On The Road Again

I finally did it!! I actually got one of those good deals folks always talk about getting at thrift shops and auctions and such - and I did it at the big monthly flea market at the state fairgrounds in Nashville!!! Had drooled over all sorts of textiles and metal doodads before making it as far back as the Swine Barn. There had been some bad thunderstorms the previous evening and earlier that morning, so the Mule Barn, farthest back in the fairground complex and usually home to some really good stuff (including tablecloths and quilts), was almost completely empty. Just inside the barn on one side, there was a group of miscellaneous stuff, pretty rough looking, and a broken chair with 2 quilts flung over its back. I stopped to look at them and picked one up, looking carefully for critters that might jump out on me (yes, it looked like such could well happen). Really ragged on one edge and none-too-good-looking anywhere but seemed a candidate for a "cutter" quilt - something I've never had and cutting is something I've never been willing to do even to my very worn quilts. I asked the price and was told that the quilts were $10 each. Picked up the other one and looked it over - even more pitiful. Hmmm....kept looking at them....hemmed and hawed and commented sotto voce about the poor condition and ragged edges, etc. The fellow who'd told me the price talked about how they'd found them in the very back of an old house down in Georgia....bottom of a box, etc....said they were almost scared to go into the house. I asked him if they'd taken a big stick with them and he said, "Naw, we got rid of all the varmints afore we went in thar." He was missing several teeth and didn't look like he put too much stock in bathing or shaving or any other such ridiculous activities, so I wondered what he might have been scared of. Anyway, I folded the quilts back up and asked in a kind of unbelieving voice, (as in "I can't believe you really asked as much as you did"), "How much did you say you wanted for these?" and he started to tell me $10 each again but quickly eased into $10 for the pair of them. I'd already been intrigued by the tiny triangles of the square in a square blocks of this one, so I smiled at him and told him he'd just made a sale. Of course, that meant I had to tote 2 rolled up quilts the whole rest of the day as we roamed and explored, but I was tickled to get them home!

These are obviously utility quilts who have seen a hard life after being fashioned from bits and pieces of wornout clothing and whatever fabric scraps might have been available. The square in a square blocks are only about 3" x 3" (some are less than 3" one way since they're not all that square anyway). The more I've looked at it, pitiful as it is, the less I feel able to cut into it. The folks who are scrap fans and recycyling fans could really appreciate what's been done with the various fabrics and how they've been put in to maximize length of pieces, etc., regardless of how that might look.

It's way past my bedtime, but I just HAD to get back to blogland....will post more pictures another day.

Sweet dreams.