My Favorite Holiday...........

Hello everyone,
Turkey day is almost here.  It is my very favorite holiday, but I have to say that I have to keep reinventing my dishes as my diet continues to evolve.  So, it is a bit of a challenge, recipe-wise.  However, the idea of the holiday is what I like so much.  Just eating good food with the people you love.  It is a sweet and simple holiday.  I never see a Horn of Plenty or a cornucopia that I don't think of my mother who passed away in 1989.  She loved them.  She grew up during the Great Depression and once I asked her if she ever went hungry as a child.  She told me that she had, so it is obvious that a Horn of Plenty meant more to her than to anyone in my generation.  Give thanks that even in the midst of a bad economy, we have plenty to eat. 
Now that I have you all mellow, I thought I would throw in something a bit controversial.  Recently we went to the Arthur, Illinois area.  We thought we were going to two antique shows, but it turns out there were 6 and 1 the next day.  We just went for the day, so we missed what everyone assured us was the very best show - "the one that started it all" - on Sat.  Have to say that they don't really advertise all the shows very well.  Ahh, but next March it all happens again and we will be prepared for it then.  At one of the shows, I rounded a corner and my heart skipped a beat when I saw this:

Excuse the garage door in the background.  I have a new camera and it won't work with my old program for cropping, adding borders , etc.  Anyway, this doesn't look like much here, but here are some close ups:

This is the backing.  I would date this quilt circa 1830.  A lot of the front pieces were disappearing, but the backing is remarkably good.  Plus the alternate plain blocks on the front were in good condition:

Here is the controversial part:  I have already taken it apart.  Completely.  I have to wash the fabrics - very carefully, of course, but the quilt no longer exists.  I know some of you are gasping right now, but it looks better in the photos than the true condition.  There was a lot of deterioration.  In fact, it was exactly the way I like to find them - with lots of usable fabric, but not good enough to save as a quilt.  The quilting was not very nice, which was a bit of a surprise, but it made dismantling it much easier.  Here is the bottom line, I make miniature quilts out of antique fabrics only.  The fabric has to come from somewhere and there really aren't any bolts of c. 1830 fabric floating around, so I do what I do. Once, when a lady objected to this, another lady chimed in and said, "You do what quilters have always done - you recycle fabric.  And there you have it.

Till next time..........

Sheila