Good Sunday morning all... I hope that many of you are starting to tune into my new blog for some thoughts and news each day... I can't promise that I will post everyday, but it is fun to try.
How many of you are finding time for some house cleaning and salvaging special collectibles that have been languishing in the back of closets and cupboards and drawers? I have been looking for things - and isn't that normal for anyone over 60? It is for me for sure. I have found some beautiful small sewing tools that I had been looking for and knew I had. I was thinking about the possibility of heading off to Odessa ANTIQUE SHOW today, and actually decided to go after work yesterday, as the clouds were gathering and it looked like a storm. The entry fee was $20, but I would have spent that on a couple of lunches, so decided my cabbage soup diet could cover that next week, and headed to Odessa. The vendors were just setting up, and I was determined to find one great treasure, thinking this might be my last Odessa Show if our plans to re-locate do work out for the next year.... and as the masses of people would not be there, it was a great time to just shop the booths and visit with the vendors.
The parking area was fairly full, and the grass very long (so do wear older shoes - it will be wet today after last night's storm). Many vendors were still unpacking vans and trucks. I had decided that my mission would be to find a miniature sewing machine, or my much sought after antique sewing tools or a small quilt. I didn't get very far into the fairgrounds entrance before I spotted a small, youth sized Log Cabin quilt that was a very close match to the one I found at the downtown Kingston Antiques Market last summer, and took a good look at it, making mental notes of Booth A-1 before moving on. Just down the first row was a vendor with MANY button jars, sewing tools and more stitch related memorabilia...I walked on, as the wind was picking up and the weather was foreboding. I wanted to get all around the fairgrounds before the rain came, and did indeed do that, all the while watching the plastic sheeting come out, booth after booth. The Show goes on, rain or shine! The smiles on the vendors faces had started to turn to looks of concern and many were packing their goods right back into their trucks to ensure they would be safe overnight. Others were draping huge tarps over their booths to ensure no leaks and adding side curtains to the tents.
I found several green glass antique bottles - a favorite collectible for my rather large collection started when I moved to Kingston 16 years ago. I have many old medicine bottles, and try to collect the Kingston ones first, then surrounding towns and villages bottles, and some that are Toronto druggists. The shapes and colour are very important to me and I love the bottles that have been "buried" and have a few scrapes and scratches and the glass oxidizes and more beautiful colours come into the glass from exposure to various minerals in the soil. I found two that came home with me. There are many wonderful antique quilts and not the "museum quality" quilts we saw at this show 10-12 years ago. The quilts that are at the show this year are common, but WONDERFUL quilts and most are priced under $300. In the main building where we often have classes at the fairgrounds, there is a vendor with the MOST AMAZING Star quilt I have seen in many years...hundreds and hundreds of very small diamonds make up the Star points. The background is pristine and the condition of the quilt just wonderful! If you go, don't miss seeing this one.
After two hours touring, touching great pine furniture that would look amazing in my studio, a hugely coveted drug store pine fixture with 27 drawers ($3500) that I had a very strong longing for... and many wonderful tables that would make great cutting surfaces, I decided that the time was near to leave. I just couldn't help thinking about the little Log cabin in Booth A-1 and headed back there as I left...and the quilt had been put away before the arrival of the storms...so I asked about it. The couple agreed to sell it without tax for $95, a price I just had enough cash to cover. So that beautiful little quilt (Log Cabin Barn Raising in old creams, purples, reds and blues with the odd pink and brown pieces here and there) is resting in my living room alongside it's close friend, the Fields and Furrows. The quilt was made in the Fergus area around the turn of the century - so at least 100 years old and now has a great new home with someone who will appreciate it, stroke it as she passes by each day and give it a good home for the rest of her life.
Do try to go... find your own treasure and celebrate the past. The present is frustrating enough to find us longing for the "olden days" when life was slower, dollars went farther and there was time to STITCH. Wait for the sun to come back out and make the drive. The men have lots to see whith huge collections of tools and wooden barn stuff...
Have a great day!
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