Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Pinterest

I know you know about Pinterest. Maybe you have your own pin boards or maybe you do like I did, lurk & look at the boards of others. I was resistant to starting my own -- I knew what an enormous time-suck Pinterest can be. I could imagine sitting down with my morning coffee, checking in to see what was new; the next thing I would realize would be that my coffee was cold, my feet were asleep & the sun was setting. But I succumbed & drank the Pinterest kool aid (you can find the recipe on Pinterest!). At first, it was almost as bad as I had imagined -- I never actually wasted the *entire* day, but I certainly squandered quite a few hours. I had no idea about the social aspect of Pinterest -- a pinner can send pins to friends, chat, comment, etc. Then there is the curiosity of finding someone, a stranger, whose tastes are very similar to your own & wondering, "Would I like this person? Would this person like me?"

Anyway.

Work has been keeping me from what I love -- no cutting, no piecing, no quilting. I've hardly sewn a stitch in weeks. I get home physically spent. Evenings, I eat some dinner (thanks, Shug!), then sit in front of the television & scroll through Pinterest. Scrolling one evening, I saw a charming, scrappy plaid quilt & pinned it to my "I want to make that" board. A few days later, a Pin Pal commented on it, which caused me to look again & more closely at it. Yes, it really was glorious! The source of the pin was eBay, so I clicked through to see more details. There it was, a buy-it-now listing & a really good price. A few clicks more & about a week later, this glorious quilt was mine!


As always, I wish this quilt could talk. The fabrics are old but the quilt is brand new -- never used, never washed. At first, I wondered if it had been recently finished with true-to-the-era backing & binding. There are a few fabrics in the patchwork that make me scratch my head, like the larger-scale florals & a neon orange, but most are clearly from the early 20th century. It is pieced & quilted by hand; the quilting is simple straight lines in one direction -- except on two opposite sides, in a of row of blocks, there is perpendicular quilting. The backing is four plain feed sacks machine-stitched together & here are where the "problems" are: several dark, smeary stains. Blood? Did these stains spoil the quilt for the maker, leaving it unfinished, unused?

All I can do is wonder & fall passionately in love with this glorious quilt!



11 comments:

O'Quilts said...

Wow....Because you are so clever and advanced...you now have an awesome quilt...Good for you!! You deserve it...I really love it. I wish I knew how to do that. I have some of my grandmothers Swedish etchings 100 years old...If I could only sell them, just think of the fabric, antique quilts I could get...oh, well.. I can vicariously enjoy yours.

Now about that work that keeps you from creating...!!!!

Quiltdivajulie said...

It is gorgeous - wonder what an appraiiser could add to this quilt's story? Hope the work iissues calm down for you.

Julierose said...

Beautiful quilt-- hope you can get back to your cutting, sewing etc soon...hugs, Julierose

Nifty Quilts said...

Fabulous find!! I love those quilts that make you scratch your head. You're so right--if only they could talk.

audrey said...

What a wonderful quilt! Love the scrappy, plaids, brights--all of it! Lucky you.:) I love Pinterest. It's almost totally taken over where quilt magazines used to inspire me.:)

Ruth said...

Oh .... you!! So funny, because when I made that comment, I never dreamt that I could have BOUGHT the quilt!! But you were brilliant and went and did it. Wow. What a treasure. I had not considered collecting old quilts until getting on IG and seeing the likes of Roderick Kirakofe's collection in his book.

Rachaeldaisy said...

Oh wow!!! Love this quilt!! The colours, the fabrics, the pattern, yep this quilt totally rocks!! It's great to know it's gone to a loving home. It's interesting to hear your thoughts about Pinterest.

Sharon said...

Ah yes, Pinterest! I love it, but you're right - it is a definite time-sucker. The smart phone makes it worse. I can get on and do a quick check. Just a couple of pins. And it's an hour later! But, on the other hand, I've been using it as inspiration and a design source. I no longer save all the quilt pictures to my computer - they're now on Pinterest. All 5000+ of my pins! Yeesh! I have to admit that I'm addicted.

How clever of you to follow the link to the pin and then buy such a wonderful, beautiful old quilt! It is a beauty! I love trying to get inside the maker's head and figure out what she might have been thinking. I love this quilt - wonderful old fabrics and just quirky enough to be interesting! I think the cornerstones in the sashing are interesting. Lucky you!

Hope work lets up for you some soon and you can get back to fondling the fabric! We need a "high fiber" diet!

fiberchick said...

Oh how fantastic! Thank you for showing us this beauty and allowing all of us to fall in love with the quilt too.Between Instagram and Pinterest it is a wonder the world hasn't stopped spinning on its axis:)You can go down for days although in your case what a happy result!

Heather A said...

What a beautiful find! I LOVE IT! It looks very modern, doesn't it?!

Tonya Ricucci said...

yep, beautiful. great find.