Whimsical and Homespun Art Creations with a Little Rural Living Thrown In





Sunday, August 17, 2014

127 Yard Sale "2014"

It is hard to believe that another 127 Yard Sale is over.  We had some chilly mornings that gave way to warm afternoons.  Although there was a little rain, it magically let up at the times that we were out hunting. :)  It is amazes me how many vendors make the trek to set up along the 127 Corridor.  Here is my little sampling...
 
 


In Kentucky, there is a large arena for cattle and horse shows, it started to pour the moment we arrived.  The rain continued until we were ready to leave.  Which was perfect timing for us! ;)   From there, we stopped at a little flea market that was hosted by the local Amish community.  Here are a few of my finds: 

1. A huge bag of scraps was a nice find for 2 dollars.  Normally, I do not buy much for scraps, but these had some vintage and modern pieces.  2.  A kit for making Dresden Plate blocks.  The previous owner had 20 already sewn... I just had to pick it up for the $5.00.   3.   These four pointed creations are hand stitched and paper pieced.  Whoever created them, left the original papers on the back.  They are so neat "as is".  Not sure if I will create something with the four of them.  4.  A twin size child's quilt top.  I am not a fan of the design.  My thinking was to cut the squared blocks into triangles, mix them up and stitch them into a more complex design.  I couldn't buy the fabric for the $8.00 that I spent on it.  :)



Feed sack fabric anyone?  ;)  The 7 pieces of various sized feed sack will be used for some free sketch -  embroidery designs.  The vintage look and feel of these pieces will make for some nice  primitive distressed mats.  At a dollar a piece, a stitcher couldn't find fabric any cheaper to create with... with a little age and patina to boot! The second and last photos represent my weakness for stamped feed sacks.  I have got to get cracking on some projects to use some of these up on!  The third photo was a large cutter quilt that I just couldn't pass up on for 5 bucks.  It has a wide variety of colors on it.  There will not be any guilt cutting it up, since someone else already took a piece off of it.  :)



This industrial lamp will be perfect for my desk.  It works great and has scratch free paint.  Come on... Where can you get a great light for 7 bucks!



This photo is a find by Mr. Hollow.  It escaped my eye on the walk about.  My original thought was that it was a used rock tumbler from Lortone.  On our arrival home, I realized that it was brand new!  What a shocker???  It came complete with grit for 7 dollars. :) 

The same lady had some industrial sized tumbling barrels and two large lidded barrels of very expensive grit.  To the right shopper, the tumbling barrels would be a great find, and she would gladly have given them away.  Although Mr. Hollow began contemplating taking them (YIKES!), I was not for it.  We did take the barrels of grit.  The guys were trying to guess how many pounds were there... Maybe 35 pounds a piece.  I couldn't pass on them for 10 bucks!!




Here was an impulse buy.  Why did this speak to me out of a table filled with sewing machines?   I do not know.   But I fell for her... She is a Montgomery Ward "Signature" sewing machine.  Her and I are just getting to know each other, and a better introduction will be posted later.  :)



We had so much fun on our trip.  But there is not much time to rest, since this weekend is the big show in Baraboo, Wisconsin.  Lots of running to do before the weather dances its way into another season! :)

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Baby Brother Manual Drum Carder

Today was exactly like a day in October for Northern Illinois.  I had a half day off and did some stitching on the Bucilla Alphabet quilt, while sipping a cup of hot chocolate!  Is it really August?  I am not going to lie... I do not miss the heat!
 
Mr. Hollow and I just got back from vacation.  Yep, that's right.  Another 127 Yard Sale wrapped up!  :)  It was a lot of fun, but I will share that in a later post-- I promise. ;) But first, I wanted to share my birthday present. 
 
There is nothing like the excitement of opening up a box.  Even when you know what is in it!!
  
 


And here is my first glimpse of my present... a Baby Brother Drum Carder.  It is my answer to processing all of my clean wool fleeces into roving. :) 

 
 
This particular model is the Baby Brother. After looking at all of their manual machines (www.brotherdrumcarder.com), I thought that this size should fit my current needs.  Although, the thought of making some larger batting for quilts is very tempting in the future. ;)  
 

I will share my attempts at learning to use the Baby Brother in future posts.  Once I have some carded wool, I would like to take a try my hand at needle felting and spinning.  But for right now, the beautiful weather outside is calling to me.  I had better start washing the rest of the fleeces, before it gets to cold outside!  ;)