Category Archives: Shows vending

TREASURES from Lost Acres

 

not so crazy – Crazy Quilt – made of ties and vest/jacket linings

A couple weekends ago I went with my Mom, my Grandmother, my Aunt and my Aunt’s Aunt to the Quilt Happening at Lost Acres (3 generations yeah!). Ginny, the owner of Lost Acres, gave a wonderful talk on the different aspects of quilt donations throughout history.  She covered everything from the donations of quilts to support the Sanitary Commission during the Civil War to charities supported by quilters today.  How great to recognize the generous hearts of quilters and see how quilts had been used as fund raisers and direct donations over the last approximately 160 years.

Her group, Ladies of the Comfort, compromised of many helpers, in 2016 distributed: 24 baby quilts and 98 bed size quilts to: fire victims in Tennessee and Canada, and My Sister’s Place and Salvation Army Transition House (both are in Hartford, CT). Her goal for the group this year is increase donations to 250 quilts.

6″ squares ready to be kitted into bags

My Mom and Aunt and I went home with a large container of pre-cut 6-1/2” squares to package up for members of the Enfield Quilt guild to assemble into tops over the summer. The 6″ squares will be assemble in 10 columns  x 15 rows (125 lights & 125 darks in each bag).  We were excited to work on the project as we drove home but the actual making of the quilt top square kits took a bit longer than we anticipated.  We’re all good though, great conversation about quilting and charities while making kits that will be donated to directly to those in need (no sitting in trailers for distribution for these quilts!! – Ginny’s number 1 rule).

orphan – red star quilt top – in need of LOTS of LOVE

Ginny also sells fabric, orphan blocks, quilt tops and other quilted items at the event. Here are a few of the treasures I brought home with me.  The red star top is in sad shape, hanging piece is part of a missing row.   I’m going to trim the sashing so each block is framed in red then add a red & white print to replace the sashing and use the left over original red sashing to cut corner stones (sometimes my plans change as the project progresses – we’ll see).  We think this other cutie is made from ties and vest linings, kind of a not so crazy Crazy Quilt.  It’s on the fragile side so quilting it up will help the quilt survive (see 1st picture).

Hope to see you at the Danbury show this weekend, I’ll be in the SewCraft booth with my fabric and other goodies!!

Road to California nearing the Finish Line

My apologies for not posting, between the holidays and preparing to vend a Road to California with hand dyed fabric, hand painted cheese cloth and other items it’s been an all-out race to the finish line. My flight is fast approaching so I hope to ship some of the products on Monday and bring the rest in my suitcase and carry on, at least my carry on will be lighter on the way home LOL.

Here are my holiday puppies, they loved their stockings Christmas morning!!

Merry Christmas - Pete & Bella 2015
Merry Christmas – Pete & Bella 2015

And here is what I’ve really been up to – a couple new hand dyed designs, the ones below are a Mandala design.

Hand Dyed Mandala Green & Purple
Hand Dyed Mandala Green & Purple

 

Hand dyed Mandala Pink & Yellow
Hand dyed Mandala Pink & Yellow

I’m off to rinse and wash the sky fabric tonight along with rinsing one of my “Kitchen Sink” fabrics made from the left over dyes (I throw everything in but the kitchen sink), I love it when it’s all about serendipity and there’s no stress!!

Art Mart 2015 Tolland, CT

Wreaths and garland, and arts and crafts –  that’s what this event encompasses and all sales support the Arts!

http://artsoftolland.org

Volunteers create beautiful wreaths decorating them with dried florals from member gardens at a starting price of $25, how can you beat that.  Add works from a variety of artists, from bookmarks to oil paintings, and you can not only decorate your house but get unique gifts for the hard to shop for all in one stop!

I’ll be purchasing my wreath Saturday morning, don’t miss this Friday / Saturday event.  This is our last show this year.

RELAX – Live music, Art, Antiques & Artisans

Flights of Fancy Open House Feb. 29, 2015
Flights of Fancy Open House Feb. 29, 2015

Where will I be the Sunday after Thanksgiving ( November 29th, 2015)??? – at one of my favorite events of the year – Flights of Fancy Gallery’s Open House.    Why might you ask is this one of my favorite events, because of the combination of happenings occurring simultaneously:

FIRE - fiber wall art by Charlie
FIRE – fiber wall art by Charlie
  • Live Music – acoustic guitar played by fingerstyle guitarist Glenn Roth 12:30 – 3:30 http://www.glennroth.com/
  • Artisans – invade the Antique shop co-located with the Gallery – this year has a French Open Market theme so the variety of artists should be intriguing (click on the postcard above to see more details)
  • Art – Flights of Fancy Gallery in the lower level offers the work of painters, potters, fiber artist, photographers, glass artist, twig furniture maker, felted accessories and more. The products range from bookmarks to framed oil paintings, etc. http://www.pondhousebb.com/html/artgallery.htm
  • Antiques – from furniture to collectibles, I always find something I can’t live without (last year was a working Treadle Sewing Machine that became a Christmas present from my Honey) http://mallardsnest.com/
  • Food – the Gallery owner Georgia is a wonderful baker, she makes breads, treats and drink
fiber wall art
fiber wall art by Charlie

It’s a laid back end to a busy long weekend, a place to just relax, enjoy some music and take in some art.  It’s also the perfect place to find that certain something for that someone who has everything.  Hope you can make it!

Flights of Fancy Gallery, 17 Crystal Lake Rd, Stafford Springs, CT