Valerean

My second Goodwill gamble arrived; this is one I paid ten bucks for last month. Just inside the lid was a big roll of plastic mesh that I think is for latchhook work. In the auction listing it looked like fabric to me, so that was unexpected. Someone at the seller's end was nice enough to put a note on this pinned fabric. I'll put on my gloves before I take it out to inspect it. The embroidered green fabric turned out to be 1-1/2 yards of sequinned and three-dimensional designer fabric. I'll guess this cost somewhere between $20.00 to $30.00 a yard, and it's in pristine condition. But here's a shot of everything in the lot, which is mostly crafty odds and ends with a small amount of cotton fabrics, a large amount of synethetic fabrics, and some other surprises. The original owner of these was probably a Catholic school teacher; these beads, crosses and medallions are the kind of rosary kits for kids to make at Sunday school or Bible camp (and s...

The remaining fabric in my UFOs bin really has me scratching my head. Most are prints that appear to be about twenty years old. Also, a lovely green burnout velvet beaded shawl. I think Mom gave that to me for a birthday. Some cute sailboat paper-pieced blocks. Again with red fabric I try to avoid, and bright yellow -- not my favorite color. I was glad to finally find some solids. I generally don't use crayon colors, but I'm sure I can make these into bag handles or liners. I'm going to keep this bin out in the sewing room, too. It's high time I used this fabric.

In my gifted UFOs bin I found two bags of fabric from Keepsake Quilting, all Asian novelty prints. They're about 20 years old, but still in like new condition. I think both were a birthday present from someone. I'm not a huge fan of novelty prints, but they certainly are colorful. I looked through my patterns, and I might have enough to use them to make this quilt.

Here are two repair projects I never attempted. This artsy contained crazy quilt top is very old and delicate, with about 25% of the silk, satin and crepe patches shattered or on the verge. I remembering thinking "Well, maybe I can fix it" which, of course, was idiotic of me. It's too old to launder, but I will keep the top and harvest what I can from it for other repair projects. The back of the top is almost as interesting as the front. This gold and red Lone Star is very cheerful and graphic, but also badly deteriorated, making it unsuitable for washing. Since it's only about one-quarter of a quilt (I'll bet there were four of these stars on the original piece) really not worth fixing. Also, imagine trying to cover the shattered diamonds with new fabric. I'll never be that good at repairs.

I'm still spring cleaning, and in the process found a bin of old unfinished quilt projects and scrap fabric, most of which I believe were gifted to me by well-meaning family members and friends. That would explain how I got this quilt top, which is beautifully pieced but not something I would purchase for myself (still had a ten dollar price tag on it, too. Maybe Jill did this to me.) Everything smells a bit, too, so I'll have to launder the lot. Under the top I found what I assume is the backing fabric, in a lovely shade of dark rose pink. Another warning sign; I almost never buy red or pink fabric. Also, I wouldn't have chosen that color to back this quilt. Just out of curiosity I washed the backing fabric with a color grabber sheet (twice), with this result each time. It bleeds like I do. I will probably keep the top -- at least until I remember or find out who gave it to me -- but do something else with the backing fabric that does not require launderin...