Sign, Sign, Everywhere A Sign

These:

have been in my garage for years.  My women's group has participated in our town's Oktoberfest from the very beginning (sometime in the 70's -- maybe 74?) and many times, our cute booth won an award:  one of these lovely signs, plus a monetary gift for the next year's application fee.

When we closed our thrift shop (which we had operated for over 40 years in 3 different locations), these signs (and several more), plus years of scrapbooks, treasurer books, secretary notes and other memorabilia, ended up in my garage.  I've finally culled it down to the scrapbooks and a few other pieces, but just didn't know what to do with the signs -- no one wanted them in their garages, either!

Light bulb moment!  I flipped them over, painted them and used my handy Cricut and some Annie Sloane paint to make signs for our barns:

Check one more task off for June!  

And, because my work area was already a mess, and because I had an extra sign I had already painted black, I made a special one for Jenny's garden/potting bin: 

So true.

Georgie

Re-cycling Quilts

 Jenny and I are both quilters, so quilts, quilt squares and quilt designs are going to be a big part of our decorations for the barn market.

We've picked up some well-worn, well-loved quilts at flea markets and antique stores, and a few weeks ago, we purchased 6 shabby quilts at an auction.

Jenny has great plans for these quilts -- primarily, to use them to cover bales of straw for seating for our guests in the food and entertainment area.  Since Jenny is working hard on the barns, I agreed to take the quilts home and get busy.

But despite their holes, stains and general raggedy-ness, I had a hard time making the first cut into those quilts.

I have never thought to record all the hours it takes to make a quilt (from choosing patterns and fabric to finishing those last stitches on the binding and label), but I know it's a lot of hours.  A LOT.  But that's not what quilting is about.

You love someone, so you make them something they will love and that will keep them warm.  That's it.

50, 60, 70 years ago, a woman (or group of women) sat down to create these quilts to keep her family warm, just like we do now.  It just breaks my heart to cut into all that loving work.

Then Jenny gave me a "snap out of it" talk!  These quilts will probably never again cover a bed -- they're just too far gone.  If we don't use them and display them in a different way, they'll probably just continue to rot away until someone throws them in a dumpster.  Cutting the quilts into straw bale covers, chair covers and buntings is, in a way, continuing to honor the women who made them.

Before I show you my first project, I thought I would document these quilts.  They're still beauties, in my book!

Monkey Wrench 

 6" blocks set on point 

 Scrappy
Colorful 2" squares

LeMoyne Star  

6"

Texas Star

18" blocks in bright colors!  

Tree of Life

10" blocks.  Look at all those little pieces!

Here is my first quilt-cutting project -- a bunting for the music wagon.  Dresden Plate, originally set in long rectangles:  

It was in terrible shape -- rust spots, worn fabric and I think it might have even been burned on a stove -- there are some suspicious coil-shaped scorches.  But doesn't it look pretty now, displayed with some reproduction fabric strips on clothesline?  I might just hang this in my living room after the sale.

This is what vintage/antique lovers know:

There is value in things that have outlived their original usefulness.  

There is honor in remembering the ones who created and used those things.  

There is beauty in finding a purpose for them again.  

Georgie

Using Old Stuff - Graduation Party

Jenny's son, Luke, graduated from Trinity High School in May, and his graduation party was last weekend.  Many of the things we've pulled out of the barns became decorations at the party!

Luke's cousin, Kourtney, had found this old truck stock gate; with a little cleaning and a few nails (and a little help from my grandson, Paul), it became the menu board:

Old doors became the backdrop for Luke's and Kourtney's memory tables:

Sorry the pictures are a little blurry, but I had to hurry with my phone before the crowd arrived!  And what a crowd there was!

We'll be using the doors again, as they will be the backdrop on a flat bed wagon for our music and workshops during the market.  Their card holders were old suitcases, and Jenny used an old bread box for chips and washtubs for holding the drinks.  Plus, both kids had amazing t-shirt quilts displayed at the cake tables.  These two have already accomplished so much in school, sports, 4-H and church activities.  

You'll probably see those buntings again, too!  The one on Luke's table was made from a roll of burlap "ribbon", cut into rectangles and sewn onto clothesline -- so quick and easy.  Kourtney's was from scraps of red fabric and some vintage lace I had in my stash.  Sewing buntings is great fun -- just stack up all your pieces of fabric, fold them over the clothesline and sew away -- it's a cute way to add personality to a display.

Georgie

Treasures in the Barn

In getting ready for our market and our guests, we made a schedule for cleaning and preparing the barns around Jenny and Brian's property.

When they purchased the farm a few years ago, there had been an auction, but many things were left in the barns.  While many people would have thrown much of the "stuff" on the burn pile, to us it is a goldmine!  Doors, windows, gates, fences, rusty cans and lots and lots of barn wood.  Here are some finds from this week's cleaning:

Wow!

We haven't blogged forever!  Sorry to all of you who signed up to follow our blog, and please know we're on it!

When we started this adventure, I don't think we had any idea of how much time and energy would be involved, from cleaning barns to painting signs to contacting vendors.  It's all great fun, but some things slip -- like dusting our houses and updating the blog and facebook page!

But I promise to be better, and try to blog at least a couple of times a week.  I'll be writing some catch-up posts today.  Thanks for sticking with us!

Georgie