Thursday, June 3, 2010

i heart estate sales


I used to love thrifting, and I still do, but one drawback about Portland is that a lot of people love thrifting. And Goodwills are so expensive it makes me mad. Estate sales are where it's at. They are popular here too, but we hit a good one right when it opened one morning, and the thrill returned just like I had walked into a farm town Deseret Industries. My favorite find was a completely hand pieced vintage honeycomb or "grandmother's flower garden" quilt top. It is lap sized, (pieced American style, FYI) and I love that I can finish it on my own. These quilts take about a million years to make, consisting of hundreds of hexagons (about 2" across). I will need some help from my mom figuring out how to finish it...

5 comments:

kenzie said...

so awesome, I can't wait to see how it turns out. I love those quilts but I don't have the heart to start one.

Sijbrich said...

I'm currently making a hexagon quilt and it is pretty insane. Lots of hand sewing, but it's usually a nice way for me to relax. I'm sure by the time I finish I will be checked into the loony bin (I'm aiming to make mine king size, but that's subject to change at any time).

You need to buy paper hexagons. They should have them at any respectable quilting store. The little bag I bought when I started had some instructions and I was off!

In case you care, here's a post on my blog documenting my progress as of a month ago:
http://heylucy.typepad.com/sijbrich/2010/05/progress.html

By the way, I love the fabrics in the quilt you found.

Malorie said...

Maren, that is ambitious and awesome that you are making one! I would love to someday... we'll see if that ever happens though.

Leslie said...

that is lovely. great fabrics!

Lorrie said...

Wow, Mal, what a find! I was going to suggest you look at Maren's blog, but she beat me to it. I've never had the heart to start one either, but after seeing Maren's, I could see it becoming a great McCall project, and I wouldn't have to lug my machine around. Maren IS loony if she's going for the king size, but I think a smaller size is definitely doable. Can't wait to see it in person...how are you feeling?