vintage thimble holder

This is a little quilty--just wanted to share a couple of really cool things that were brought to our church yard sale. The first is a silver thimble holder sent home from Germany during WWII. It is a miniature German stein and still has the original thimble. An almost identical one sold on ebay last week for $75. I think it's so cool! Of course, we couldn't put it on a yard sale for $5.00.

Same for the second item from the same lady. She brought us a hinged and clasped clam shell that belonged to her grandmother in the mid 1880s. It has a red insert of 3 pockets. She said her grandmother and her mother kept their good rings in it. A much newer one with no inner pockets sold on ebay for almost $100.

I know there are a couple of collectors of the vintage on here so thought you might like to see the pics. Unfortunately, I can't seem to pick up any of the detailed etching/embossing on the stein or the stars around the bottom of the thimble.

judy in ar

Just call me Glutton

When you see the project I took on this week you will call me "glutton for punishment".


Saturday I purchased an antique log cabin quilt. By the fabrics I'm guessing 1900-1910 at the latest. Fabrics include indigos, shirtings, chrome yellow, mourning blacks, checked and plaids, and the reds of that era. (you can click the photos for closer views)


The logs were hand-stitched to a flannel square and then the squares were hand-stitched together. The batt? A lumpy-dumpy thick cotton batt.


The backing fabric had once upon a time been quite lovely but it wore badly. The owner then hand-stitched a white flannel over the major portion of the back. I tried to salvage some of that backing but it was dry-rot.


Some fabs were shredded from age or use. Some are salvageable. But probably only with intense work. So I decided to take it apart (completely!) and restitch the logs to a "small" wall quilt.

Sorry about the sideways full view...it turned sideways when I uploaded it. Tried it twice. Same each time.


I've removed the backing and the batt, leaving only the flannel blocks stitched together. Then I washed it on gentle. Three times. The fabs, of course, are faded. And they still look a bit dingey. But this IS an old quilt. And obviously a much-used quilt.


I'm taking apart the blocks and re-stitching them to a "little" size. The finished block will be five-inches. I would have preferred a smaller "miniature" quilt, but then I would have lost much of the patterns of the fabrics.

I think I have taken on a time-consuming task...haven't decided whether I'll stick with it or not.

Making the "Wonky Star" Off Balance Seems Appropriate

Since my theme with this star is "wonky" it seemed more appropriate to push the face in the center of the star off to the side. Who knows, perhaps I'll even make it so this thing has to be hung on point? Nah ... reinforcing the back would be too tricky for something that has to be shipped overseas.

Judy in Ohio

Still Working on my "Wonky Star"

I am still working on the "Wonky Star" wall hanging project that I'll be sending off to Bunbury, Western Australia sometime in early 2012 and this is the latest photo I have to offer. Proportions for the center are not right and perhaps the colors are not right .... feel free to offer your opinions because the center circle parts are merely pinned on the design wall. (The spikes are sewn in place and are not changeable.)

I have been dithering over the center of this thing for about a week but my DD (also a quilter) is coming to visit today and perhaps she will prove that "two heads are better than one" and give me some sound advice.

Judy in Ohio