored to the student and the situation.  We are fortunate to have an alternate classroom at the central office that most expelled students can take advantage of to keep progressing in school.  The last thing we want is to present further obstacles for a struggling student.  Often, if  an expelled student meets certain conditions (professional therapy, clean drug screens, community service, improved behavior, letters of apology - whatever the case may be), they can return to school in a time frame proportionate to their offense.  Only in rare instances have students committed so grievous an act that they have not been offered these services and the opportunity for re-admittance. 

OK, I'm going to end on a positive note.  Often, expulsion is the best thing that can happen to a student whose behavior is spiraling out of control.  It's a wake-up call that can straighten out poor parenting and bad attitudes.  Most of the time after an expulsion, the student meets expectations, comes back to school and is successful.  And nothing is better than being at a graduation and handing a diploma to a student who was once expelled and yet, turned a bad experience into the learning experience of a lifetime.

Amazing Discovery

This 16 x 24 framed print, "Calling Us,"

is hanging in our porch - a room I've tried to give a retro vibe.

The dad is calling away - trying to locate his son to help mow the lawn.

The kid is crouched behind the dog house hiding.

And he's trying to keep his dog quiet.

I loved this print when I saw it leaning against an old dresser in a grassy field at a large flea market about 15 years ago.  I've always been a fan of realistic art from illustrators like Norman Rockwell.  The original framing with spattered gold paint was a plus.  It's so 60s... or late 50s.  Life was so idyllic as illustrated back then.  See dad call.  Call dad call.  See Dick hide.  Dick is hiding behind the dog house.  Spot is hiding, too.

Here's the amazing discovery.  When I put this picture back up on my wall after Christmas, I decided to do some research on the artist, Harry Anderson.  Shock of all shock - I have been familiar with Harry Anderson's work for a long time and didn't know it.  Actually, I even posted a Harry Anderson picture of Mary and Jesus at the tomb on Easter Sunday last week!  What?

I came to find out he's illustrated some of the most famous biblical scenes of all time.  These pieces in the collage above were commissioned by the LDS church.  I've seen them all my life and never knew they were created by the same artist as my little boy avoiding the lawn mowing picture.  Who knew!?

Harry Anderson was a contemporary of Norman Rockwell and one of the top illustrators of his time.  I've decided that I am now a big fan of this man's art.  And there's more.  Look at these!

 A Little Night Music - 1950.

A Good Housekeeping cover - 1950.

One of the Great Moments of Your Life... Your Marriage - 1951

The Marriage - 1946.

Daughter of Kings - 1951

This wonderful illustrator was prolific - doing cover art for Ladies Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, Woman's Home Companion, Cosmopolitan, Collier's and more.  Sadly, he passed away in 1996 and I can't locate a single place on the internet selling his prints.  I would love to buy some of them.  The color, the brushstrokes, the light - I have a new favorite artist.

Shelf of the Week - Blue

I'm blue da ba dee da ba die...

Blue is a popular color - probably the most popular color.  I folded my shelf of blue vintage fabrics this week.  You already know there were some surprises (ie. that embroidered dress fabric I blogged about on Saturday.)

 You may remember what it used to look like.

Here's what it looks like now.

I need more room.  These are just the wovens.  I still have blue knits and bedspreads.  I guess you could say these are my pre-60s fabrics.  Once again there were some blue highlights.  Lots of 'em.

Only three or four blue barkcloths.  I have the same geranium fabric that was on the pink shelf, only this one is in an aqua colorway.  The nursery print is sooo 40s.  Getting tropical in the lower right.

Some gorgeous blue tablecloths.

Love this Pennsylvania Dutch farm print.

1950s rodeo print.  Just saw the clown in the barrel!

This is a gorgeous piece of fabric.  What style is this?  There's a whole genre of this type of traditional design.  What's it called?  There's a gap in my interior design training!   ...or maybe I forgot.  Either way I have pieces with this type of design in a number of different colors.  There must be a name for it.  (5/24:  Update!  It came back to me... Jacobean!)

  Tons of blue aprons... see?  Popular.

Awesome 50's or 60s chintz yardage.

Romantic 6" cabbage roses.

This is a 36" wide cotton with 1" flowers.

Closeup of a beautiful old voile.  5 yards.

A slinky fun rayon from the 40s.

Nest week's shelf?  Hmmm... what color should I do next?

Yellow?  Green?  Red?  Cream?  You tell me.

ZIP-a-dee-doo-dah! ZIP-a-dee-ay!

I came into some zippers the other day.

Yes, zippers.  For $3.99 I got a bag full of zippers.  About 150 of 'em.  Every color of the rainbow.  Zippers have only been around for about 90 years.  I thought there might be only a few zipper makers, so I kept a list of all the brand names - usually embossed on the pull.  "Talon" wins with the most, but get a load of all these other zipsters:  Murlen, Eflon, Robin, Scovill, Jay, Cort, CC (Coats & Clark), FWW, No Snap, Quik, S&S, Dara, LMS, Elem, Unique, Abbot, Lucky, YKK, Tabit, Falcon... and one I couldn't quite make out... HIWZO, HRWZO???

My favorites are the old metal ones.   I love clothes now that have zippers as a design element - not just for function - where you can really see the zipper - metal teeth required.  And maybe even in a contrasting color.  Adding these newly acquired zippers to my current stock presented me with A LOT or zippers.  I needed a better storage idea than my current drawer full of zippers.  I can only imagine how long it would take me to root around in that drawer to find the right zipper - tangled and bunched up.  So I made a zipper tree... of sorts.

I've had a chain hanging from the ceiling of my sewing room.  On the chain I bent some wire into hooks.  For years, this chain and hook system did very well for vintage hats and purses.  No more.

Now it's my zipper tree.

Easy to find.  Easy to see.