Mother's Day... the antique way

Kevin finished mowing the lawn this morning while I was at school for a couple of hours getting ready for the week.

When I got home we decided to go on an adventure and check out a few antique places that we hadn't been to before.  We drove north to Carlisle and then toward Mt. Holly Springs.  The first place was nothing to sneeze at, but the next one was pretty nifty.

I sent the pictures of these two machines to Bonnie.  The treadle was labeled as an 1879 Household treadle machine.  The gal who owns the shop sells a lot of things on consignment, so it was priced at $489.  Obviously it did not come home with me.   She mentioned she had just shipped a Singer treadle priced at $750 to California... and it cost another $700 to ship it.  Seriously??!!! $1400 for a treadle????

The second is possibly a Singer 115.  The serial number dates it to around 1910.  It was as heavy as all get out.  It didn't come home with me either.

The last place we stopped was a place we had been before.  I found a gold/white quilt dated 1920, but it was a little out of my price range. A dealer was near by and said he had a couple of quilts in his downstairs booth.  So I followed him downstairs and found this.

Yes it came home with me. The binding is a little worn, and one of the flowers has some wear to it... but otherwise it is in good shape.

And on the way home we drove through the PA State Game lands and suddenly there was a Barred Owl.  Not the best picture, but all I had was my phone.

I hope all of the mothers out there had a wonderful Mother's Day!!!

Not according to plan....

My plan today was to get some papers graded and then have the rest of the day to sew.  The papers were graded by 9:30 am.  There was one thing I wanted to do on my flash drive for school so I stuck it into my lap top.

That is where things went south.

Last month I had taken my laptop to school to use while the kids were taking the state test because the keyboard is quieter.  Something went haywire and long story short, I had lost a bunch of files on my flash drive.  Thankfully I had save all of them to the district network a few weeks before and most of them were salvaged.

So when things went haywire today, I went to school to see if the files were gone again, and yes they were.  After running to Wal-mart, purchasing a new 16 GB flash drive (and some DVDs to move files from the laptop) everything is saved.

I am amazed at how much I had saved on the laptop (files, pics, etc) and how much I actually pitched.

Lesson learned... save and save often.

Have a great day!

What's happening....

The weather is warming up, so my students are getting squirrelly.  They aren't the only ones I suppose.  Yesterday during Social Studies I took them out into the courtyard to sit at the pic-nic tables and do their work.. I think they enjoyed being out in the fresh air.

Last week was my birthday, and Abby and Beth sent me this lovely Edible Arrangement.  It was nummy!!!  The reason they did is that a few years ago, when Kevin sent me one at school for our anniversary, I had brought it home and low and behold two little 'mice' had eaten most of the fruit before Kevin and I had had a chance to munch.

So on the card for this one it said "because we at the last one".  I love my girls.

I've also been working on bowties.  So far I have 250 made and more to come  I'm sure there are fabrics in the cabinet that I haven't cut into yet and could use in a bowtie... and who knows, maybe I will.  I have to get more cheddar and knowing that the dye lot would be different I hesitate to do so.  But then I think.... quilters from the old days didn't worry about dye lot so why am I?

Finally, while pinning bowties in stacks of 10, Smokey was staring at me.  She looks possessed... it creeps me out a little bit.

Have a great day!

Kevin's words.....

Happy Birthday..... again :)

There was an estate sale today across from school.  Kevin got there at about 4:30; I was scoring a volleyball game.  Our one and only mission was to check out the treadle machine.  He had actually done a little research before hand, printing out some information and serial number list so he could narrow down the date.

It's a Model 27-4 according to the book, but what I found, with the decals that are on it, is a Model 127 which replaced the 27 around 1910.  It has a Vibrating shuttle.  There are about three boxes of stuff in the drawers so we need to go through that and the manual is there also, though not in the best of shape.

So for the bargain price of $22.50, in the cabinet, it came home with us.

Anyway, I just think he's cool.  We are considering the name Isaac, for Mr. Singer himself.

I love my husband!!!!

The purpose of a treadle machine......

Nothing more to say about that.

Estate Sale Find (aka Happy Birthday, again)

Kevin went to an estate sale this morning.  There were quilts advertised, as well as a treadle so since my head and the pollen count were having a battle he went to check things out.

I know what your thinking.... 'you just got a treadle'.  Honestly, we both thought if it was in decent shape and went for a decent price we would get it, clean it up, and sell it.  It was a Singer Model 66 and with the serial number I dated it to about a 1919.  He said the foot attached from the back which is different than what ours is.  As luck would have it, the veneer was coming off in some places and was taped together with masking tape.  Also, he said that the decals on the machine it self were in rough shape.  I was curious to know what it went for but he didn't stay to find out.

When he came home I asked about everything.  He said that there was one clearly labeled Chinese made quilt that went for $95.  Silly people.  

But....... what he did get was this BEAUTIFUL quilt.  He had texted me a picture of it and then called and I gushed... just a little.  It came home!!!!  Next weekend is my birthday, so I got it early.  Isn't it gorgeous???? I love the pink and blue... and look at the one block with the white background.

And the back!!! All pieced together from shirtings in whatever blocks they had.

The binding?? Well all she did was turn on the front over, the edges of the blocks are actually on the back.

I love it.  I think he is happy I'm not a shoe or jewelry fanatic.  There's just something about a quilt that makes me feel happy.

Have a great day!

It was a "Bonnie" kind of day

Bonnie Hunter visited Chambersburg Quilt Guild yesterday and Friday.  As always, she gave a great lecture and kept us all entertained with her sense of humor and in awe by her beautiful quilts.

After the meeting, I brought her back to my house for a home cooked meal and a chance to relax after being on the go in PA for the week.  Of course the sign of a happy quilter is a messy home, and she took that all in stride LOL.

After supper, my husband Kevin and I, drove into town and we had ice cream at the local shop, then took her back to her hotel for a good night's sleep before her journey home today.

Thanks for sharing your time with us girlfriend!!! See you in July!