Digging Through the Past

When Brad was digging through boxes in the attic on Christmas Eve he found a quilt top that I had done back in the late 70's.  I have been wanting for years to unearth this piece and quilt it, but hadn't found it.  Maybe I just wasn't looking hard enough!

When I first started quilting, I bought a few already constructed tops and quilted them.  I also took antique blocks I found at flea markets and put sashing between them and made quilts from them.  I found that I loved applique and started making my own tops.  This was one of the last ones I did during that period.

I didn't realize it was quite so gaudy!  This was a time in my life when I was really into COLOR.  Hahaha!  Somewhere between then and now I went into my 'drab period'.  I could only get about a quarter of the quilt top in the picture without going outside and hanging it from the porch railing.  Way too cold and windy for that!  I still think I'd like to quilt this one.  There are two others that may have to be given to someone else because they are *boring*.

I used to love stitching historical samplers.  I started out in the early 80's with a kit from the Scarlet Letter.  Just last year I finished that first piece.  It's not framed yet, but some day I'll be able to show it.  I became hooked!  I bought so many leaflets and patterns, that I could not finish them all in two lifetimes!  I found original samplers at antique shows and flea markets and started charting them and selling them as kits.  I designed several of my own and marketed them at craft shows.

The Yellow House is one of my designs.

I put fake names and dates on them but explain in the labelling on the back that it is not an original sampler, as I do with all my reproductions.

This is a partial repro of an antique sampler.  It had a very long and involved verse extolling the virtues of education.  The thread count was somewhere near 45 threads per inch.  Way too fine for my eyes, so I used 32 count linen and just used the lovely design motifs and lettering in my repro.

The Anne Parry sampler is an exact copy of the original.

I just love this sampler!  It has so many amazing details.

With all the genealogy information available on the web, I should do some research to see if I can find info about some of these girls.

If there is any interest I will post more from time to time.  I have a lot!

And if I ever get my weaving website up and running, I plan to once again offer these samplers for sale as kits.  But that's a big IF and WHEN.

Maybe the past should just stay in the closet!