Linen Calendars

Okay, I admit, I didn't quite give you the whole story when I said that Justin's Grandma gave me a box of quilt scraps. The truth is, she really gave me about six boxes, each loaded with new and exciting things. I thought showing you all of them at once might be a bit of vintage-treasure overload, so instead you'll get them one at a time, just like I did. 

In box number two, rolled up neatly like so many scrolls of ancient wisdom, was half-a-century's worth of linen calendars. The oldest, I think, is from 1960, and though a few years were missing, most are here, still beautifully colourful, on gorgeous heavy linen.

My favourite of them all is this folky mustard-coloured calendar below, from 1980. The figures seem like they could have popped right out of a Hans Christian Anderson story!

Now, I can't promise that these calendars will be reincarnated quite as quickly as the patchwork scraps, but they are here, waiting for inspiration to strike, ready to cast off their old dates and take on the new year!

Scrapwork Quilts

We go to so much effort to make our gifts look pretty, but as I discovered last weekend, the best presents can come in old cardboard boxes labelled "Frying Chickens".

When I opened just such a box last weekend, I found bags and bags of fabric scraps -- remnants of six different quilts, all beautifully hand-stitched, with amazing designs, such as the red and blue spools above. Some pieces are cut into strips, some into squares, but most are rough and random and full of personality.

Made by Justin's Great-Grandmother Razor, these quilts were rescued from attics and basements and lives as mattress pads by Justin's Grandma Thies, who later decided to reuse them, and make them into patchwork teddy bears and lampshade covers, among other things. And now here they are, ready for more cutting and stitching -- ready for a whole new life.

I love looking at all the fabrics used. The quilt below seems to be made up of scraps itself -- hundreds of different prints and colours, cut perhaps from worn-out clothes and even older quilts!

On one corner, I can make out initials and a date: M. E. Hollis, 1936. It's amazingly fresh and intact for a seventy-four year-old!

So, watch this space to see what becomes of these beauties. I'm sure my needles won't be able to wait too long before digging in!