Last Thursday, I took a small road trip from Mendocino through the Anderson wine country and ended on Hwy 101 driving south just a few miles. I stopped and washed my car in one of those quarter-consuming, do-it-yourself washes, hand-dried it with old towels and then headed into the town of Healdsburg. This is one of those towns with a square in the center that used to be common and quaint and now has become very upscale and chi-chi with an expensive hotel, restaurants, and resort-style clothing stores. I miss the old Healdsburg, but at least it has maintained some of its antique and collectible shops on the outer skirts of town. I found this lonely applique square in one of those shops. I think the work is near-perfection and the fabric right out of the thirties. I am not a huge fan of this era for fabric, but when I see a piece like this it is hard to resist. I think it is quirky that the applique is not lined up to fit the square and has barely a quarter-inch allowance on one side.
There were 24 of these squares, each 6″, and I was pleased that there were an even number because designing with them will be easier. They seem destined for a quilt, a small one.
Everything I discovered that day was of this vintage, the 30′s or 40′s, and from two different dealers. This apron had an odd story to it that I discovered later when I started to disassemble it. I loved the design with the princess seams in the front, but I did not like the cheap polyester red bias tape that I guessed might have been added later. Or perhaps someone bought or had saved the fabric from this era and made an apron and added the bias as well as sewn the seams with invisible plastic thread on one side. I ripped out the seams and made a pattern of the apron for future use. I intend to sew the apron back together with cotton thread and then add a binding that is similar to the era of the fabric.
Early tomorrow morning I head back to Portland. The weather is very mild, overcast, and pleasant today in Mendocino. The weather today in Portland is 98+ degrees, so it looks like I will be heading back to the heat of the summer again. It is time to go trim my roses and return to my sewing room in the basement. I have many projects in mind, and the basement will be a place to escape the late summer heat.
Some great finds. Have a safe trip! I’m wishing I had a basement to hide in right now…
Oh so you too are getting this awful heat! Thanks for the wishes. Tonight is cloudy and foggy and cool in Mendocino. Wish I could carry this weather back with me.
What fun you had. That apron so reminds me of my grandmother. I hardly ever wear an apron. But that one is very special. And the fabric squares are so special. But what strikes me as all important, you had one of the slow meandering days that redeem the spirit and allow thoughts to flow and understanding come in.
We all need to find the pattern to bring silence to our lives.
p.s. I went and washed my car with the quarter eating machine and I always manage to get wet!
Re-sewing that apron I think is a very kind + great + charming thing to do…
i love it how you say something has become chi-chi.
Last time i heard this was in Munich 20 years ago.
But your vintage finds are extremely beautiful…………….. thanks for sharing.
XXXm
What lovely finds! Love the apron. It reminds me of one of my grandmothers who was never without an apron in the kitchen. At one point I had several of them but they were lost
in a move : (
She always made and stitched her own aprons. Some would have smocking others rick rack. She is the grandmother who quilted but, I never actually saw her doing it. I know she would get together with other church women and have quilting bees.
Such fun finds…I am like you am not a huge fan of that era either…however, there is great potential in any fabric. I love the apron…that is such a great pattern.
At this very moment I’m wearing an apron so similar to that…my daughter-in-law’s mother made it and it is perfect for protecting me from my incredible propensity for spilling things. I just made some applesauce…it makes me feel homey somehow, and peaceful. Your posting also does…I’m about to go on a long hot drive also…safe travels to you…