English Invasion

I have a new load of vintage Liberty and Laura Ashley fabrics. From the early 1970's to early 1980's.

Liberty Tana Lawns, Wintellas - cotton/wool and some furnishing weight cottons. Also a few prints by some other English houses.

Also, as seen in all the interiors magazines the Union Jack is making a come back. Have we all gone a bit Blighty?  I have vintage Union Jacks by the metre, each metre will give you 12 flags or will sell by the panel, 3 flags per panel. This flag fabric was printed in the 1980's and was used to make fabric flags. Each flag is 30cm by 47cm. It's a good medium weight cotton perfect for cushions or bags. Or use it as yardage for a full effect.

New Arrivals

Here are the first of the new arrivals from my most recent time away. To see more please visit Flickr.
More buttons and curious items as well....
Time to get in quick at the next few markets coming up.
First off is the Yarraville market on the Saturday the 13th then Thread Den on Sunday the 21st of August.

A Well Earned Rest

I'm taking a break for 2 months over winter.
So my last 2 markets are The North Melbourne Market this Sunday and then the Hand Knitters Guild on the Following Saturday the 28th. So if you need goodies these will be your last 2 opportunities to stock up until August.
So, there will be no markets until August 21st At the North Melbourne Market.

Laundry Lady

Well my hands are red and sore, but I am mastering the art of laundering antique and vintage quilts. The special recipe from one of my ladies in the USA is being used. There is a trick to it as the fabrics are old, some not colourfast and the old battings were usually unbleached cottons. You often have rust spots, age spots and just general old stains from use.  Lots of hurdles to be worked out before they can be done. But they come up a treat...and so are my muscles! A fully sodden quilt weighs a ton!
With so many arriving I have to stay on top of them all. I know that in some cases you shouldn't launder, but as I sell these I try to give them a gentle freshen up. Some, I know you just can't and the best you can do it line air them.
So now the slipped seams will be re-stitched, popped patches and shattered squares will be carefully replaced and a few other little repairs will be done. I do not like to change the character of the quilts, I like the ageing and the irregularities of them so I tend to only do what they need.
I let the new owner decide what they would like to do.
And its a great chance to get up close and have a good look at all the amazing patterns in them. I can look at them for hours and still find prints I didn't see before.

1920's turkey red Squares. To be made up.

1920 to early 1950s Strip Patch quilt with loads of Novelty Prints, Silks, Rayons and Cottons.

1930's Feed Sack String Patch Quilt

Close Up of a 1950's Block 16 Patch.

1950's Block 16 Patch. Novelties and Rare Mid Century Prints.

Some more Quilts

I am loving these quilts, they are so lovely, unique, pretty, useful, delightful and just plain wonderful.
Nice and warm and thick and some over 100 years old. Its a tribute to the ladies who made them and to good old fashioned quality. Fabrics are just not the same these days.
I am unpacking more over the next few days, I still get surprised when I open them up and roll out.

1800's Bow Tie Quilt 

1930's Crazy Quilt from Feedsacks

1920's to 1940s Fabrics Multipatch Quilt

1940's Tulip Crosses Quilt

New Arrivals for Winter

Well the weather has turned for the cold now, time to rug up and start sewing by the fire!
Here are some recently unpacked goodies to kick off the markets for May.
There is the Yarraville Market on Saturday the 16th, Thread Den North Melbourne Market on Sunday the 22nd and the Hand Knitters Guild on Sunday the 28th.
For more new arrivals photos, please head over to my Flickr page.

African Wax Fabrics

I'm so in love with these fabrics these days, the prints are so wild and out there but at the same time so geometric and tribal. Can't put my finger on it, but I do just truly love them. So I have pulled some out of the stash and will bring them to the market days. Some are cotton sateens and others are just lovely crispy cottons. It's a little like Batik but the prints larger scale

Vintage and Antique Quilts have arrived

It is with much excitement that I share with you some of my new shipment of vintage and antique quilts from the USA. 

They are so lovely and beautiful. There is something so wonderful about the fabrics and the hand stitching. I cannot start to describe just how wonderful they are. Original feed sack quilts, some still with their labels on. Ones with the newspaper backings still intact from the 1940's, ones with Civil war era fabrics. The history and the time and love taken to make these, ones with snippets of clothes and what ever fabrics could be found during lean times. These are all in wonderful condition, many unused.
I also have many 100's of hand stitched blocks in various patterns if you wish to piece together your own quilt and plenty of fabrics you can use as well. I will photograph the fabrics later.
Trust me, I am keeping many quilts for myself, these ones are available for you to purchase at my next few markets.
I will also have credit card facilities from now on.

1930's Rayon tucked postage stamp quilt SOLD

Crazy quilt top with feedsacks and 30s and 40s fabrics SOLD

1930s quilt, thick combed cotton filling

1950s graphic quilt top

1930's graphic dishes quilt top

1940s to 1960s fabrics string quilt

1930s railroad blocks quilt

1930s stepped blocks quilt SOLD

close up of some of the fabrics in the 2 quilts above.

1930's improved 9 patch king size quilt top SOLD

1940's turkey red and white windmill quilt top

1960s trip around the world quilt top 

1950s and 60s tumbler quilt top

1920s to 1940s log cabin quilt SOLD

civil war era fabrics to 1930's railway blocks quilt top

1930s to 40s quilt top

40s to 60s quilt top, unusual patterns

1930's feed sacks and 40s fabrics quilt top, with labels and newspaper backings, dated 1949, mixed patterns and quilt blocks

1920s to 30s feedsack quilt top, broken dishes pattern - SOLD

1930s fabrics puff ball quilt