Blast From The Past

Last year several members of my stitchery group had a great time visiting the quilt show in Manteca.  On Friday, I realized the annual quilt show was this weekend, and since our group intended to go on a field trip anyway, we quickly made plans to head south to Manteca on Saturday morning.

As before, we had a really fun time even in the face of some seriously discouraging rules.

I only took one photo of a quilt at the show; I think what appealed to me most about the quilt was the fairly simple applique.

And by "simple" I just mean that it was simple in comparison to some really beautiful but elaborate applique quilts that were shown.  But, since I'm more of a country/prim gal at heart, this one "spoke" to me in ways the others didn't.

I always love the vendors, don't you?  Quilt shows often have vendors who sell quilt-related items that can't be found at the local quilt shops, so they're a treat to visit.  THIS show seemed to have more vendors who dealt in vintage/antique items than any other show I can recall.  There was one booth that had a big clothing carousel hung with quilt tops--apparently an elderly woman had passed away and many of these quilt tops were found in her storage space.  My stitchery friend Gran found one she just couldn't pass up--it's a beautiful pastel trip around the world made from 1930's style fabrics--perfect for spring!

I had forgotten until I got to the show, but last year I purchased some old embroidery blocks, and this year I found three more at the same vendor booth.  (I need to remember where I put last year's blocks!)  At another booth, I found the darning egg and some vintage florist's Easter cards.

I also bought a few fat quarters and squares of wool, but I didn't get a photo of those.  However, we all visited the boutique, where they sold items made by quilters and items no longer wanted by quilters, and I made several purchases there.

For $12 I found this faded, vintage whole cloth/panel quilt.  The binding is a bright blue, and I imagine the colors in the quilt were much darker at one time.  It's hand quilted and not very worn aside from the fading.  For now, it's draped across the back of the bench in the Wild Child's former bedroom.  Using it to make small items such as stuffed animals and book/binder covers would be an option for the future too.

I found an Australian Homespun magazine featuring American quilt designer Tracy Souza, who was one of the vendors at last year's show.  We were hoping to see her again this year but she wasn't a vendor.  I also found a pattern of a little bunny in a seed packet--I'll have to see if I can make that one up pretty quick so I can put it out with my other Easter decorations.

Finally, I found a cute owl pin in the boutique.  In fact, there were a LOT of owl things, but I tried to restrain myself.

There's one more day of the quilt show--on Sunday.  If you're in Northern California, you might want to head to Manteca.  We left a few things there for you to buy, and of course there are a bunch of beautiful quilts to look at as well.