PILLOWFYING, ETC. ETC. ETC.

 Did you know that you can still purchase flour in a cloth sack?  A friend alerted me that the Cortez Milling Company of Cortez, Colorado sold flour at our local City Market/King Soopers/Kroger grocery store in 5 or 10 pound bags.  I thought goods sold in cloth sacks was a thing of the past!

Of course, years ago all kinds of things came in cloth sacks.  When I cleaned out my parent's house, I found several empty sacks from local products that they evidently valued enough to save for future use.

A LARGE SACK THAT HELD 100 POUNDS OF POWDERED SUGAR!

A SACK FOR 2 POUNDS OF GRANULATED SUGAR.

THIS HELD ONE POUND OF GRASS SEED.

ANOTHER HUGE BAG THAT HELD POPCORN SEED.

I made a pillow for our screened-in porch out of the flour sack -- I thought the blue bird graphics were great!

 It is almost still too cold to sit on our porch, but I'm sure it won't be long now until we can enjoy it.

It was an interesting week around here as I tackled the learning curve on my new sewing machine.  I decided that this pillow would be a good first project on the new machine.  After sewing on the same old machine for 40-plus years, I knew it frontwards and backwards.

But with the new machine, I kept needing to stop and look things up in the instruction book -- things as simple as how to change the needle position, etc.  It was slow going and quite annoying at times, but I'm getting there.  For this pillow I figured out the cording, the zipper foot, and the general lay of the machine.  Next up will be the buttonholer and the walking foot.  Sounds like more pillowfying in my future!!

I'm joining the following parties this week.  Please check out these blogs, and thank them for hosting.  These ladies do a lot of work so that we can party together.

Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday 

Smiling Sally for Blue Monday

Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

No Minimalist Here for Thursday Open House

The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special
A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday

CHEESE BOXES

 I'm not much for going to yard sales any more -- to be truthful, I just don't like getting up that early!  But, Bob still likes to go out to them on the weekends.  He knows I like any old wood container -- the more primitive, the better.  So, he occasionally brings me home a treasure.  This past weekend he found this 16" X 7"high cheese box for $8.00.

 These boxes originally held wheels of cheese that were wrapped in cheese cloth and wax.

 Bob remembers that these large cheese wheels were sold in his family's grocery store, but doesn't recall the boxes.  He was wondering if maybe they were returned to the wholesaler to be reused.  Does anybody in blogland know?

A couple of years ago, we also found this large 14" X 16"high  cheese box at another local yard sale for $10.

 At the time, I thought we paid a pretty hefty price for it, but since then I've discovered they can go for anywhere from $25 to $75.

 Now, I will be on the look out for one more to make it a  legitimate collection!

Click here for my quilt blog, Q-Bits, to fully view the five quilts shown in the pictures.


I will be linking into the following blog parties this week.  Be sure to check out these blogs for lots of inspiration.
Southern Hospitality for Thrifty Treasures on Monday
Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
A Stroll Thru Life for Table Top Tuesday
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays
From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday
Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday
Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special

TO THE RESCUE

Well, it finally happened -- my faithful servant finally bit the dust.  I'm talking about my White sewing machine that I had purchased in the 1960s.  It had sewn a million miles; and I knew the end was in sight a few months ago when it would no longer zig-zag and new parts were not available.   We kept straight sewing together until Friday when an unrepairable weld was broken.  I had hoped that it would last my lifetime, but I guess not.

And, of course, I was in the middle of a project.  So, this little beauty had to come to the rescue.  This is my mother's Singer Featherweight that she bought when she first got married in the 1930s.  She never sewed much so it is in almost perfect condition.  However, it is not the work-horse I need for the continuous sewing that I do.

So, I guess this week I will start sewing machine shopping.  I hate to think about it, but I can't imagine life without a sewing machine.  When you have been sewing for 60 years, it becomes a part of you.  

THE PROJECT----

I was recovering the dressing table bench that goes with my parent's walnut bedroom set (also from the 1930s).

It's a cutie, and now sports a flirty, herringbone ruffle.

I'll always think of it as Mr. White's swan song!

I'll be joining the following parties this week.  Please check them out!

Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday Treasures

Very Merry Vintage Style for Share the Love Wednesday

The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursday

Miss Mustard Seed for Furniture Feature Friday

HUNTING AND GATHERING

 Just a normal amount of 'hunting and gathering' going on in the Salmagundi household.

When we went to Round Top, Texas last fall, my one goal was to come home with a dough bowl.  But, the lowest price I found was $95 -- I figured with patience, I could find one cheaper; so I came home without a dough bowl.  Sure enough, I recently found this one for under $30 at an antique show in Pueblo, Colorado.  It is heavy and has a nice patina, and just the size I was looking for!

This past week, we had to go to Denver to deliver one of my quilts to be photographed for a new book.  After a nice lunch with our son who was on spring break from teaching, we did what the three of us have always done -- go antiquing.  I vowed I wasn't going to buy any more brown transferware -- my goal was to find a plaid lunch box.  Of course, right away I found a piece of brown transferware in my under $20 price range.

 It's a 9" vegetable bowl in the 'Dado' pattern with a wonderful "cookie" of a sailing ship.

 It also has this wonderful border on the outside.

 So, I came home with a bowl, but no plaid lunch box.  The boxes I saw were $40, so that remains a quest for another day.

Speaking of plaid -- I recently completed these plaid pillows to go on the twin beds (see post here), and have been thinking and looking for months for something to hang over the beds to warm the space with all of the neutral bedding.

 I should always remember to shop at home first.  It finally dawned on me that I had this wonderful antique quilt in my quilt stash.  Yes, I have a very LARGE stash of both antique and contemporary quilts.

 In the 1990s I bought 81 Log Cabin blocks of all different sizes for $10 for the lot. They were made from glorious 19th century wools; but the sizes made it impossible to set them together in a quilt which is probably why they were still in block form.  After working on them for a month trying not to destroy the integrity of the time period, I set them together in the 'straight furrow' pattern of a traditional Log Cabin quilt.

 You can see all of the wonderful 19th century plaid fabrics in this quilt.

Last night, we hung the quilt and it was just what the room needed.


On the party circuit this week with the following blogs; please check them out for a plethora of inspiration.


My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday Treasures
Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays
From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday
White Ironstone Cottage for Treasure Chest Friday