Skip to main content

The Mystery Lot Part 1

The latest Goodwill auction lot arrived, and this one was a bit of a mystery. It also took three weeks to ship, so I'd almost given up on it by the time I finally got confirmation. This was described as a fabric and embroidery lot, but there weren't a lot of pictures or details in the listing. I saw enough to make me bid nine bucks for it, and I went unchallenged again, so that's all I paid.

In the lot I found three quilting panels of houseplants in very good condition.

Lots of old iron-on transfers for embroidery, mostly for pillowcases, some plastic canvas letters, some misc. instruction sheets and a vintage crewel eyeglass case kit with what looks like everything still in it.

A partially stitched needlepoint kit without the original yarns had warped over time, but I could still read the instructions on a stamped embroidery cloth.

Someone saved their needlework canvas scraps.

Lots of sealed kits were included as well. Most are for pillowcases, but as you'll see this maker was all about the pillows. I was able to approximately date the lot by the linen kitchen towel that was still folded up inside its mailer.

The towel is for 1980, so I'll guess this stash dates back quite a ways. The strong musty storage smell suggested forty to fifty years.

Two quilt panels, both identical, for a child's quilt. This one looks circa the sixties, as do most of the other kits.

Then I found a bag of pre-quilted panels that were later, like this one for a cut-n-sew holiday apron, pot holders and oven mitts. Stop by tomorrow to see the rest.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Holiday Prep

For Thanksgiving this year we've invited some guests from Oliver's mom's side of the family, so I have to start prepping now to get the house in shape for the big day. The first major thing is having the carpets cleaned, which we've scheduled for next week. This weekend I'll be cleaning out four rooms to get them ready for that. I started with my front dining room, which I use as my sewing room. It was kind of a mess already, so it felt good to get everything cleared out. We'll be having ten people at dinner plus two babies, so this will give me a chance to figure out how to arrange two tables in this space. I think this will be my last time hosting a big Thanksgiving gathering. Mike has started his family with a lovely girl who has a huge, close-knit family of her own, while Katherine will likely be off at grad school out of state for the next several years. I'm also not getting any younger. My guy and I will always celebrate Thanksgiving, but ...

T-minus Day

This was our little Thanksgiving dinner last year, when it was just the three of us. Time keeps whittling down my favorite holiday; this year it will be just me and my guy, and we likely won't even have a turkey.* That will be a first in 35 years. I feel about Thanksgiving the way other people do about Christmas, and while it's a lot of work it's my favorite holiday. Of all the Thanksgivings I've had in the past sixty years, only three were truly terrible: one when I was a kid that I don't talk about (#1 most miserable); the time I roasted two turkeys together and hosted fifteen people whom I cooked for and served with zero help (the largest and #2 most miserable); and the one I spent in basic training (the #3 most miserable.) I have no pictures of any of those, thank heavens. In addition to doing all the cooking I'm the one who takes all the pictures, washes all the dishes and puts away all the leftovers. I suppose no one else cares because to them it...

Fell Off the Wagon

I did cut up that plastic dollar tote to make into something stronger, but got caught up with work and set it aside. Then last night some hand-dyed silk and pretty threads called my name, and, well . . . Felt SO good to do some handwork, except my neck began hurting about an hour into it. I tried changing the way I sit and work, but it's pretty obvious that the doc is right.