Antique Treasures

In June I blogged about asking Pops for 2 quilts that he had up in his linen closet. Well, when I was at his house, HE reminded me to take the quilts with me! Sure thing! :)

We think the two quilts were made by Pops' grandma, Minnie Old. They were found in Pops' parents house, after they died. Yup, that would make them my great-great-grandma's quilts! What a treasure. :)

They are in very beautiful condition for something that's 70+ years old. I have only found one split seam so far.

And I can't help but wonder... if perhaps these quilts were for Pops and his sister, Jere. The top Double Wedding Ring quilt has boyish colors, the hand quilting is more simple and the binding was machine sewn down. I was pretty surprised by that. Maybe Minnie was in a hurry. :)

The second quilt looks more feminine, the handquilting is more orderly (grid like) and the binding was done by hand. Also the split seam is on the boyish quilt. So I'm thinking it was Jere's quilt, since she was younger than Pops.

And even if they weren't made for her grandchildren, I'm still thrilled to have such a treasure in my possessions.

While Pops was reminding me to take the quilts with me, I decided to ask him if I could have the sewing machine in a cabinet. I remember it being in the room that my parents sleep in when I was younger. I didn't even know for sure if it had a machine in it or not. Pops seemed to be a little surprised by my request, but told me to go ahead. :)

And wow! There was a machine it in, with the plug cord, but no foot pedal. Very heavy, due to being solid metal.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was neither a treadle or pedal machine, but actually uses a knee control to operate. I had heard of them before... but never seen one! The cabinet's legs are also somewhat shaky, probably from living through dozens of California earthquakes. ;)

Pops said that the machine had come from Great-Grandma's house - my grandma's mom. When I got home, I started to do some research. It appears to be a 1951 Centennial Singer 15-91, made in Canada. The more I checked out the machine, the more I realized that it's in pretty good shape! Things are loose and dirty... but with some elbow grease, tightened nuts and bolts and a replaced belt... I'll have it returning to it's former glory. ;)

Some other goodies I got was an office chair - Pops finally retired and we help cleaned out his office and he was offering the chairs. I was happy to upgrade to the cushy chair, compare to the folding chair I was using for the past year! :D

My mom also very generously gave me her powered grain grinder... but in all the confusion, I accidently forgot it! :( I was so upset with myself, I really appreciated her giving me her grinder, as I enjoy making bread... and I had to go and forget it. Hopefully it's back at my parents house and they can just mail it to me. :)

Guess quilting is in my blood after all... and now I have proof. ;)

Leah